-7- He spoke of knowledge, wisdom, and secrets, of its dark night and its bright sun. He said, "When you hear his words, know that the sky is better informed than the earth." Sheikh Khawjali said, "Sheikh Idris knows the ways of the sky better than the ways of the earth." I used to only hear him speak of the Greatest Name, the circles of saints, and the archangels near the Throne. He was born, may God be pleased with him, in Al-Ailmun, and it is said in Al-Halila, Shuhata. His father had him taught by Sheikh Al-Bundari, who said to him, "A great destiny will be revealed to you. When you are close to me, inform me, and I will provide you with provisions." Al-Bundari's grave is known to be in front of Al-Khalifaya. Al-Muktaseb also studied under Sheikh Hamad, son of Zurouq, in his youth, and testified to his great stature. Then, in the beginning of his life, he sat with Sheikh Ban Al-Niqa, the blind man, and went with him to Sar. King Amara asked him about him and said to him, "The people in the lowlands are saying that the mother of King Amara Abu Sikin fell gravely ill. Sheikh Ban Al-Niqa prayed for her, but she did not recover." The King said to him, "You were a soldier before, and now you are a soldier of God. If she does not recover, I will return you to your soldiering." So Sheikh Idris prayed for her, and she recovered, by God's will. Sheikh asked the King for a covenant and said to him, "This boy will have a great destiny." Then divine inspiration and divine knowledge descended upon him, and he spoke of the sciences of the ancients and the moderns, and of past nations, without looking at any book. Many scholars would sit before him like children, and he had no books, no texts, no treatises on the sciences of the ancients and the moderns. After his death, it was found in his eye, at the beginning of his life, that people denied him and accused him of lying, falsehood, and slander, as was God's way with His saints. He sent to Sheikh Muhammad, son of Issa, to complain to him about this. So he sent to him and handed him over. Among these were verses he mentioned, and he said: "By God, if there were a shield among people, There must be one who is killed. They said about God, many times over, Recited when the Quran is recited. And they said, 'He has a son and companions,' But it is only falsehood, pretense, and alteration. So consider their words about God, their Creator, How then if it is said and what is said?" Then the tenth century passed, and at the beginning of the eleventh century, people became entangled in tasbih and coffee. The scholars agreed on its permissibility, but differed on tasbih. Some permitted it, and some prohibited it. He who ruled it permissible was Sheikh Ali Al-Aburi and Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Laqani. He who ruled it forbidden and forbade people from drinking it was Al-Sharif Abd Al-Wahab, the man of Asdil. He ruled it permissible and debated with Sheikh Idris about the strange resemblance.