Ibn Arabi, by mentioning its plural form (Bahalil), considered the historical Bahlool as an example of a type of madmen who lose their "reasons" due to "ward" and fall into the category of divine admirers.
[1] There are interesting and humorous stories about him that depict a wise but crazy personality and indicate his qualities such as contentment, disregard for power, anti-tyranny, gentleness of soul, presence of mind and attention to detail.
There are different sayings about his obvious characteristic, that is, his madness and his motivation; The most famous speech is Imam Musa Kazim's advice to him to declare insanity in order to save himself and escape from the harassment of the Abbasid caliph and to create an escape route so that he would not be in a position where he would have to approve the fatwa of killing the Imam or judgment in general.
But in mystical texts, the insanity of Bahloul and others like him is due to the overwhelming intoxication of divine love and an involuntary thing that makes their communication with other people difficult and sometimes impossible, and their words It looks crazy [4] The Caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd had begun a crackdown against the followers of the imprisoned Imam Musa al-Kadhim.
[citation needed] Each of these companions took their own interpretation of the letter: jala'u l-waṭan "exile", jabl "refuge in the mountains" and for Wāhab, junūn "madness, possession by the jinn".
He put the blame of rebellion upon the Imam and demanded a judicial decree from the pious people of his time—which included Bahlool.
[citation needed] According to a more popular tradition, some of the Imam's companions and special friends came to him because the Khalifa was angry with them, and asked him for advice.
[citation needed] Before becoming insane, Bahlool lived a life of influence and power, but after obeying the Imam's order, he turned away from the majesty and splendor of the world.
He dressed in rags, preferred desolate places over Haroun's palaces, lived on a bite of stale bread.
He was the master of the mind and manners; he spoke with the best of answers ready on his lips; he protected his faith and the Shariah.
Bahlool became insane at the Imam's command for the love of Ahl al-Bayt, and so he could enforce the rights of which they had been wronged.
[citation needed] Bohlol Dana - A Sage of Baghdad is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language historical film about Bahlool directed by Abdul Qayyoom Khan.