A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Muhammad ibn Yahya at-Tadifi al-Hanbali ( q.s. ) wrote, in Qala’id al-Jawahir , “Every spiritual station has its principles, every principle has various shades of meaning, and every shade of meaning has a particular mode of expression by which it is enunciated.  The mode of expression is intelligible only to those who have a true mastery of wisdom, and the true mastery of wisdom is confined to those who have attained to the relevant spiritual station.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is taken from Shaykh Muhammad ibn Yahya at-Tadhifi’s ( q.s. ), Qala’id al-Jawahir , as translated by Shaykh Muhtar Holland.  This is a story of Shaykh Muhyi ad-Din Abu Muhammad ibn Abu Swalih ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani ( q.s. ).   Shaykh Abu al-‘Abbas al-Khadir ibn al-Husayn al-Mawswili ( q.s. ), who said, “One night, we were in the schoolhouse of our shaykh , Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani ( q.s. ), in Baghdad.  While we were there, along came Imam al-Mustanjid bi-Allah Abu al-Muzhaffar Yusuf, the son of Imam al-Muqtafi li-‘Amrillah Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad al-‘Abbasi.  He saluted the shaykh with the salaam , and told him that he had come to seek his wise advice.  He then set down before him a large sum of money, contained in ten vessels, borne by ten of his personal servants.   ‘I have no need of this,’ said the shaykh , but the visitor insisted that he must accept it, and pressed the matter with great ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Muhammad ibn Yahya at-Tadhifi al-Hanbali ( q.s. ) reported that Shaykh Lu’lu’ al-Armani ( q.s. ) used to speak while having to gasp for breath.  Shaykh Lu’lu’ ( q.s. ) once said, “When Shaykh Abu al-Khayr ‘Atha’ al-Miswri noticed the intense effort I was making, he thought to himself, ‘To which of the shuyukh is he affiliated with, I wonder?’   I knew what he was thinking, so I told him, ‘O ‘Atha’, my own shaykh is Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir, the one who declared, ‘This foot of mine is upon the neck of every awliya’Allah ,’ and to whom three hundred and thirteen awliya’ of Allah bowed their heads, on all the horizons of the earth.  At that very moment, seventeen of them were at the Haramayn , while sixty were in Iraq, forty in Persia, thirty in Syria, twenty in Egypt, twenty-seven in the Far West, eleven in Ethiopia, seven at the Dam of Gog and Magog, seven in the Valley of Sri Lanka, forty-seven on Mount Qaf, and twenty-four o...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is extracted and adapted from Qala’id al-Jawahir by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Yahya at-Tadhifi al-Hanbali ( q.s. ), and translated by Ustadz Muhtar Holland.   The shaykh is he who gathers us together in his presence, takes care of us in his absence, trains us by means of his character, teaches us by lowering his gaze in silence, and enlightens our bathin , inner being, by means of his illumination.   The murid is he who makes his light shine in the company of the fuqara’ , through intimate friendship and a cheerful disposition; in the company of the Sufis, through good behaviour, self-effacement, excellence of moral conduct, and modest humility in every situation; in the company of ‘ulama , by listening with careful attention; in the company of those endowed with ma’rifah , by maintaining a calm and quiet state; and in the company of holders of high stations, through the affirmation of tawhid .

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 ve...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ It is recorded in Qala’id al-Jawahir of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Yahya at-Tadifi ( r.a. ) and translated by Ustadz Mukhtar Holland the following.   It was related by Shaykh Baqa’ ibn Batu an-Nahr al-Maliki ( q.s. ), “Shaykh ‘Abdullah arrived, accompanied by a young man.  He entered the presence of Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir and said to him. ‘O my master, offer a prayer of supplication for this young man, for he is my son!’   He was not his son, however, and he had something improper on his conscience, so Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir grew angry and cried, ‘It has gone far enough, the way you all treat me!’   Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir got up and withdrew to his private apartment, and fires immediately broke out in all the districts of Baghdad.  As soon as the flames were extinguished in one place, fire would flare up in another spot. I could see calamity descending on Baghdad, like a cloudburst, and all because of the anger of Shaykh ‘Abd al-...