Iqazh al-Himam fi Sharh al-Hikam, Chapter One, Part Five

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following is taken from the first chapter of Iqazh al-Himam fi Sharh al-Hikam, a commentary on al-Hikam of Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari (q.s.), by Shaykh Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ajibah (q.s.). 

The hadits states, “There is lump of flesh in the body, the nature of which is that when it is sound, the entire body is sound, and when it is corrupt, the entire body is corrupt - it is the heart.”  It is because of this that the states of the Sufis vary.  Some of them are worshippers, some are ascetics, some are scrupulous, and some are muridun and gnostics. 

Imam Ahmad ibn Ahmad az-Zarruq (q.s.) said, in his Qawa’id at-Taswawwuf, “Piety is adopting every way of virtue without paying attention to other than it.  If someone desires realisation of that, he is a worshipper.  If he inclines to taking states, he is scrupulous.  If he prefers to abandon seeking so as to be safe, he is an ascetic.  If he releases himself in what Allah (s.w.t.) desires, he is a gnostic.  If he adopts character and attachment, he is a murid.” 

He said in another rule, “Different paths do not remain different goals.  In spite of the different methods, like worship, asceticism and gnosis; the unifier pursues the ways which lead to Nearness to Allah (s.w.t.) on the Path of Nobility.  All of them interpenetrate.  So the gnostic must have worship or there is no point to his gnosis since he does not worship the One he recognises.  He must have asceticism or there is no reality to him if he does not turn from what is other than Him.  The worshipper must have both since there is no worship without recognition and there is no devotion to worship except with asceticism.  The same is true for the ascetic, since there is no asceticism without recognition and no asceticism without worship.  Otherwise the Blessings are fruitless.  The one who is dominated by action is a worshipper, the one dominated by abandonment is an ascetic, and the one dominated by looking at how Allah (s.w.t.) Disposes of things is a gnostic.  All is Sufism, and Allah Knows best.” 

Since sincerity is a precondition for every action, he mentioned its effect: “Actions are merely propped-up shapes.  Their ruh is the presence of the sirr of sincerity in them.”  Actions refer to physical movements or movements of the heart.  The shapes are the qualities which the mind fixes.  The ruh and the sirr are lodged in living creatures.  Here, it refers to that by which perfection is achieved in actions.  Sincerity is when the heart is devoted to the worship of the Lord; as well as with its sirr and dzat.  That is, the truthfulness designated by being free of strength and might since it is only complete by it, even if it is sound without it since sincerity negates showing-off and hidden shirk.  Its sirr negates pride.  Self-regard and showing off detract from the soundness of the action, while pride detracts only from its perfection. 

All actions are forms and bodies.  Their ruh is the existence of sincerity in them.  As forms can only abide with spirits since otherwise they are dead and fallen, so actions of the body and heart only abide by the existence of sincerity in them.  Otherwise they are propped shapes and empty forms of no consideration.  Allah (s.w.t.) Says: 

سُوۡرَةُ البَیّنَة

وَمَآ أُمِرُوٓاْ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُواْ ٱللَّهَ مُخۡلِصِينَ لَهُ ٱلدِّينَ حُنَفَآءَ ... (٥) 

And they have been Commanded no more than this: to worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion, being True (in faith) ... (Surah al-Bayyinah:5) 

سُوۡرَةُ الزُّمَر

... فَٱعۡبُدِ ٱللَّهَ مُخۡلِصً۬ا لَّهُ ٱلدِّينَ (٢) 

… so serve Allah, offering Him sincere devotion. (Surah az-Zumar:2) 

Rasulullah (s.a.w.) reported that Allah (s.w.t.) Says, “I am the furthest removed from what is associated with Me.”  Rasulullah (s.a.w.) said, “That which I most fear for my community is hidden shirk.  It is showing off.”  In one version, “Fear this hidden shirk; it creeps like an ant.”  

They asked, “What is hidden shirk?” 

“Showing off,” he replied. 

In a hadits, the Prophet (s.a.w.) was asked about sincerity and said, “Not until I ask Jibril.” 

When the Rasulullah (s.a.w.) asked him, he said, “Not until I ask the Lord of Might.” 

Jibril (a.s.) asked Him, then told Rasulullah (s.a.w.) He Says, “It is one of My Secrets which I have Entrusted in the hearts of those of My slaves who love Me.  No angel sees it so that he records it and no devil sees it so that he can corrupt it.” 

