Concealness of Divine Secrets  

The author of Kitab al-Ibriz min Kalam Sayyidi Abdelaziz, Sidi Ahmed ibn al-Mubarik said, "I heard our Shaykh (the Grand Qutb Sidi Abdellaziz Dabbagh al-Fasi, d. 1132/1717), say—God be pleased with him: 'The day I entered the Diwan, Sidi Ahmed b. Abdellah, and the other people of the Diwan as well, only spoke of one thing that day. They admonished me and urged me to keep the secret concealed. And al-Ghawt Sidi Ahmed b. Abdellah al-Misri ordered everyone who had a story dealing with this subject to recount it. Thus they recounted some two hundred stories.' I heard eight of them from our Shaykh—God be pleased with him!

THE FIRST STORY

The story of Sidi Ahmed b. Abdellah, the Support (al-Ghawth)—God be pleased with him. He said:

"I had a disciple whom I loved very dearly. One day I was extolling the affair of the lord of existence—God's blessings and peace be upon him—and I said to him: "Oh my son, if it weren't for the light of our lord Mohammed—God's blessings and peace be upon him—no secret (sirr) from among the earth's secrets would become manifest. If not for his light, none of the springs would gush up and none of the rivers would flow. It's his light, oh my son, that's diffused three times upon all the seeds in the month of March and they then bear fruit through his blessing. If not for his light—God's blessings and peace be upon him—they wouldn't bear fruit. Oh my child, the person with the least amount of faith views his faith as a mountain or something bigger [weighing] upon his body. And this is all the more true in the case of those with much faith. At times the body grows weary bearing the faith and it wishes to be rid of it. Then the light of the Prophet of God—God's blessings and peace be upon him—is diffused over the body and becomes the body's helper in bearing the faith. The body then finds the faith pleasant and agreeable." But while I was extolling the Prophet to him and enumerating the blessings we've acquired from him, at a certain moment I was absent in the Prophet—God's blessings and peace be upon him! When the disciple saw what came over me, he said: "I beseech you by the rank of this noble Prophet. Bestow on me the secret (sirr)! I wanted to refuse but I beheld the Prophet's awesome rank. So I granted his wish and bestowed the secret on him. Then it wasn't long before they bore witness against him and they killed him. That is to say, he was from among the Khuz Arabs. He lived in the region of al-Mahalla which is one of the administrative districts of Egypt. When he heard the secret from me, he went and gathered a group around him and began to tell them the secret. But their minds couldn't support it. So they drew up testimony against him based on what they heard him say, and they killed him."

 

