The Occult Sciences

In Ḥilyat al-bashar fī tārīkh al-qarn al-thālith ʿashar, ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Bīṭār portrays Murtaḍā al-Zabīdī (1145–1205/1732–1790), author of Tāj al-ʿArūs, as a man of immense wisdom, spiritual insights and high intellect, whose oeuvre had a deep impact on the intellectual and spiritual landscapes of Egypt, Maghreb and beyond. People from the Maghreb considered their journey to Egypt futile if they had not visited him. If any of them received a piece of writing from him, they would keep it as an amulet (tamīma). He was even known to give visitors amulets (tamāʾim) and ruqā (protective objects and texts). Al-Bīṭār also relates that al-Zabīdī sent Aḥmad Pāshā al-Jazzār a letter telling him that he is

the awaited Mahdi and that greatness awaits him. This was received in him [al-Jazzār] as truth due to the inclination of souls toward wishful thinking (li mayl al-nufūs ilā al-amānī), and he kept this letter among his charms and amulets (al-aḥrāz wa-al-tamāʾim) in the protective necklace (ḥijāb) that he wore.¹