One of them said, “This is station of ihsan: that you worship Allah (s.w.t.) as if you see Him.” 

Sincerity has three levels: the level of the common, the level of the elite, and the level of the elite of the elite.  The sincerity of the common is to remove Creation from dealings with Allah (s.w.t.) while seeking the portions of dunya and akhirah, like preservation of the body, money, expanded provision, castles and huwriyyah.  The sincerity of the elite is to seek the portions of akhirah rather than dunya.  The sincerity of the elite of the elite to seek to remove all portions so their worship is to fully realise servanthood and to undertake the requirements of the Lord, or love and yearning for His vision, as Shaykh ‘Umar ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Farid (q.s.) said, “My request is not for bliss of the Garden; I only desire to see You.” 

Another said: 

All of them worship out of fear of the Fire,

And see Salvation as a generous portion,

Or seek to dwell in the Garden,

And to relax in meadows and drink of Salsabil.

I have no opinion of Gardens or Fire.

I do not seek any recompense for my love. 

Shaykh Abu Thalib Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Makki (q.s.) said, “Sincerity with the sincere is to remove creatures from one’s dealings with the Real.  The first of these creatures is the self.  Sincerity among the lovers is not to do an action for the sake of the self.  Otherwise it is affected by looking for recompense or inclining to the portion of the self.  For the unifiers, sincerity is to remove creatures from dealings with of the Real by not seeing them in actions and not relying and relaxing with them in states.” 

One of the shuyukh said, “Make your actions sound with sincerity and make your sincerity sound by being free from strength and power.” 

One of the gnostics said, “Sincerity is not achieved until people do not see and until he fails to think of people.” 

That is why another said, “Whenever you fall in people’s sight, you become great in Allah’s (s.w.t.) Sight.  Whenever you become great in the sight of people, you fall in Allah’s (s.w.t.) Sight.”  This is when we take note of them and are watchful of them. 

I heard our shaykh say, “As long as the slave continues to watch people and have awe of them, his sincerity will never be fully realised.”  He also said, “Your watching Allah (s.w.t.) will never be combined with watching Creation because it is impossible that you see Him and see other-than-Him with Him.”  The upshot is that it is not possible to ever leave the self and to be purified of subtle showing off without a shaykh.  Allah Knows best. 

So obscurity is part of sincerity.  Indeed, it is usually only achieved by it since the self has no portion in it.  That is why he said, “Bury your existence in the earth of obscurity.  If something sprouts before it is buried, its fruits will never ripen.”  “Burying” is to cover up and conceal.  “Obscurity” is loss of position with people.  “Fruits” is a metaphor for wisdom, gifts and knowledge which the slave harvests from gnosis of Allah (s.w.t.).  That is when his nafs dies and his ruh lives.  Murid, conceal our nafs and bury it in obscurity so that it is intimate with it, happy with it and finds it sweeter than honey, and to display itself becomes more bitter than colocynth.  When we bury it in the land of obscurity and its roots stretch out in it, then we will pluck its fruits and obtain its yield: the secret of sincerity and realised of the station of the elite of elite.  If we do not bury it in the earth of obscurity and allow it to make itself famous, its tree dies or its fruits drop off.  Then, when the gnostics harvest from what they have planted of the gardens of their gnosis and what they buried of the treasures of wisdoms and storehouses of understanding remain, you will be poor, begging or trying to steal. 

‘Isa (a.s.) asked his companions, “Where does grain grow?” 

They replied, “In the earth.” 

‘Isa (a.s.) said, “It is the same for wisdom.  It only grows in the heart which is like the earth.” 

One of the gnostics said, “Whenever you bury your nafs in earth after earth, your heart rises heaven after heaven.” 

Once Rasulullah (s.a.w.) was sitting with Sayyidina al-Aqra’ ibn Habis (r.a.), a great man of the Banu Tamim, when one of the poor Muslims passed by.  Rasulullah (s.a.w.) asked Sayyidina al-Aqra’ (r.a.), “What do you say about this one?” 

He replied, “Rasulullah, this is just one of the poor.  If he were to propose marriage, his proposal would not be worth accepting, and if he were to intercede, his intercession would not be granted, and if he were to speak, his words would not be listened to.” 