الدعوة بالكذب: إعلم أن من ادعى الإذن الخاص من الله وهو كاذب في دعواه وانبسط للخلق بالدعوة إلى الله تعالى، فإنه یموت كافرا إلا أن یتوب. نسأل الله السلامة والعافية من بلائه، وحسن الخاتمة التي ختم الله بها لخاصته من خلقه وأصفيائه (ناشر راية هذه الطريقة زمن الشيخ رضي الله عنه. خليفته المعظم، من أفاض عليه الشيخ من الحضرة الأحمدية إمداده، فكان من بين أصحابه مريده ومراده، فظهرت عليه من بركته خوارق العادة، أبي الحسن سيدي الحاج علي برادة، قدس الله سره في جنة النعيم). من مميزات الدجاجيل الكذابين: يقول العلامة العارف بالله أحمد بن العياشي سكيرج رضي الله عنه: كلُّ من رأيته مؤثرا الذكر النوادر الغريبة من الكرامات الخارقة و الأذكار الزائدة و الأسرار العجمية معتمدا في جل ما يذكره من ذلك على التخيلات المريبة منوها بتلك الغرائب عوضا عن التنويه بالورد اللازم و الأذكار اللازمة بلزومه مستغرقا في اللهج في اللهج بذلك كلما جلس إليه أحد من الإخوان فاقطع عليه من غير تردد في أمرك بأنه ضال مضل فتان. (من نور السراج في شرح إضاءة الداج). حقيقة المكر: ويقول العلامة: حقيقة المكر هي إظهار النعمة على العبد وبسطها له ثم يدرجه إلى غاية الهلاك في تلك النعمة ويقول سبحانه و تعالى "أيحسبون أنما نمدهم به من مال و بنين نسارع لهم في الخيرات بل لا يشعرون". وصفة العبد أن يكون دائما خائفا من ربه لا يأمن على نفسه بحال و لا يطمئن قلبه من خوف عذاب الله "و الذين هم من عذاب ربهم مشفقون إن عذاب ربهم غير مأمون" و الإيمان له جناحان كالطائر جناح الخوف: توجع القلب من شدة الوعيد و جناح الرجاء في الله سبحانه و تعالى بأن يغفر له و لا يعذبه و لا يتوقع فيه الأمان. وعلامة المكر به الإنقطاع عن طريقه التي كان سالكا عليها، وانقلاب حسن ظنه انتقادا لما يراه من أهل الطريق من غير تشبث، ويرى أنه على الطريق المثلى وهم في الضلال يعمهون، ولا يزال يستحكم هذا الإعتقاد فيه حتى يرفض الود، وينقض العهد، بسبب ما رآه مما لم يشرف في نظره من أحوال إخوانه وأفعالهم، ويرى أن ذلك من شيخهم، ولو تحقق بتبرئة ساحته مما يستنكره مما كره، فيصرح بالإعتراض على الشيخ بفعل المريد، ويصدح بانتقاد ما عليه من مزيد، وما هو من الضلال ببعيد.وقد شاهدنا كثيرا ممن انقلبوا على عقبهم في الطريق، وقد كان موجب انقطاعهم بإعراضهم عنها بأدنى سبب، جرهم إلى سوء منقلب، مع عدم اطلاعهم على الطامات الكبرى التي ينسبها المنتقدون على هذه الطريقة وما اشتملت عليه كتبها، مما لا يلقي له بالا المعتقد، ولو اطلع عليها غير المعتقد لولى منها فرارا، ولملئ منها رعبا، ونحن وإن اطلعنا على ذلك وميزنا منه الغث والسمين، وعرفنا الرخيص والثمين، فلم يزدنا ذلك إلا تمسكا بحبل الطريقة لأننا لم نأخذ هذه الطريقة التي سرنا فيها بحسن اعتقاد لأجل ما ينقل من فضائلها. وإما تلقينا بسند صحيح ما أسست عليه من الأذكار التي هي نفس الورد والوظيفة وذكر الجمعة طبق ما هو مقرر لدينا من شروط ذلك، وما زاد على هذه الأذكار فهو فضل أو فضول، وهو الجالب للعامة والصارف لمن دهمته فيها طامة طبق ما قدر لكل في سابق الأزل (تيجان الغواني في شرح جواهر المعاني).

THE SECOND STORY

One of them said: 

"I had a disciple who served me for twelve years. I loved him very dearly and intended to have him many my daughter.' And he said: “I used to be absent every week for three days and sit on the shore of the sea. On this occasion my absence coincided with the Feast of the Immolation. I had six sons and three daughters and a servant. When I came back to the house, I found that he'd clothed them all and bought for them everything they required. I was extremely delighted by this. When I met him, he made a request of me and asked me to bestow the secret on him. And be was persistent in asking me for this. So I bestowed the secret on him, though I did it with reluctance. Only forty days went by and they drew up testimony against him. It was based on what they heard him say about the secrets that [human] minds can't support. Then they crucified him!'       

THE THIRD STORY

One of them said:

