Virtues of the Righteous
10. They say that Ibrahim ibn Adham once went into the desert and met a warrior there who asked, «Where is there a settlement near here?» Ibrahim pointed towards the cemetery.
The warrior thought that he was mocking him and struck Ibrahim f painfully on the head, wounding him. When Ibrahim left, the warrior was told that this man was an ascetic who was famous in Khorasan, the ascetic Ibrahim ibn Adham .
And then the warrior came to him with an apology. Ibrahim said to him in response, «When you struck me, I asked the Almighty to grant you Paradise.» The warrior asked about the reason for such an appeal and Ibrahim replied, “I realised that for the blow you struck I receive good recompense from the Lord. And didn’t want you to get anything bad because of me when I got something good from you.”
11. It is said that a certain person invited Sheikh Abu Uthman al Hiri to visit. And when the righteous man approached the gate of the house to which he had been invited, he heard from the owner, “O Sheikh, now is an unsuitable time for you to come in. And, anyway, I regret having invited you today, so leave.” So Abu Uthman turned back.
And when the sheikh had already reached the gates of his own house, he heard these words addressed to him by the same person who had refused the righteous hospitality, “O Sheikh, I very much regret what was said,” and began to apologize.
Then the righteous said he would come to him again. The sheikh went a second time and at the gate of the house where he had been invited again heard the same words as the first time.
That person behaved in exactly the same way with the righteous for a third and a fourth time, Abu Uthman al Hiri dutifully leaving and coming again.
And only after yet another refusal did this man admit, “O Sheikh, I wanted to test you,” and then began to apologize, praising Abu Usman al Hiri .
Then the sheikh said, “Do not praise me for a quality that you will find even in a dog. After all, a dog also comes and goes when it is called and they chase it away.»
12. Another tradition says that Abu Uthman was once walking along a road in the midday heat. And suddenly, from the roof of one of the houses, a full bowl of ash was tipped onto the righteous.
The friends who were accompanying him became very angry and started to curse.
Then Abu Uthman said, “Don’t curse! Is it fitting to be angry if they have showered with ash one who is deserving of fire?”
13. It is said that a murid once came to visit Jafar ibn Khanzalat . The householder tended to the murid with the utmost hospitality, whereupon he said,
“You would be a fine person, were you not a Jew [1]”. To this Jafar responded, “My creed does not affect my tending to you. It is better to ask the Almighty for healing [2] for yourself, and for me guidance on the true path.”
14. It is said that one of the fireworshipers often used the tailor Abdullah Hayat . Abdullah sewed clothes for him and he always paid with fake dirhams. Once, as he was busy, Abdullah was unable to go to his shop when that fireworshiper came again with fake dirhams.
Abdullah’s apprentice refused to accept this money and the fire worshiper consequently had to pay with real dirhams. Upon his return, Abdullah enquired of his apprentice,
“Where is the fireworshiper’s shirt?” The apprentice told him what had happened.
Then Abdullah said, “How badly you behaved! This man has been paying me in fake dirhams for a long time but I showed patience by throwing these coins into a well so that they could not fool others.”
CHAPTER 5
RENUNCIATION OF THE GOODS OF WORLDLY LIFE
The meaning of renunciation of the worldly
The essence of renunciation of the worldly (zuhd) is the liberation of the heart from all except the Almighty, the renunciation of any means of obtaining worldly possessions and also the renunciation of property itself.
By renunciation is meant the absence of any hope for a long life and the liberation of both the heart and hands from pursuit of the goods of worldly life.
Asceticism leads a person to generosity with property, just as love leads to a willingness to sacrifice your soul. A son of Adam will not achieve the level of true detachment from the worldly until three qualities take root within him.
The first is the absence of the heart’s attachment to performing deeds; that is, one should not rely on oneself but bind one’s heart exclusively to Almighty Allah and trust only in Him. For, after all, a person does not create anything himself but only implements what Almighty Allah tells him to do.
The second is to talk without hoping on others, that is, lack of the desire to obtain the goods of other people through one’s words.
The third is distinction without vanity and striving for ambition. This means that no matter how much Almighty Allah might elevate a person’s authority, a true slave of Allah always perceives himself to be lower and more unworthy than others.
Such a slave of Allah does not seek to dominate other people and does not place himself higher than them. Know that love of the worldly is censured in all the divine laws (Sharias) which have been sent, since it is the basis of all sin and the cause of all discord.
Therefore, it is necessary for a slave of Almighty Allah to renounce the worldly and uproot from his heart love of high position in the community. Indeed, ambition is worse than love of wealth for its owner. These qualities give rise to love for the pleasures of worldly life, which are the primordial enemies of man.
Contempt for the worldly is necessary renounce it
Know that Allah’s close slaves have revealed the true essence of worldly life and have discerned all the inconsequentiality of the worldly (dunya). Therefore, the righteous accord the worldly no attention and do not attach their hearts to it.
It is said that one day our master Ali ibn Abu Talib entered a cemetery and said, “O inhabitants of the graves, peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His grace. Will you tell us your news or will we tell you ours? ” In response he heard a voice saying, “And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His grace. Tell us what happened after us.»
Then Ali continued, “Your wives got married, your property was dispersed, your children became orphans and your enemies settled in your houses which you built and made strong. This is the sort of news we have.
And what of yours?” And the voice replied, “Our shrouds have rotted, our hair has fallen out, our skin has decomposed, our eyes have run onto our cheeks and our nasal cavities have putrefied. We have found what we did there in life and have lost what we left behind in the allotted world. We are hostages of our deeds.”
Righteous ones have said this about the worldly:
Fudayl ibn `Iyad , “Even if the whole world were offered to me and without my accounting for it on the Day of Judgement, this world would be repugnant to me, just as carrion is disgusting to a person passing by, being afraid of getting his clothes soiled.” Ibrahim ibn Adham , learning about a rise in the price of meat, said, “Make it cheap,» that is, do not buy it at all
Thus, Sufis came to the following conclusion: Whoever looks on the worldly with the gaze of love and desire, Almighty Allah will deprive of the divine light (nur) as well as the true knowledge and asceticism of the heart. Abul Hussein al Hawari was asked about renunciation of worldly delights, to which he replied, “Asceticism is perception of the worldly, derogating its worth and with contempt of it as not deserving of attention, while at the same time preserving one’s own dignity.»
- It is probable that the murid believed that he was Jewish and that Jafar, on account of his modesty, did not reveal to him the truth of his religious creed.
- He was probably ill.
From the book “Virtues of the righteous” by sheikh Ahmad-Afandi Mufti Dagestan