Then a wealthy man passed by them and the Rasulullah (s.a.w.) asked him, “And what do you say about this one?” 

He replied, “If he proposes marriage, his proposal is accepted, if he intercedes his intercession would be granted, and if he were to speak, his words would be listened to.” 

The Rasulullah (s.a.w.) said, “This (poor man) is better than what the earth contains and better than this one.” 

There are many ahadits and sayings which praise obscurity.  If it contained nothing but rest and freeing the heart, that would be enough.  Imam Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Muradi al-Hadhrami (q.s.) wrote: 

“Live obscure among people and be pleased with that.

That is sounder for this world and the Diyn.

If someone associates with people, his Diyn is not safe,

And he vacillates between being moved and being still.” 

One of the wise said, “Obscurity is a Blessing but the nafs rejects it.  Display is revenge while the nafs desires it.” 

Shaykh ibn ‘Atha’illah (q.s.) said, “The end of this Path of ours is only proper for people who sweep rubbish heaps with their spirits.” 

Someone who is tested by rank and leadership must make use of ruin in which a way that it will lower his rank, provided it is disliked rather than that which agreed to be unlawful, with the aim of treating that, like begging in shops or houses, eating in markets and where people will see him, sleeping in them, drinking with a water skin, carrying rubbish on his head, walking barefooted, making a display of greed, miserliness and avarice, wearing the patched robe and large prayer beads, and all that burdens the nafs which is permitted or disliked, but not unlawful. 

Imam az-Zarruq (q.s.) said, “As it is not proper to bury crops in foul earth, it is not permitted to be obscure with a state which is not pleasing to Allah (s.w.t.).  Taking that to be analogous with choking is not sound because loss of physical life prevents every good, whether mandatory or recommended, the consensus is that is forbidden to lose it when it is possible to survive by the Words of Allah (s.w.t.), ‘Make not your own hands contribute to your destruction.’  That is not the case with obscurity.  Nothing of that misses him.  Instead perfection is obtained by it, which is denial of rank and position, when its basis is permissibility.” 

سُوۡرَةُ البَقَرَة

... وَلَا تُلۡقُواْ بِأَيۡدِيكُمۡ إِلَى ٱلتَّہۡلُكَةِ‌ۛ ...َ (١٩٥) 

... and make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction ... (Surah al-Baqarah:195) 

Some of them reply that loss of ephemeral life it more fitting than loss of abiding life, which is gnosis, so reflect.  The story of the thief in the bath house attests to this, and Allah Knows best. 

I heard our shaykh say, “The truthful faqir kills his nafs with the least of the permitted and the lying faqir falls into the forbidden and does not kill it.”  He often forbade dark states.  He said, “We have enough of the permissible to spare us from the unlawful and disliked.”  Begging is disliked or forbidden by the aim of obtaining food for bodies when you have enough.  If it is with the aim of sustaining life, it is not unlawful.  In his commentary on Swahih al-Bukhari, Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Qasthalani (r.a.) mentioned from Shaykh Muhyi ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Arabi (q.s.) that it is mandatory for the faqir in his beginning. 

This ruin which I mentioned can also entail fame since obscurity is being hidden from people's eyes.  Obscurity is the lowering of position in the eyes of people, concealing the secret of wilayah, and all that will lower one’s position with them and negate the suspicion of wilayah is obscurity, even if there is some display outwardly.  That is why our shaykh said, “This Path of ours is obscurity outwardly and appearance in obscurity.” 

Shaykh an-Najibi (q.s.) said in al-Inala’, “As for those among the Sufis who say that the muraqqa’at is fame, the response is found in the fact that Salman al-Farisi (r.a.) travelled from Iraq to Syria to visit Abu Darda’ (r.a.), on foot, wearing a coarse mantle.  He was told, ‘You have made yourself famous.’ 

He replied, ‘Good is the good of akhirah.  I am a slave who dresses as a slave.  When I am free, then I will wear a robe of honour and not worry about its borders.’” 

Part of that is the story of Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali (r.a.) carrying ox-hides on his back when he met his shaykh, Shaykh Abu Sa’id Ahmad ibn ‘Isa al-Kharraz (q.s.), sweeping market and using a water skin to give people water.  That is what I heard many times from the shaykh but I did find it anyone else who knew it. 