 'I had a disciple who served me for nine years. I loved him very dearly because of his service and the excellence of his companionship, and because he was from our quarter of the city and one of our neighbors. And I had a wife who was frequently afflicted with illness. The disciple had a pretty wife and would bring her to our house and she'd do the work my wife was unable to do. Both he and his wife were of service, and I loved him very dearly because of this. One day while I was standing in a particular place, behold be came with a little daughter of his who had a Qur’an in her hand. Before I knew it the girl fell at my feet, holding the Qur'an in her hands. I recoiled, taking a few steps backward. Then I said: "Oh So-and-so, what is it you want? This is an imposing entreaty and a powerful appeal." He said: "Oh Sidi. I want you to bestow the secret on me." I replied to him: "Oh So-and-so, you won't be able to sustain it. The secret is an awesome matter and a great concern. No one can sustain it unless God has given him the strength to do so. While two- thirds of mankind exclaim to the bearer of the secret: 'Bravo!', should he divulge it, he'll be destroyed and perish." But he said: "Oh Sidi, bestow the secret on me! I can support it!" I considered his service and the service of his wife, as well as our acquaintance with one another and the entreaty he'd made, and I said to him: "Alright, I'll bestow the secret on you.'"

Our Shaykh said—God be pleased with him: 'But he received the secret without a body (Dat). And whoever receives the secret without a body—it brings about his destruction.' I asked: 'What does body refer to [in this case?' He replied: 'The body of the shaykh and its secrets, and this is only transmitted to a disciple after the death of the shaykh.' And he said: 'The Saint is able to bestow the secret, but only God the Sublime can bestow the body.'

[He continued:] 'So he received the secret and departed. He was absent from the shaykh for three days. The three days hadn't quite elapsed when he began to talk about his shaykh. Someone came and informed the shaykh. The person said: "So-and-so, your disciple, is talking about you." The shaykh then feigned ignorance of him. Affliction descended over the disciple, and his affair persisted in ignorance and darkness until a caravan arrived. Then he set off with the caravan and he travelled on the sea and he was taken prisoner. After that he became a Christian. God protect us from such an eventuality! This misfortune came over him because he was impatient to possess the secret before the proper time. Thus he was punished by being deprived of Islam. We ask God for protection from this!"

 

من رسائل الفقيه سيدي محمد أكنسوس رضي الله عنه وبعثها للعارف بالله ذي الأحوال الخطيرة المقدم الكبير مولانا الحاج سعيد الدراركي المسكيني السوسي: لاتذكر عدد أورادك وفتوحاتك لغيرك. فإنه لا يذكر لغير الشيخ. وأما ذكرك لنا ذلك فنرجو من الله أن لا يضرك لما بيننا وبينك من الأخوة في الله تعالى التي تنوب مناب الشيخوخة. فإن الإخوان كلهم شيخ. وأما الأجانب فإياك أن تطلع على ما تذكر أو عدد ما تذكر أحدا فإن ذلك سم قاطع . إهـ و من باح بالأسرار فهو حقيقة ... ... يعد من الأشرار في الجهر و الخفا و ليس بسر ما يعد مخالفا ... ... لشرع النبي المصطفى عند مصطفى  يقول الشيخ الأكبر رضي الله عنه في الفتوحات المكية في الباب الثلاثون في معرفة الطبقة الأولى والثانية من الأقطاب الركبان: فالإنكار ليس من شأن الأفراد فإنّ لهم الأولية في الأمور فهم ينكر عليهم ولا ينكرون قال الجنيد لا يبلغ أحد درج الحقيقة حتى يشهد فيه ألف صديق بأنه زنديق وذلك لأنهم يعلمون من الله ما لا يعلمه غيرهم وهم أصحاب العلم الذي كان يقول فيه علي بن أبي طالب رضي الله عنه حين يضرب بيده إلى صدره ويتنهد أن ههنا لعلوماً جمة لو وجدت لها حملة فإنه كان من الأفراد ولم يسمع هذا من غيره في زمانه إلا أبي هريرة ذكر مثل هذا خرج البخاري في صحيحه عنه أنه قال حملت عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم جرابين أما الواحد فبثثته فيكم وأما الآخر فلو بثثته لقطع مني هذا البلعوم البلعوم مجرى الطعام فأبو هريرة ذكر أنه حمله عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فكان فيه ناقلاً عن غير ذوق ولكنه علم لكونه سمعه من رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ونحن إنما نتكلم فيمن أعطى عين الفهم في كلام الله تعالى في نفسه وذلك علم الأفراد وكان من الأفراد عبد الله بن العباس البحر كان يلقب به لاتساع علمه فكان يقول في قوله عز وجلّ ” الله الذي خلق سبع سموات ومن الأرض مثلهنّ يتنزل الأمر بينهن لو ذكرت تفسيره لرجمتموني وفي رواية لقلتم إني كافر وإلى هذا العلم كان يشير عليّ ابن الحسين بن عليّ بن أبي طالب زين العابدين رضي الله عنهم بقوله فلا أدري هل هما من قيله أو تمثل بهما: يا رب جوهر علم لو أبوح به ... لقيل لي أنت ممن يعبد الوثنا ولاستحل رجال مسلمون دمي ... يرون أقبح ما يأتونه حسنا

