تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 13.52.2

13.52.2

People say that they compound pills, of which they eat one for a set number of days or months, so that during that period one needs neither food nor drink. They tell of hidden things, and the Sultan honours them and sits with them. Some of them restrict their food to vegetables, and some do not eat meat, and these are the majority. Their state evidently is that they have accustomed themselves to ascetic discipline and have no need of this world and its adornments. Some of them look at a person and he falls dead from their gaze. The common people say that when someone is killed by the gaze and the dead man's chest is cut open, he is found without a heart! They say, “His heart has been eaten.” This happens mostly among women, and a woman who does this is called a kaftār!