2.4.3.9 - Why al-Ureybi Came to Seville?

Then in al-Durrah the Ibn al-Arabi explains that al-Ureybi’s spiritual states were intense and the people of the locality were ill-disposed towards him, so much so that one of the leading members of the community persuaded them to expel him. It was in this way that he came to us in Seville.

As a result of their action God sent to the people of that place one of the jinn, called Khalaf, who occupied the house of the above-mentioned leader and forced him out. This Jinn stayed in the house and called the people of the place to come to him, which they did. When they had come to the house they heard the voice of the jinn asking one of their number if something had been taken from his house and whether he suspected anyone of taking it. Having answered in the affirmative to both questions the jinn told him that he was wrong in his suspicions and that the name of the real culprit was so and so who was in love with his wife and had committed adultery with her. The jinn then bade him go and see for himself and he found all that the jinn had told him to be true. In this way the jinn continued to expose their hidden evils and vices to them and their children until he drove them to despair. When they begged him to leave them alone he replied that he had been inflicted upon them by Abdullah (al-Ureybi). He remained with them for a period of six months, after which time they came to al-Ureybi and begged him to return to the town, imploring him to forgive them for what they had done to him. The Shaykh relented and returned to that place to relieve them of the Jinn. The affair became famous throughout Seville.