Al-Uqud al-Durriyya - Ibn Abd al-Hadi - (الكتاب/356)

the year 711 AH. He was a righteous, God-fearing man of considerable stature, wholly devoted to Allah and given over to worship and spiritual discipline.

He had composed a letter and sent it to a group of the Shaykh’s companions, instructing them to keep close to the Shaykh and urging them to follow his path (1); in it he praised the Shaykh in the highest terms.

Here is the text of the letter he wrote:
[al-Tadhkira wa-l-Iʿtibār wa-l-Intiṣār li-l-Abrār] (2)

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.

All praise is for Allah. Glory be to Allah and praise is His. He is sanctified in His loftiness and majesty, exalted in the attributes of His perfection, raised high (3) in the dazzling lights of His uniqueness and beauty, and Most Generous in His grace and bounty (4). Exalted is He far above being likened to any of His creatures or encompassed by them (5); rather, He encompasses all that He has originated. Imaginations cannot grasp Him, bodies cannot contain Him, and minds cannot comprehend the reality of His Essence.

(1) MSS F and K read: "tariqatuhu" (his path). (2) This title refers to the author of the epistle, as stated at its conclusion; see p. 389. The text has been published repeatedly as a separate booklet and also within al-Jamiʿ li-Sirat Shaykh al-Islam, pp. 109–131. (3) Thus in the base manuscript, whereas the other copies read: "wa-taʿazzama" (and grew in majesty). (4) MS K reads: "wa-jamaluhu wa-nawaluhu" (his beauty and his bounty). (5) The base manuscript has "yukhatib" (addresses), but the copyist added in the margin: "I think it should read ‘yuhaat’" (is encompassed), which is the correct reading.

سنة إحدى عشرة وسبعمائة. وكان رجلًا صالحًا ورعًا، كبيرَ الشَّأْن، منقطعًا إلى الله، متوفِّرًا على العبادة والسلوك. وكان قد كتَبَ رسالةً وبعثها إلى جماعةٍ من أصحاب الشيخ وأوصاهم فيها بملازمة الشيخ، والحثِّ على اتباع طريقه (١)، وأثنى فيها على الشيخ ثناءً عظيمًا. وهذه نسخةُ الرسالة التي كتبها: [التذكرة والاعتبار والانتصار للأبرار] (٢) ﷽ الحمد لله، وسبحانَ الله وبحمده، وتقدَّس في علوِّه وجلالِه، وتعالى في صفاتِ كماله، وتعالى (٣) في سُبُحات فَرْدانيته وجماله، وتكرَّم في إفضاله ونواله (٤)، جلَّ أن يُمَثَّل بشيءٍ من مخلوقاته، أو يحاط (٥) به، بل هو المحيط بمبتدعاته، لا تصوره الأوهام، ولا تُقِلُّه الأجرام، ولا تَعقل كُنْهَ ذاته

(١) (ف، ك): «طريقته». (٢) هذه التسمية لمؤلف الرسالة كما نص عليه في آخرها. انظر (ص ٣٨٩). وقد طبعت مرارًا مفردة، وطبعت ضمن «الجامع لسيرة شيخ الإسلام»: (ص ١٠٩ - ١٣١). (٣) كذا في الأصل، وبقية النسخ: «وتعاظم». (٤) (ك): «وجماله ونواله». (٥) الأصل: «يخاطب»، وكتب الناسخ في الهامش: «أظنه: يحاط» وهو الصواب.