CHAPTER XII.
Concerning the principal Ṣúfís of recent times.
You must know that in our days there are some persons who cannot endure the burden of discipline (riyáḍat) and seek authority (riyásat) without discipline, and think that all Ṣúfís are like themselves; and when they hear the sayings of those who have passed away and see their eminence and read of their devotional practices they examine themselves, and finding that they are far inferior to the Shaykhs of old they no longer attempt to emulate them, but say: “We are not as they, and there is none like them in our time.” Their assertion is absurd, for God never leaves the earth without a proof (ḥujjat) or the Moslem community without a saint, as the Apostle said: “One sect of my people shall continue in goodness and truth until the hour of the Resurrection.” And he said also: “There shall always be in my people forty who have the nature of Abraham.”
Some of those whom I shall mention in this chapter are already deceased, and some are still living.
1. Abu ´l-`Abbás Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Qaṣṣáb.
He associated with the leading Shaykhs of Transoxania. He was famed for his lofty spiritual endowments, his true sagacity, his abundant evidences, ascetic practices, and miracles. Abú `Abdalláh Khayyáṭí, the Imám of Ṭabaristán, says of him: “It is one of God’s bounties that He has made a person who was never taught able to answer our questions about any difficulty touching the principles of religion and the subtleties of Unification.” Although Abu ´l-Abbás Qaṣṣáb was illiterate (ummí), he discoursed in sublime fashion concerning the science of Ṣúfiism and theology. I have heard many stories of him, but my rule in this book is brevity. One day a camel, with a heavy burden, was going through the market-place at Ámul, which is always muddy. The camel fell and broke its leg. While the lad in charge of it was lamenting and lifting his hands to implore the help of God, and the people were about to take the load off its back, the Shaykh passed by, and asked what was the matter. On being informed, he seized the camel’s bridle and turned his face to the sky and said: “O Lord! make the leg of this camel whole. If Thou wilt not do so, why hast Thou let my heart be melted by the tears of a lad?” The camel immediately got up and went on its way.
It is stated that he said: “All mankind, whether they will or no, must reconcile themselves to God, or else they will suffer pain,” because, when you are reconciled to Him in affliction, you see only the Author of affliction, and the affliction itself does not come; and if you are not reconciled to Him, affliction comes and your heart is filled with anguish. God having predestined our satisfaction and dissatisfaction, does not alter His predestination: therefore our satisfaction with His decrees is a part of our pleasure. Whenever anyone reconciles himself to Him, that man’s heart is rejoiced; and whenever anyone turns away from Him, that man is distressed by the coming of destiny.
2. Abú `Alí Ḥasan b. Muḥammad al-Daqqáq.
He was the leading authority in his department (of science) and had no rival among his contemporaries. He was lucid in exposition and eloquent in speech as regards the revelation of the way to God. He had seen many Shaykhs and associated with them. He was a pupil of Naṣrábádi[[99]] and used to be a preacher (tadhkír kardí). It is related that he said: “Whoever becomes intimate with anyone except God is weak in his (spiritual) state, and whoever speaks of anyone except God is false in his speech,” because intimacy with anyone except God springs from not knowing God sufficiently, and intimacy with Him is friendlessness in regard to others, and the friendless man does not speak of others.
I heard an old man relate that one day he went to the place where al-Daqqáq held his meetings, with the intention of asking him about the state of those who trust in God (mutawakkilán). Al-Daqqáq was wearing a fine turban manufactured in Ṭabaristán, which the old man coveted. He said to al-Daqqáq: “What is trust in God?” The Shaykh replied: “To refrain from coveting people’s turbans.” With these words he flung his turban in front of the questioner.