A Real Shaykh Sees Everything

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following are some anecdotes of Shaykh ‘Adi ibn Musafir (q.s.) giving an example of the saying that a real shaykh sees everything of his muridun. 

As related by a Shaykh Isma’il at-Tunisi, “Together with a party of fellow Tunisians, I set out to visit Shaykh ‘Adi.  Once we arrived at our destination, and gave salaam to the shaykh, we sat down and began to discuss the karamat of the awliya’ and their maqamat. 

The shaykh said, ‘Any shaykh who is not aware of every single move his pupil makes in the course of the night, is not a real shaykh.  Whether his pupil is at the eastern end of the earth, or at the western end, this still applies.’ 

On hearing this, I said to myself, ‘This is difficult matter.  It means that when I am having intercourse with my wife, my shaykh is watching me!’ For one whole month, after I had returned to my home in Tunisia, I strictly avoided contact with my wife.  Shaykh ‘Adi knew what I was up to, so he gave these instructions to a visiting group of fuqara’, ‘When you return home, one of you must go by way of Tunisia, and tell Isma’il to come here to me.’  They duly conveyed the shaykh’s message, so I got myself ready at once, and set out to revisit him. 

Ás soon as I arrived and gave him salaam, the shaykh rebuked me severely.  ‘O Ismail,’ he said, ‘which is dearer to the shaykh?  Would he rather see his pupil engaged in something halal or in something haram?  You must not behave like that again!’ 

I accepted his command, by saying, ‘To hear is to obey!’  Then I set out on my journey home.” 

It is also related that a Shaykh Abu Isra’il Ya’qub spent three years in solitude in the mountain until he grew a second skin.  A wolf came and licked him, until it licked him like the pith of the palm tree.  Astonishment overwhelmed him such he looked at wolf askance, and it urinated on him. 

He thought to himself, “If only Allah (s.w.t.) would Send me a wali.”  Shaykh ‘Adi (q.s.) appeared immediately by his side, but, to his dismay, he did not greet Shaykh Abu Isra’il (q.s.) with the salaam. 

Shaykh ‘Adi (q.s.) told him, “We do not offer salaam and tarhab to someone who is urinated upon by wolves.”  Shaykh Abu Isra’il then gave a full account of what had happened to him, and appealed to Shaykh ‘Adi (q.s.) to bring it to an end. 

The shaykh responded by striking a boulder with his foot, and the rock erupted with the water of the Nile.  He kicked another, and a pomegranate tree sprouted from it.  “I am ‘Adi,” he told the tree, “so grow, by the leave of Allah (s.w.t.), one day sweet, and one day sour.”  Then he turned to Shaykh Abu Isra’il (q.s.), “O Abu Isra’il, you must stay here.  Eat from this tree, and drink from this fountain.  If you ever need me, just mention my name, and I shall come to you.” The shaykh then left him and went on his way.  Shaykh Abu Isra’il remained there in zuhd for a period of several years.