The Changing of Sizes

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

The following is extracted from Qala’id al-Jawahir by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Yahya at-Tadhifi al-Hanbali (q.s.) and translated by Ustadz Mukhtar Holland. 

It was Shaykh Baqa’ iba Batu (q.s.) who said, “On one occasion, while I was present at the session held by our master, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir (q.s.), he was speaking from the first stair of the lectern.  He suddenly interrupted his speech, became absent minded for a moment, and stepped down on the floor.  Then he mounted the lectern, and sat on the second stair.  I noticed that the first stair had widened, until it stretched as far as the eye could see.  It was carpeted with green silk brocade, and seated upon it were Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.), Abu Bakr (r.a.), ‘Umar (r.a.), ‘Utsman (r.a.) and ‘Ali (k.w.).  The Lord of Truth (s.w.t.) Manifested Himself upon the heart of Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir (r.a.), so he leaned over, until he was on the verge of falling down.  Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.) held him steady, to keep him from falling.  Then the shaykh grew smaller and smaller, until he became just like a sparrow.  Then he grew larger and larger, until he assumed a gigantic form.  Then he vanished from my sight.” 

When Shaykh Baqa’ (q.s.) was later questioned about his vision of Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.) and his companions, he said, “Their spirits took on physical shape, and Allah (s.w.t.) Reinforced them with an energy that made them visible.  They could therefore be seen by anyone whom Allah (s.w.t.) Empowered to behold them, in the form of physical bodies, and with the attributes of substantial entities.”  Evidence of this can be found in the ahadits of the Mi’raj. 

When someone asked him to explain why Shaykh Muhyi ad-Din Abu Muhammad ibn Abu Swalih ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (q.s.) grew smaller and smaller, and then larger and larger, Shaykh Baqa’ (q.s.) said, “The impact of the first tajalli was too stunning for a human being to absorb, without Prophetic support.  That is why the shaykh almost collapsed, and would have done so, if Allah's Messenger (s.a.w.) had not caught him in time.  The quality of the second manifestation was that of Divine Majesty which explains why the shaykh grew smaller and smaller.”  As for the third manifestation, he witnessed it as a display of Divine Beauty, which accounts for his reinvigoration, and why he grew larger and larger. 

سُوۡرَةُ الحَدید

… ذَٲلِكَ فَضۡلُ ٱللَّهِ يُؤۡتِيهِ مَن يَشَآءُ‌ۚ وَٱللَّهُ ذُو ٱلۡفَضۡلِ ٱلۡعَظِيمِ (٢١) 

… that is the Grace of Allah which He Bestows on whom He Pleases: and Allah is the Lord of Grace Abounding. (Surah al-Hadid:21)