Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (17/254)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

And Muḥammad ibn Ḥāzim informed us; Ibn Ghassān informed us (kh).

Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī informed us; Mukram ibn Abī al-Ṣaqr informed us. They said:

Abū al-Muẓaffar Saʿīd ibn Sahl al-Falakī informed us; ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad al-Madīnī informed us; Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī informed us; Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdūs narrated to us; ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd narrated to us; al-Qaʿnabī informed us; al-Darāwardī narrated to us, from al-ʿAlāʾ, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, who said:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “When any one of you supplicates, let him not say, ‘O Allah, if You will,’ but rather let him be resolute and enlarge his request, for nothing that He bestows is too great for Allah.” It was recorded by Muslim (1).

Among his leading teachers were Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Ḥasnawayh the Qurʾān-reciter, Abū Zuhayr ʿAbd Allāh ibn Fāris al-ʿUmarī al-Balkhī, and Saʿīd ibn al-Qāsim al-Bardaʿī.

Al-Khaṭīb (2) said: Abū al-Qāsim al-Qushayrī informed us, saying:

Sulamī was mentioned, and someone observed that he stands during the samāʿ (spiritual audition) in solidarity with the fuqaraʾ (poor dervishes). Abū ʿAlī al-Daqqāq remarked, “Given his spiritual state, stillness would perhaps suit him better. Go to him—you will find him seated in his study. On top of the books there is a square, bound volume containing the poetry of al-Ḥallāj; bring it here and do not say anything to him.”

He continued: “I entered and found him in his library, the volume exactly where it had been described. When I sat down he began to speak and said, ‘Certain people once censured a scholar for moving during the samāʿ. Later that same man was seen alone in a room, turning about as though enraptured. He was asked about his state and replied: A difficult question had perplexed me, and when its meaning became clear I could not restrain my joy—so I rose and began to spin around. Tell him: this is how their states truly are.’”

He added: “When I witnessed this from both of them I was at a loss as to how to proceed between them. So I said: There is no course except…”

(1) Hadith no. 2679 in the section “Remembrance and Supplication,” chapter: Showing resolve in supplication and not saying “If You wish.” Also narrated by Malik, 1 / 213, and—through his chain—by al-Bukhari, no. 6339, via Abuʼl-Zinad, al-Aʿraj, and Abu Hurayra. (2) Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 2, pp. 248–249; the additional wording is taken from that source.

وَأَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بنُ حَازِم، أَخْبَرْنَا ابْنُ غَسَّان (خَ) . وَأَخْبَرَنَا الحَسَنُ بنُ عَلِيٍّ، أَخْبَرَنَا مُكْرَمُ بنُ أَبِي الصَّقْرِ قَالُوا: أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو المُظَفَّرِ سَعِيْدُ بنُ سَهْل الفَلَكِيّ، أَخْبَرَنَا عَلِيُّ بنُ أَحْمَدَ المَدِيْنِيّ، أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ السُّلَمِيّ، حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بنُ مُحَمَّدِ بنِ عَبْدُوْس، حَدَّثَنَا عُثْمَانُ بنُ سَعِيْدٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا القَعْنَبِيّ، حَدَّثَنَا الدَّرَاوَرْدِيُّ، عَنِ العَلاَء، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ ﷺ: (إِذَا دَعَا أَحَدكُم، فَلاَ يَقُلْ: اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ شِئْتَ، وَلَكِنْ لِيَعْزِمْ، وَليُعَظِّمِ الرَّغْبَةَ، فَإِنَّ اللهَ لاَ يَتَعَاظَمُ عَلَيْهِ شَيْءٌ أَعْطَاهُ) .رَوَاهُ مُسْلِم (١) . وِمِنْ كِبَارِ شُيُوخِهِ أَحْمَدُ بنُ عَلِيِّ بنِ حَسْنُويه المُقْرِئ وَأَبُو ظُهَير عَبْدُ اللهِ ابْن فَارس العُمَرِيّ البَلْخِيّ وَسَعِيْدُ بنُ القَاسِمِ البَرْدَعِيّ. قَالَ الخَطِيْبُ (٢) :وَأَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو القَاسِمِ القُشَيْرِيُّ قَالَ: جَرَى ذِكْرُ السُّلَمِيّ، وَأَنَّهُ يقومُ فِي السَّمَاعِ مُوَافقَةً للفُقَرَاء، فَقَالَ أَبُو علِي الدَّقَّاق: مثلُه فِي حَالِهِ لَعَلَّ السُّكُونَ أَوْلَى بِهِ، امضِ إِلَيْهِ، فَسَتَجِدُهُ قَاعِداً فِي بَيْتِ كُتُبِهِ، عَلَى وَجه الكُتُبِ مُجلَّدَةٌ مربعَة فِيْهَا أَشعَارُ الحَلاَّج، فَهَاتِهَا، وَلاَ تَقُلْ لَهُ شَيْئاً. قَالَ: فَدَخَلْتُ عَلَيْهِ وَإِذَا هُوَ فِي بَيْتِ كُتُبه، وَالمُجلَّدَةُ بحيثُ ذكر، فَلَمَّا قَعَدْتُ، أَخَذَ فِي الحَدِيْثِ، وَقَالَ: كَانَ بَعْضُ النَّاسِ يُنْكِرُ عَلَى عَالِمٍ حَرَكتَهُ فِي السَّمَاع، فرُئي ذَلِكَ الإِنسَانُ يَوْماً خَالياً فِي بَيْتٍ وَهُوَ يَدُورُ كَالمُتَواجد، فسُئِلَ عَنْ حَاله، فَقَالَ: كَانَتْ مَسأَلَةٌ مشكلَة عليّ، تبيَّن لِي معنَاهَا، فَلَمْ أَتمَالك مِنَ السُّرُور، حَتَّى قُمْتُ أَدورُ فَقُلْ لَهُ: مِثْلَ هَذَا يَكُون حَالهم. قَالَ: فَلَمَّا رَأَيْتُ ذَلِكَ مِنْهُمَا، تَحَيَّرتُ كَيْفَ أَفْعَلُ بَيْنَهُمَا. فَقُلْتُ: لاَ وَجهَ إِلاَّ

(١) برقم (٢٦٧٩) في الذكر والدعاء: باب العزم بالدعاء، ولا يقل إن شئت، وأخرجه مالك ١ / ٢١٣، ومن طريقه البخاري (٦٣٣٩) عن أبي الزناد، عن الاعرج، عن أبي هريرة. (٢) في " تاريخ بغداد " ٢ / ٢٤٨، ٢٤٩. والزيادة منه.