A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Bishr ibn Harits al-Hafi ( q.s. ) said, “I saw the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) in a dream.  He asked me, ‘Bishr, do you know why Allah ( s.w.t. ) has Raised you from among your fellows?’   ‘No, O Messenger of Allah,’ I replied.   He said, ‘Because of your adherence to my sunnah , your service to the righteous, your advice to your brethren and your love of my companions and my family.  This is what has brought you to the degree of the pious.’”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Bishr ibn Harits al-Hafi ( q.s. ) wrote, “The person that loves fame has not feared Allah ( s.w.t. ).”  He also said, “Do not act in order to be mentioned, and hide your good deeds as you hide your bad ones.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Regarding tawakkal , trust in Allah ( s.w.t. ), Shaykh Bishr ibn Harits al-Hafi ( q.s. ) said, “One of them may say, ‘I have put all my trust in Allah ( s.w.t. )’, although he is actually telling a lie.  For, by Allah ( s.w.t. ), if he had really put all his trust in Allah ( s.w.t. ), he would be perfectly content with the way Allah ( s.w.t. ) Treats him.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Regarding Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit ( r.a. ), Shaykh Bishr ibn Harits al-Hafi ( q.s. ) said, “None criticises Abu Hanifah except an envier or an ignoramus.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Regarding sadness, huzn , Shaykh Bishr ibn Harits al-Hafi ( q.s. ) said, “Sadness or sorrow is like a ruler.  When it settles in a place, it does not allow others to reside there.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Regarding zuhd , renunciation, of the world, Shaykh Bishr ibn Harits al-Hafi ( q.s. ) said, “Renunciation is a king who dwells only in a free and empty heart.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Bishr ibn Harits ( q.s. ) is better known as “Bishr al-Hafi”, “Bishr the Barefoot.”  He was a wali born near Merv, in 767 CE.  He was converted from a life of iniquity and studied hadits under Shaykh Abu ‘Ali Fudhayl ibn ‘lyadh ( q.s. ), himself a great wali who had repented from banditry. Shaykh Bishr ( q.s. ) then devoted his life to Allah ( s.w.t. ) and became famous as one of the greatest saints in the area.   Shaykh Bishr ( q.s. ) settled at Baghdad.  The story of his conversion was narrated by Shaykh Farid ad-Din ‘Aththar Abu Hamid ibn Abu Bakr Ibrahim ( q.s. ) in Tadzkirat al-Awliya’ .  Shaykh ‘Aththar ( q.s. ) narrated that Shaykh Bishr ( q.s. ) had lived a life of dissipation.  One of his neighbours was a pious man who did not think very much of Shaykh Bishr ( q.s. ) and his lifestyle.  One day, as he was staggering home drunk, he found a piece of paper on which was written, “ Bismillah ar-Rah...