He said: "The idols possess human forms, and Iblis does not let people affirm the Form because it was through the Form that he was overcome. Do you not see how people believe that God spoke from a tree, yet they do not believe that He spoke from a human?"1
It is related that Abu Bakr al-Shibli—may God be pleased with him—was in his assembly preaching when he struck his hand, pointed to the wall, and said: "Your only ally is God, His Messenger, and those who believe." No one present in his assembly denied this. In another assembly, he said: "I am God, there is no deity except Me," pointing with his hand to his chest. He was seized and beaten until he foamed at the mouth2, so he feigned madness. He is cursed among a group of the Sufis until our time.
(236) It is related from our lord Abu Abd Allah, narrated from our lord Abu Khalid Abd Allah al-Kabuli—peace be upon him—who said: I was with my Master Ali ibn al-Husayn—exalted be his glory—when he heard a man reciting: {For the ilaf of Quraysh}. My Master said: "O Abu Khalid, they displace the words from their places." I asked: "O my Master, how so?" He said: "It is: {For Me is a God among Quraysh, a God among them during the caravan of winter and summer}." I said: "To You belongs the favor, O my Master." He said: "O Abu Khalid, he is, by God, the bald one of Quraysh, their Worshipped God, their intended and witnessed Lord, the Reviver of bones regarding whom people differed; none recognized him among them except a few."