Mantic uttaïr, A Novice’s Complaints to a Schaïkh about the Devil’s Temptations

A heedless man went to complain to a forty-day faster of the Devil’s temptations. “The Devil,” said he, “has hidden the spiritual path from me; he has utterly destroyed religion within me.” The faster said to him: “Dear young man, before it came to this, the Devil was prowling around you. He was grieved and vexed on your account, and had cast dust upon his head because of your injustice towards him. He said: ‘All the world is my domain, but he who is the enemy of the world is not under my sway.’ So say to him now in your turn: ‘Go your way, and withdraw your hand from me.’ I firmly resolve, as regards him, to remain faithful to religion, since he has laid a heavy hand upon my temporal life. Now, he who has left the Devil’s domains has nothing whatever to do with him.”