A Moslem seeker after God

by Samuel Marinus Zwemer

And see that our lot is one, and you as I.’”

We are indebted to the Rev. Dwight M. Donaldson of Mashad, Persia, for the interesting photographs of the ruins of Tus and of the supposed tomb of Al-Ghazali. The mosque is very old and probably dates from the time of Al-Ghazali. The grave shown in the picture, however, may not be the grave of Al-Ghazali the mystic but of another celebrated Ghazali. For we read in As-Subqi (Vol. III, p. 36) that there was one called Ahmed ibn Mohammed Abu Hamed Al-Ghazali, the older and earlier one. He says that people have thrown doubt upon his very existence, but that after careful inquiry he has found mention of this man in several books, including the Kitab Al Ansab of Ibn As-Samʾani. He mentions the fact that this man also lived in Khorasan, was celebrated for his learning, wrote books on theological questions, and was buried at Tus, where his grave was well known; and because of this people called him the Old Ghazali, and used to come to his grave in order to obtain answers to their prayers. He thinks that this Ghazali was either the uncle or the grand-uncle of Al-Ghazali, whose biography we have written. Incidentally we may conclude from this statement of As-Subqi that the name of Al-Ghazali was not given to him because his father was a spinner of wool! It must have been an old family name.

Mr. Donaldson gives this interesting information: “The walls of the old city of Tus still stand. It is one farsakh around them, three and a third miles. There are many fragments of towers and in nine places there are remains of gates. The wall was originally five yards wide. In the largest cemetery the tombstone of Ahmad Ghazali may still be seen. This cemetery lies southwest from the city and while the bulk of it is now under cultivation, the more distant part that lies on the higher ground beyond the waterway has been kept a cemetery.

“The picture I have enclosed of Ghazali’s tomb is not as satisfactory as I would have liked. It shows that a large chip has been taken from one corner of the grave. The stone is about two yards long, one-third yard wide, and one-third yard high. There are positive indications of an effort having been made to cut off the portion on which the name of Ahmed Al-Ghazali appears. It is the part that is chipped in the picture. About at the point where the chipping appears to begin there is a straight line cut about one inch deep across the top of the stone.

“On the road that runs through the city from the southwest gate the old mosque is imposing even in its ruined condition. It stands eighteen yards high and the inner measurements show it to consist of a square base, five yards high, then an octagonal structure eight yards high. (See illustration.)

“Outside the southwest gate an ancient bridge is still in use, as caravans from Mashad come through the old city of Tus. This bridge has eight arches, each four and one-half yards wide. The name of the stream is the Kashf Rud.

“The fortress itself is interesting; it is surrounded by a moat and a wall, within which lies a large courtyard and the high approach to the fort itself. At present we could walk around the wall and approach the fort by a passage in the rear. In the courtyard they are now raising the best water-melons we have eaten in Persia. Four gigantic corner fragments of the fort are now standing. In the midst of the débris of bricks within these old walls we found interesting fragments of pottery.”

In another letter from Mashad, Persia, dated January 17, 1917, the Rev. Dwight M. Donaldson writes: “This week I made another trip to Tus, carefully examining again the tombstone of Ghazali. As I wrote you before, the stone has been badly worn and in addition to that has been mutilated. However, on the point of doubt as to whether the stone photographed was really the one marking Mohammed Al-Ghazali’s tomb, or the tomb of another Ahmad Al-Ghazali, I can now say that I believe it is the tomb of Abu Hamed ibn Mohammed ibn Mohammed ibn Mohammed Al-Ghazali, for the reason that we can clearly read on the corner of the top of the stone, the end which some one in times past attempted to cut off, the name ‎‏غزّالي‏‎ and ‎‏بوحا‏‎. And as one studies the stone he is almost willing to declare that the name is fully intelligible with the exception of the initial aleph. The whole top is badly worn indeed, but the word that my mirza first read as Ahmad is clearly not Ahmad, but what it is we cannot tell. The damage is too complete.

“You will notice that Ghazzali appears in the stone to have been spelled with a tashdeed and yet the mark we have considered a tashdeed is not the usual form (v instead of w).”

This investigation, therefore, would seem to settle two points: that we have at Tus the neglected and mutilated grave of the great mystic and theologian, Al-Ghazali; and that on this grave the middle letter of the name is double. In view of the common usage, however, and in deference to the authorities of Moslems themselves, we have uniformly written Ghazali.