XII.
Shibab Ad-Din (flambeau of the faith) as-Suhrawardi was a pious and holy Shaikh, most assiduous in his spiritual exercises, and the practice of devotion, and successfully guided a great number of Sufis in their efforts to obtain perfection. Many persons wrote to him for his opinion on circumstances which concerned themselves, and one wrote as follows: 'My lord,—If I cease to work I shall remain in idleness, and if I work I am filled with self-satisfaction; which is best?' To this the Shaikh replied: 'Work, and ask Almighty God to pardon thy self-satisfaction.' The following is one of his verses:
'If I contemplate you, I am all eyes; and if I think of you I am all heart.'
XIII.
Abu Ali Al-Jubbai was an able master in the science of dogmatic theology, and had at one time a pupil named Abul Hasan Al-Ashari. It is related that one day the two had the following discussion. Al-Ashari propounded to his master the case of three brothers, one of whom was a true believer, virtuous and pious; the second an infidel, a debauchee, and a reprobate; and the third an infant; they all died, and Al-Ashari wished to know what had become of them. To this Al-Jubbai answered: 'The virtuous brother holds a high position in Paradise, the infidel is in the depths of hell, and the child is among those who have obtained salvation.' 'Suppose now,' said Al-Ashari, 'that the child should wish to ascend to the place occupied by his virtuous brother, would he be allowed to do so?' 'No,' replied Al-Jubbai, 'it would be said to him: "Thy brother arrived at this place through his numerous works of obedience towards God, and thou hast no such works to set forward."' 'Suppose, then,' said Al-Ashari, 'that the child say, "That is not my fault; you did not let me live long enough, neither did you give me the means of proving my obedience."' 'In that case,' answered Al-Jubbai, 'the Almighty would say: "I knew that if I allowed thee to live thou wouldst have been disobedient, and incurred the severe punishment of hell; I therefore acted for thy advantage."' 'Well,' said Al-Ashari, 'and suppose the infidel brother were here to say: "O God of the Universe! since you knew what awaited him, you must have known what awaited me; why, then, did you act for his advantage and not for mine?"' Al-Jubbai had not a word to offer in reply. This discussion proves that the Almighty elects some for mercy, and others for punishment, and that his acts are not the results of any motive whatsoever.
XIV.
It is related that As-Shafi said: 'There are five men on whom people must rely for the nourishment of their minds: he who wishes to become learned in jurisprudence must have recourse to Abu Hanifah; he who desires to become skilled in poetry must apply to Zoheir bin Ali Sulma, the author of one of the Mua'llakas, or suspended poems at Mecca; he who would like to become well acquainted with the history of the Muslim conquests must obtain his information from Muhammad bin Ishak; he who wishes to become deeply learned in grammar must have recourse to Al-Kisai; and he who seeks to be acquainted with the interpretations of the Koran must apply to Mukatil bin Sulaiman.'
XV.
There are several stories current as to how the Khalif Omar bin Al-Khattab took upon himself the title of 'Commander of the Faithful.' One is that Omar was one day holding a public sitting, when he said: 'By Allah! I do not know what we must say. Abu Bakr was the successor of the Apostle of God, and I am the successor of the successor of God's Apostle. Is there any title that can answer?' Those who were present said: 'Commander (Amir) will do.' 'Nay,' said Omar, 'you are all commanders.' On this Al-Mughira said: 'We are the faithful, and you are our Commander.' 'Then,' said Omar, 'I am the Commander of the Faithful.'