Part 19

How many were those who ascribed to piety and abstention in the company of Ma‘rif! but their names and figures perished, wheteas the name of Ma‘raf, which means known, remains known even after his death.

‘The people of sincerity [who fulfilled the duties demanded of

1 Ma'raf al-Karkhi: Abia Mahfiiz al-Baghdadi described by al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi as: The authority of the ascetics, the blessing of our times.’ Al-Hafiz Ibn alJawzi has gathered his virtues in a book that has been printed. He passed away in 200 AH. Imam Ahmad said that he is a person whose du‘A is answered. ‘Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: ‘I said to my father: ‘Did Ma‘taf have any knowledge?’ to which he replied: ‘My son, he had the basis of all knowledge and that is fear of Allah.” (Refer to his biography: Tabagat al-Auliya’, 280, 285, Tabagat al-Safiyya, 83-90, Tabagat al-Flanabila, 1/381, 389, Sifat al-Safwa, 2/79-83, Hibatw’ -Auliyd , 8/360, 368, Siyar al-A Tam -Nubuld’, (0/339, 345).

SEEDS OF ADMONISHMENT AND REFORM

them from the knowledge they acquired] left and only the bewildeted and confused ones remain behind. Indeed, it makes me wonder! ‘The pious have gone by, while those who remain from the people of Sunnah are falling behind, in a state of stupor. The land is no more inhabited by the loved ones, and what used to be flourishing with worship, has now declined and collapsed.

In previous times, the Shaikhs were known for their diligence in acts of worship and their high degree of piety, while their followets were known for being pain-takers [i.e. willing to endure all hardships to reach their goal to attain the pleasure of Allah]. However, today pain-takers and worshippers are all but non-existent. The follower used to inquire about that which perturbed him, and his Shaikh would immediately recognise the reason behind that which troubled his students and followers, but today, neither these exist, nor those. Before, the Sifi used to mock the devil, but today they are the ones that the devil makes a mockery out of. Asceticism used to exist in the hearts of people, but today it is only a token superficially appearing on people’s attire.

Woe to you, purify your heart and not your outward appearance [i.c. what others can see], you are busy patching up your clothes, while you ought to be rectifying your intention; a person whose lineage can be traced and established to the Prophet (3g) surely does not need to possess two strands of hair.? Why would you learn the songs of camels [i.e. songs to encourage camels to walk fast] when you do not even have a camel? Why would you buy a bow though you do not have a string? Why do you belch when you are not even full? I truly wonder at you! How could a woman deliver if she is not even pregnant! If you will not have the petse-

* Tt seems that having two strands of hair at that time used to be from the known characteristics of Ah/ a/-bayt and Allah knows best.

vering hopefulness of Ya‘qub (‘alayhi as-salam) then at least be not as desirous as Zalikha. I feel pity for hearts that have been melted by their love for this worldly life, and for minds whose hopes are based on occult fabrications; they are being manipulated in the sea of desires just as how waves play with the one drowning,

Call those who have cut themselves off and moved to the valley of heedlessness! I wonder what sin made them remove themselves from the crowd of the pious!

Where can I find a worshipper who worships his Lord in the mannet of al-Sari?? Where can I find a person as detetmined and petsevering in worship as al-Junayd* was? Where can I find a person who strives and struggles with the intensity of Aba Yazid? Who can withstand the pangs of hunger like Al-Shublit?> O you who likes to be compared to Ibn Adham, why do you not have his strong will and determination? Indeed, all tents look the same (but the inhabitants are different].

> AlSari al-Saqti, the Imam of ascetics and the famous pious worshipper from the 3rd century after Hijrah.

4 AlJunaid: bin Muhammad az-Z.ujjaj, Abi al-Qasim. He was a Legal Jurist who followed the school of Aba Thawr and was known for asceticism. He died in the yeat 297H.

5 From the pious ascetics

SEEDS OF ADMONISHMENT AND REFORM

is all what remains today. [i.c. none of what they did benefited them afterward]. None the less, all that has remained with us of the pious of yore, are their tales and accounts.

al-Dunya: We were told by Muhammad ibn al-Husayn, I was told by ‘Isa ibn Maymun al-‘Attar, I was told by ‘Abda bint Abi Shawwal who used to serve Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyyah: ‘Rabi‘a used to pray the whole night. When morning would come she would lay down till the sky would turn to yellow. I used to hear her say: ‘My soul, how much do you sleep and till what time do you stand up? You might sleep for just a little and never get up until the Day of Resurrection.” See (Shar al-A Tam al-Nubuld’, 8/242, al-Ibar, 1/278), Ibn Khalakan (Wafayat al-ASan, 3/215), Ibn al-‘Imad (Shatharat al-Dhahab, 1/193), Ibn Kathir (a/-Bidayah wa’lNihayah, 10/186), al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (Tarikh Baghdad, 2/40) and Tbn alJawai (Sifat alSafva, 4/17-19), Al-Hafiz Ibn al-Jawzi even dedicated a book for her virtues as mentioned by al-Dhahabi (Styar a/-A lam al-Nubula’, 8/242) and also named his oldest daughter and mother of his grandson Abi al-Muzafir (the author of Mirat al-Zaman) Rabi'a.