THE FOURTH STORY

One of them said: 

'I and another man were brothers in God—He is mighty and glorious! We decided to travel about in the land and seek a Saint of God the Sublime who'd take us by the hand and unite us with God—He is exalted! We continued travelling until God brought us together with one of His Saints. We found him employed in preparing broth made with bread (tharid). So one of us then sat and tended the fire, while the other weighed out the broth for people. The shaykh saw to the preparation. And we went on doing this for a long time. But eventually the shaykh's appointed hour was at hand. On one occasion he even lost consciousness. My brother in God came to him and said: "Oh Sidi Shaykh, I want you to bestow the secret on me." The shaykh replied—God be pleased with him: "But you aren't able to support it yet. My brother said to him: "Oh Sidi, you must bestow the secret on me!" The shaykh turned to me and said: "Do you consent to this?" I replied: "Oh Sidi, if this is to your liking, I consent." My brother said: "Consent and God the Sublime will give you recompense from His bounty." I consented and my brother in God received the secret. The shaykh hung on another two days and then be died. My brother departed for his country, but I remained and worked in the shaykh's shop. Everything I earned I spent on the shaykh's household, for he had a wife, three daughters and a son. I remained in the shop working for them for twelve years. I did this out of love that was in no way deficient. When this period had elapsed, the shaykh's daughters married and each of them went to her own house. And the shaykh's son travelled to a region of the Maghrib, and the brother of the shaykh married the latter's wife. Now I didn't find anyone who desired a close bond of affection. I felt dejected and I resolved to travel back to my country. I prepared my provisions and sold everything I owned. All that remained was to visit the shaykh's grave—God be pleased with him! I set out for his grave to pay my respects, and it was located in a fearful place far from the inhabited area. When I'd made my visit and was about to depart, my heart addressed me: "Alas! Are you leaving and will you never again see (be shaykh's grave?" Longing for (be shaykh and an intense melancholy gripped me. So I went back and remained at his grave a while longer. When I was about to depart, melancholy gripped me again like the first time. So I went back once more and remained at the grave until noon. Then I intended to depart but the same thing happened to me again. Thus I stayed on until nightfall. All along I wept out of love for the shaykh and because of missing him in view of my intention to separate from him. I spent the night at his grave and this state [I was in] went on increasing until dawn arrived. Now our lord al-Khadir came to me—peace be upon him! He implanted in me the dhikr and God gave me illumination. Then I set out for my country in a state of contentment.

And I passed by the town of my brother which was on my way. When I entered the town, I found the people gathering firewood with the intention of burning a man at the stake. I went to see who the man was and behold, it was my brother in God—He is mighty and glorious! I said to the group who were gathering firewood: "What's this man's sin?" They replied: "He was saying such-and-such." And this was one of God the Sublime's secrets that he'd divulged. They heard this from him and their minds couldn't support it. They sought a fatwa from the religious scholars and the latter condemned him to be burned at the stake. I approached my brother and though I knew him, he didn't recognize me because of the severe distress he'd undergone. I said to him: "Why do these people wish to kill you and burn you at the stake?" He replied: "They heard me say such-and-such. But everything I said to them is true." I asked: "And did you say anything besides this?" He replied: 'That's all I said." I turned to the group of people and told them: "Don't do anything to him until I return from the sultan. I'll go and speak to the sultan and tell him that this man shouldn't be killed. You must be patient until I return from the sultan. Whoever harms him will have to fear for himself. I have hopes that once I've spoken to the sultan about the man's case, he'll repeal his decision." The group of people replied: "We'll be patient until you return." I then set out for the sultan. When I came before him, the religious scholars were with him and they were discussing my brother's case and urging him to have my brother executed. I said: "Oh sultan, God grant you a mighty victory and guide you and give you success in what He approves and what pleases Him! Three hundred and sixty- six angels watch over the body of each and every one of Adam's offspring. When this number of angels who occupy the body come forth after the body's execution, their only concern is to invoke a curse on the one who destroyed the body and made them come forth unjustly. And the prayers of angels are answered. This their invocation is to be feared, oh sovereign!

