If they appeared one day with Suʿdā or Zaynab,
I would not long for Suʿdā, no, nor desire Zaynab.
For whenever those encampments are recalled, O my masters,
then my goal above all others is she who lives in the tent there.46
Mālik said, “Then he went back to his circumambulation of the Kaaba, and he left, and I never saw him again or heard news of him.”
1.29
وقال فُضَيل بن عِيَاض: رأيتُ بالموقف شابًّا ساكنًا وعليه أثر الذلّة والخشوع والناس يسألون الله الحوائج فقلتُ: يا فَتى أَخرِج يدك من جيبك وقُلْ حاجة فقال: يا شيخ وقعَت وحشةٌ وليس لي ثمّ وجهٌ. قلت: فإنْ كان كذلك فإنَّ الوقت يفوت فقال لي لابدَّ فقلتُ لا بدَّ فلمّا أراد أنْ يرفع يديه صاح صيحة وخرّ ميّتًا.
Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ said, “While standing on the Plain of ʿArafāt during the Hajj, I saw a quiet young man marked by meekness and humility. As the people around us were praying to God to fulfill their needs, I said, ‘Young man, hold your hands before your heart and pray for your needs,’ and he replied, ‘Master, melancholy has come upon me, and now I have no time.’ ‘If this is so, it is too late,’ I replied, and he said to me, ‘Indeed.’ ‘Indeed,’ I agreed, and when he tried to raise his hands, he screamed and fell dead.”
1.30
ومن المشهور أنّ سبب توبة إبراهيم بن أَدْهَم أنّه كان من أبناء ملوك خراسان فخرج متَصيّدًا فأثار ثعلبًا وقيل أرنبًا فبينما هو في طلبه إذ هتف به هاتف الهدى: ما لهذا خُلِقتَ ولابهذا أُمِرتَ ثمّ هتف به من قَربوس سرجه: واللهِ ما لهذا خُلِقتَ ولا بهذا أُمِرتَ. فنزل عن دابّته وصادف راعيًا لأبيه فأخذ جُبَّته وكانت من صوف فلبسها وأعطاه ثيابه وقماشه وفرسه. ثمّ دخل مكّة وكان من أمره ما كان.
The case of Ibrāhīm ibn Adham’s repentance is well known. He was a descendent of the kings of Khurasan. He went out to hunt, and flushed out a fox, or perhaps a rabbit, and as he pursued it, the voice of an invisible guide spoke to him: “You were not created for this; you were not commanded to do this!” Then a voice spoke from his saddle bow: “By God, you were not created for this; you were not commanded to do this!” So he dismounted his horse and came upon one of his father’s shepherds. Ibrāhīm took the shepherd’s cloak, which was made of wool, and put it on, and he gave the shepherd his clothes, gear, and horse. He then went to Mecca, and the rest is history.47
1.31
ويُروى أنّ سبب توبة شقيق البَلْخيّ أنّه كان من أبناء الأغنياء فخرج إلى التجارة بأرض التُرك وهو شابّ فدخل بيت الأصنام فرأى خادمها فقال له شقيق: إنَّ لك إلهًا خالقًا حيًّا عالمًا قادرًا فاعْبُدْه ولا تَعْبُدْ هذه الأصنام التي لا تَضُرُّ ولا تنْفع. فقال الخادم: إنْ كان كما تقول فهو قادر على أنْ يرزقك ببلدك فلم تعنّيتَ إلى ههنا للتجارة. فانتَبه شقيق وأخذ في طريق الزهد بعد التوبة وكان أمره ما كان.
The cause of Shaqīq al-Balkhī’s repentance has also been related. He was the scion of a wealthy family, who, as a young man, traded in the land of the Turks. There, he entered a temple full of idols, and when he saw their caretaker, Shaqīq said to him, “Truly, you have a God, a creator, living, omniscient, and omnipotent. Believe in Him and not these idols, which can do no harm nor good.” “If it is as you say,” replied the caretaker, “then He should be able to provide for you in your own country so that you would not need to trouble yourself to come here for trade.” Shaqīq understood and, after repenting, took to the path of renunciation, and the rest is history.48
1.32
هذه والله صفات التائبين الصادقين. ألطفُ عبارة وأَدنى إشارة تُخرِجُهم عن سوى الله فلا يكون لهم همّ ولا شغل سواه. {أُوْلٰٓئِكَ حِزْبُ ٱللهِ أَلَا إِنَّ حِزْبَ ٱللهِ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ}.
By God, these are the distinguishing marks of the sincere penitents. The subtlest expression, the slightest allusion, is enough to drive them away from anything other than God; they have no concern nor business except Him. «They are the party of God! Will not the party of God be the successful ones?»49
1.33
واعلمْ رحمك الله أنَّ الله تعالى إذا أراد موالاة عبد من عبيده فتح له باب التوبة بمنّه وأدخله دهليز الزهد في غيره ورقاه على معراج التقوى من سواه حتّى ينتهي إلى حضرة المشاهدة فيُجلِسه على بساط القرب بجُود الجذب ويتجلّى عليه بالجمال فيتلاشى ما لم يكُن ويبقى ما لم يزل. {هُنَالِكَ ٱلْوَلاَيَةُ لِلّٰهِ ٱلْحَقِّ هُوَ خَيْرٌ ثَوَابًا وَخَيْرٌ عُقْبًا} وإذا وقع بَذرُ التوبة في أَرض القلب وهَبَّت رياح الندم وهَمَت سحائب الأجفان بمطر الدموع {ٱهْتَزَّتْ} تلك الأرض {وَرَبَتْ وَأَنبَتَتْ مِن كُلِّ زَوْجٍ بَهِيجٍ} من أَزهار تجلِّيّات وثمار مشاهدات ورياحين وصال وفواكه اتّصال إلى غير ذلك ممّا لا تحيط به عبارة ولاتحويه إشارة.
Know, may God show you mercy, that when God the Exalted wants to befriend one of His servants, He opens the door of repentance for him with His grace, and leads him into the anteroom of renunciation of all but Him. God raises him up with the ascension of vigilance against any except Him until he ends up in the presence of contemplation, where He seats him on the carpet of proximity with the generosity of attraction, and manifests Himself to him in beauty. Then what was not, is annihilated, and what always was, abides. «There, the protection of God, the True Reality, is the best reward and the greatest success!»50 When the seed of repentance falls on the ground