” He is al-Husayn ibn Mansar al-Hallaj, who was known as Abi Mughith, or Abii ‘Abd-Allah. He grew up in Wasit, or it was said in Tastar, and he was connected with a group of Siifis inchading Sahl al-Tustari, al-Junayd, Abi’lHasan al-Niiri and others. He traveled to many places, including Makkah and Khurasan, and India where he learned sihr (magic, witchcraft). He finally settled in Baghdad, where he was killed. He is liked by most Orientalists, and they think that he was killed wrongfully because, as we shall see below, his beliefs were close to Christian beliefs and he preached a similar message. He was executed in Baghdad in 309 AH, because it was proven by his own confession and otherwise that he was a £afir and a heretic.

The scholars of his time agreed that he was to be executed because of the words of &afrand heresy that were narrated from him. ‘The following are some of the things that he said:

1He claimed to be a Prophet, then he went further and said that he was

God. He used to say, “Lam Alléb,” and he commanded his daughter-in-law to

prostrate to him. She said, “Should I prostrate to someone other than Allah?” He

said, “There is a god in the heavens and a god on earth.”

2He believed in incarnation and union with the Divine, i.c., that Allah was

incarnated in him, and that he and Allah had become one and the same - exalted be Allah far above that.

‘This is what made him acceptable to the Christian Orientalists, because he shared their belief in incarnation, for they believe that God was incarnated in {sa (‘alayhi as-salam). Hence al-Hallaj spoke of divine nature and human nature as the Christians do.

Some of the lines of verse that he composed said: “Glory be to the one Whose human form manifested the seoret of Elis divinity.”

Then He emerged among His creation in the form of one who eats and drinks.”

When Ibn Hanif heatd these lines, he said, “May the curse of Allah be upon the

one who said this.” Wt was said to him, “This is the poetry of al-Hallaj.” He said, “If this is what he believes, then he is a Aafir””

YOU WHO IS AFFLICTED with an ardent love for () this life, although you shall never attain from it except

what is decreed for you: there are many who attain provision without the least amount of effort, and there are many who expend all possible means but never receive any provision. Prophet Misa (‘a/ayhi as-salim) requested to be able to see His Lord but his request was denied, while Muhammad (#8) was woken

up from to hold an audience with his Lord even though he never asked fot it.

Woe to you: poverty is, in reality, better for your affairs, and losing this world should put you at ease; were it for the desirous that they would become conscious of the consequences of their actions! Plenty of good may lie concealed within what you dislike, which you would realise if only the cover over your eyes was removed.

Exalted is He Who ordained for the perfect to get along with

the uncouth ignorant nature. The eyes of the mind (intellect) observe the outcomes, while greed only notices the immediate ben-

efit; that is why the old man is exhausted when he attempts to discipline a young boy.

You should know that when you allowed free reign to your desires, they natrowed the road to your salvation. Your desires ruin the capital of your life with a reckless hand just as how an inept imbecile would do with a ball of wool.

O you who seeks help for the removal of poverty by employing his complaining tongue: know that what you perceive as the prison of poverty is actually a protective fortress, and it is indeed a sickness that only nobles suffer from. Poverty is a well and neediness is its depths, whereas self-desires are bonds of slavery; therefore “This worldly life is the prison of believers”

Be like Yasuf (a/aybi as-salam) who experienced the bitterness and hardship of living in the well and surviving in darkness, being sold into slavery and enduring imprisonment; perhaps, like him, you may emerge after all these hardships into the spacious kingdom of

ke kre ree ae tet WYggliade gle! “appoint me over the storehouses of the land.”

Brace yourself for the night of hardship, for the dawn of reward is soon to break the night. Poverty is nothingness within which lies the existence of everything, whereas richness is an existence within which lies a void.

The Prophet (38) was offered enough gold to fill the valley of Makkah but he refused. O Muhammad, from whom did you learnt contentedness? The state of his being answered: from my father’s