Likewise, there are seven noble guardian scribes who attend upon the body, and when the body is destroyed unjustly, their only task is to transfer all the bad deeds from the page of the dead man and they transfer them from his page and place them on the page of the murderer. And whatever good deeds the murderer did, they transfer from his page and place them on the page of the dead man. This is their task until the murderer dies. Then their task becomes one of recollection (dhikr) and they recollect whatever bad deeds the murderer did. The recollection of angels is like the rain and everything they recollect descends on him. If they recall someone for wickedness, wickedness descends on him, and if they recall someone for good, good descends on him. And now they persist in recalling the murdered person for good and good descends on him, whereas they persist in recalling the murderer for evil and evil descends on him. Doesn't this cause you apprehension, oh sovereign?" The sovereign replied: "It was the religious scholars who condemned him to death." I said: "But they've been hasty in condemning him to death. It was their duty to examine both his words and his intention. If his words require his death, one must then inquire about his intention. If his intention was sound, he isn't to be put to death. Therefore send for the man so he may be present, and question him about his intention." The religious scholars said—God be pleased with them: "What he says is true and correct. We must do this." They then sent for the man and questioned him about his intention. They found his intention was sound and that he didn't deserve to be put to death because of it So they set him free.'

I asked our Shaykh—God be pleased with him: 'And what did the man do after he was released?' He replied: 'His brother, who had set him free, dispossessed him and made him into an ordinary person. He removed all of the secrets that the shaykh had bestowed on him. And I asked: 'Since their death, what's the state of the persons in the first and the second stories?' He replied—God be pleased with him: 'They both died as Saints of God. As for the person in the third story, however, he died an unbeliever. We beseech God for protection from this!'

THE FIFTH STORY

One of them said: 

'I had a disciple who attended upon me for twelve years and he possessed generosity and munificence. He'd spent on me, and on his brethren the fuqara (paupers), money in excess of a qintar (1000 mithqals). And I had a brother [in God] who was in the sultan's service. One day the sultan became angry with my brother and imposed on him a large sum he couldn't pay. For my part, I was venerated among the people and in the hearts of the common folk. So the Makhzan (government of administration) wasn't able to hurt me. But the disciple then took advantage of the situation. He said: "Oh Sidi Shaykh, you must bestow the secret on me. Otherwise, give me back the whole of the large sum of money I spent on you and the faqirs. If not, I'll summon you before the Makhzan. Choose for yourself one of these three things." I replied: "Oh my son, hold God in fear! God the Sublime will bestow the secret on you as you wish and beyond what you imagine. If you doubt my words, I'll swear to you by God and take an oath to this effect" My words only increased his displeasure and provoked him to do me harm. "By God", he said, "I won't leave you alone until you give me back all the money I spent on you. Otherwise, I'll summon you before the Makhzan." And if the Makhzan found some way to harm me, they wouldn't let me escape. He then added more of the same to what he'd already said and went on repeating it to me. So I removed what I was wearing on my head and prayed that he be given the secret. And God bestowed the secret on him. Then only a few days elapsed before he beheld something that God veils from the minds of His bondsmen because their minds can't sustain it. And he began to speak about it to the people. When they heard this from him, they drew up proof against him and straightway they killed him. If he'd been patient until he received the secret of the body (Dat) by means of which sainthood’s secret persists, God the Sublime would have given him success and he wouldn't have divulged anything of sainthood’s secrets. But because he was hasty, God the Sublime punished him.'