The irāda (spiritual will) himma (spiritual aspiration) is the initial sincerity of the murīd (aspirant, disciple). This is a himma that enables one to realize that nothing subsists by itself. This himma is mostly found in a community called Gurābiyya in Africa. With it, they can kill whomever they wish. When the nafs (the lower self) attains the state of jamʿ (spiritual gathering), it influences the bodies and states of the world. This is not difficult for it. To such an extent that a strength of kashf (unveiling) and iman (faith) pertaining to this knowledge, which the person has not yet become a ṣāḥib (possessor) of, is shown to him. The apparent signs in the hands of some people are realized only through this himma. It has such power that, when the influences of perfect shaykhs settle in the murīd, they exercise spiritual authority over them. The himma of ḥaqīqa (inner reality) that is realized with the aid of the purity of ilhām (inspiration) belongs to the great shaykhs among the people of God (ahl Allāh) who can focus their thoughts on the Truth (al-Ḥaqq). These turn this himma into a single himma for aḥadiyya (divine oneness) by fleeing from multiplicity and seeking the tawḥīd (the oneness of God) of multiplicity. The ʿārifūn (gnostics) do not pay attention to multiplicity, nor to the aḥadiyya in their attributes, relations, or names. (Asfār, 279)
Muḥammad Shahrastānī has reported that this group attaches importance to thought. According to them, thought occupies an intermediate position between the maḥsūs (that which is perceived by the senses) and the maʿqūl (that which is intelligible). The forms in the maḥsūs return to themselves; the realities in the maʿqūlāt return to themselves. It is the source of the two kinds of knowledge in the world. This group has exerted all their efforts, even turning their efforts from the domain of the maḥsūs to the domain of thought through rigorous ascetic discipline (riyāḍa). To such an extent that, when thought is abstracted from this world, it manifests itself in this world and gives news from the unseen (ghayb). Sometimes it has the power to prevent rain. Sometimes, a wahm (notion) comes to a living person, and in that state, it kills that person.
Shahrastānī says: This is not considered far-fetched, for wahm has a wondrous effect in directing and managing bodies and souls (nafs). Is not nocturnal emission during sleep the effect of wahm's influence on the body? Is it not the same when a man walking on a high wall falls at that moment? Are the steps he takes on the ground and those he takes at a height the same?
The abstraction of wahm from wondrous acts is similar to the Indian (here, most likely referring to yogis who lie on boards of nails and can live underground for days without food, water, or air) closing his eyes for days in order not to occupy himself with things in the domain of sensation. When, together with abstraction, another wahm approaches him, due to the complete union of these two wahms, they exert a joint influence, especially on the aforementioned act. (Asfār, 280)