There is also the story of Shaykh Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn ‘Abdullah ash-Shushtari (q.s.) with his shaykh, who was 70 years of age.  Imam ash-Shushtari (q.s.) was a government minister and scholar, and his father was an amir.  When he wanted to embark on the Path of the People of Sufism, his shaykh told him, “You will not obtain any of it until you sell your goods, wear tattered garments, take a banner and enter the market.” 

He did all that and asked his shaykh, “What should we say in the market?” 

He replied, “Say, ‘I begin by mentioning the Beloved.’” 

So he entered the market, waving his banner and said, “I begin by mentioning the Beloved.”  He kept it up for three days and the veils were rent.  He began to sing about the knowledge of tastes in the market. 

There is a similar story about a man who was with Shaykh Bayazid Thayfur ibn ‘Isa al-Bisthami (q.s.).  For thirty years the man did not leave his gathering nor part from him.  He said one day, “Master, for thirty years I have fasted in the day and prayed at night, and I left appetites and I did not find anything at all of what you mentioned in my heart.  I believe and affirm all you say.” 

Shaikh Bayazid (q.s.) said to him, “If you were to pray for 30 years while you are as I see you, you will still never find a single atom of it.” 

He asked, “Why, master?” 

He replied, “Because you are veiled by your nafs.” 

He asked, “Does this have a remedy so that this veil can be removed?” 

“Yes,” he replied, “but you will not accept or do it.” 

“Yes,” he insisted, “I will do what you say.” 

Shaykh Bayazid (q.s.) told him, “Go immediately to the barber and shave your head and beard.  Remove these clothes and put on a woolen wrap.  Suspend a nosebag from your neck and fill it with walnuts.  Gather children around you and say in your loudest voice, ‘Children!  I will give a nut to whoever gives me a slap!’  Then enter the market in which you are respected in this state until everyone who knows you looks at you.” 

He exclaimed, “Shaykh Abu Yazid, glory be to Allah!  Do you say this to someone like me and think that I will do it!” 

He told him, “Your words, ‘Glory be to Allah’ are shirk.” 

He asked him, “How?” 

Shaykh Bayazid (q.s.) said, “Because you esteem your nafs and so you glorify it.” 

He said, “Shaykh Abu Yazid, I cannot do this and I will not do this, but direct me to something other than this that I can do.” 

Shaikh Bayazid (q.s.) told him, “Begin with this before everything until your rank falls from you and you humble your nafs, and then after that I will tell you what is proper for you.” 

He said, “I cannot do this.” 

He said, “You said that you would accept and do it.  I know that a person will have no desire for the secrets of the unseen which are veiled from the common people until he makes his nafs die and breaks the customs of the common people.  Then normal patterns will be broken for him and benefits will appear to him.” 

There is also the story of Shaykh Abu ‘Imran al-Barda’i (q.s.) with his shaykh, Shaykh Abu ‘Abdullah at-Tawdi (q.s.) in Fes.  He shaved his head, put on a jillabah and took a loaf of bread, calling out for someone to save him from it.  He did all that.  There is the story of Shaykh Abu Zayd ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ayyad al-Majdzub (q.s.), who ate figs from people's trees, sang in the markets.  We also have the story of Shaykh ‘Ali al-‘Imrani (q.s.) and his ruining his reputation in Fes which is famous.  There is also the story of Mawlay Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad al-‘Arabi ibn Ahmad ad-Darqawi (q.s.) who wore a sack and gave people water from a water skin.  Other things which are well known. 

These stories indicate that obscurity is not what the common people understand it to be: staying inside houses and fleeing to mountains.  For those with realisation, that is tantamount to ostentation itself.  “Obscurity,” as Imam az-Zarruq (q.s.) said, “is for the nafs to fully realise its lowest description and be constantly aware of it.  Its lowest description is abasement and all that burdensome for it.  So he resorts to realising the attribute of humility and its fruit in order to obtain action and the perfection of the reality.” 

If you said that doing things like this will entail exposing oneself to people’s words and making them fall into slander, I reply that it depends on the aim and intention.  If someone does any of that with the aim of killing his nafs, achieving sincerity and to heal his heart, he forgives and excuses those who talk about him.  In his book, Shaykh ‘Ali al-‘Imrani (q.s.) said, “We excuse those who excuse us and excuse those who do not excuse us.”