In the Ghâyah, Maslamah similarly mentioned that when a human being is placed in a barrel of sesame oil and kept in it for forty days, is fed with figs and nuts until his flesh is gone and only arteries and sutures of the skull remain, and is then taken out of oil and exposed to the drying action of the air, he will answer all special and general questions regarding the future that may be asked. This is detestable sorcery. However, it shows what remarkable things exist in the world of man.

Ibn Khaldûn, Muqaddimah, translated by Franz Rosenthal