He was a great and celebrated Shaykh. He had a blameless spiritual life and enjoyed perfect communion with God. He was subtle in the use of symbolism, wherefore one of the moderns says: “The wonders of the world are three: the symbolical utterances (ishárát) of Shiblí, and the mystical sayings (nukat) of Murta`ish, and the anecdotes (ḥikáyát) of Ja`far.“[[97]] At first he was chief chamberlain to the Caliph, but he was converted in the assembly-room (majlis) of Khayr al-Nassáj and became a disciple of Junayd. He made the acquaintance of a large number of Shaykhs. It is related that he explained the verse ”Tell the believers to refrain their eyes” (Kor. xxiv, 30) as follows: “O Muḥammad, tell the believers to refrain their bodily eyes from what is unlawful, and to refrain their spiritual eyes from everything except God,” i.e. not to look at lust and to have no thought except the vision of God. It is a mark of heedlessness to follow one’s lusts and to regard unlawful things, and the greatest calamity that befalls the heedless is that they are ignorant of their own faults; for anyone who is ignorant here shall also be ignorant hereafter: “Those who are blind in this world shall be blind in the next world” (Kor. xvii, 74). In truth, until God clears the desire of lust out of a man’s heart the bodily eye is not safe from its hidden dangers, and until God establishes the desire of Himself in a man’s heart the spiritual eye is not safe from looking at other than Him.
It is related that one day when Shiblí came into the bazaar, the people said, “This is a madman.” He replied: “You think I am mad, and I think you are sensible: may God increase my madness and your sense!” i.e., inasmuch as my madness is the result of intense love of God, while your sense is the result of great heedlessness, may God increase my madness in order that I may become nearer and nearer to Him, and may He increase your sense in order that you may become farther and farther from Him. This he said from jealousy (ghayrat) that anyone should be so beside one’s self as not to separate love of God from madness and not to distinguish between them in this world or the next.
58. Abú Muḥammad Ja`far b. Nuṣayr al-Khuldí.
He is the well-known biographer of the Saints. One of the most eminent and oldest of Junayd’s pupils, he was profoundly versed in the various branches of Ṣúfiism and paid the utmost respect to the Shaykhs. He has many sublime sayings. In order to avoid spiritual conceit, he attributed to different persons the anecdotes which he composed in illustration of each topic. It is related that he said: “Trust in God is equanimity whether you find anything or no,” i.e., you are not made glad by having daily bread or sorrowful by not having it, because it is the property of the Lord, who has a better right than you either to preserve or to destroy: do not interfere, but let the Lord dispose of His own. Ja`far relates that he went to Junayd and found him suffering from a fever. “O Master,” he cried, “tell God in order that He may restore thee to health.” Junayd said: “Last night I was about to tell Him, but a voice whispered in my heart, ‘Thy body belongs to Me: I keep it well or ill, as I please. Who art thou, that thou shouldst interfere with My property.’”
59. Abú `Alí Muḥammad b. al-Qásim al-Rúdbárí.
He was a great Ṣúfí and of royal descent. Many signs and virtues were vouchsafed to him. He discoursed lucidly on the arcana of Ṣúfiism. It is related that he said: “He who desires (muríd) desires for himself only what God desires for him, and he who is desired (murád) does not desire anything in this world or the next except God.” Accordingly, he who is satisfied with the will of God must abandon his own will in order that he may desire, whereas the lover has no will of his own that he should have any object of desire. He who desires God desires only what God desires, and he whom God desires desires only God. Hence satisfaction (riḍá) is one of the “stations” (maqámát) of the beginning, and love (maḥabbat) is one of the “states” (aḥwál) of the end. The “stations” are connected with the realization of servantship (`ubúdiyyat), while ecstasy (mashrab) leads to the corroboration of Lordship (rubúbiyyat). This being so, the desirer (muríd) subsists in himself, and the desired (murád) subsists in God.
60. Abu ´l-`Abbás Qásim b. al-Mahdí[[98]] al-Sayyárí.
He associated with Abú Bakr Wásiṭí and derived instruction from many Shaykhs. He was the most accomplished (aẕraf) of the Ṣúfís in companionship (ṣuḥbat) and the most sparing (azhad) of them in friendship (ulfat). He is the author of lofty sayings and praiseworthy compositions. It is related that he said: “Unification (al-tawḥíd) is this: that nothing should occur to your mind except God.” He belonged to a learned and influential family of Merv. Having inherited a large fortune from his father, he gave the whole of it in return for two of the Apostle’s hairs. Through the blessing of those hairs God bestowed on him a sincere repentance. He fell into the company of Abú Bakr Wásiṭí, and attained such a high degree that he became the leader of a Ṣúfí sect. When he was on the point of death, he gave directions that those hairs should be placed in his mouth. His tomb is still to be seen at Merv, and people come thither to seek what they desire; and their prayers are granted.
61. Abú `Abdalláh Muḥammad b. Khafíf.
He was the Imám of his age in diverse sciences. He was renowned for his mortifications and for his convincing elucidation of mystical truths. His spiritual attainments are clearly shown by his compositions. He was acquainted with Ibn `Aṭá and Shiblí and Ḥusayn b. Manṣúr and Jurayrí, and associated at Mecca with Abú Ya`qúb Nahrajúrí. He made excellent journeys in detachment from the world (tajríd). He was of royal descent, but God bestowed on him repentance, so that he turned his back on the glories of this world. He is held in high esteem by spiritualists. It is related that he said: “Unification consists in turning away from nature,” because the natures of mankind are all veiled from the bounties and blind to the beneficence of God. Hence no one can turn to God until he has turned away from nature, and the “natural” man (ṣáḥib ṭab`) is unable to apprehend the reality of Unification, which is revealed to you only when you see the corruption of your own nature.