Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (19/333)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Abū Ḥāmid also said: “The chests of the free are tombs for secrets; whoever divulges the secret of rubūbiyya (divine Lordship) falls into unbelief. He even judged that killing a man like al-Hallāj is better than allowing ten others to live, simply because of the words he uttered.

He further related from one of them who said:
‘Lordship has a secret: were it to appear, prophethood would be undone.
Prophethood has a secret: were it unveiled, knowledge would be nullified.
Knowledge has a secret: were it exposed, legal rulings would cease.’

I say: The ‘secret of knowledge’ has already been laid bare to some wretched Sufis; they unraveled the whole order so that, in their eyes, lawful and unlawful alike were abolished.

Ibn Ḥamdīn continued: Al-Ghazālī then said, ‘If the person who voices such claims does not mean to abolish prophethood for the simple-minded, then what he has said is not false—for what is sound does not contradict itself. The truly complete man is the one whose light of gnosis does not extinguish the light of his piety.’

Al-Ghazālī also said about the ʿārif (gnostic): ‘The lights of the Truth are unveiled to him; the encoded, hidden sciences concealed from other creatures are disclosed to him. He comes to grasp the reality of prophethood and the full intent of every expression of the sacred law—of which we perceive only the outward wording, not the inner truth.’

He quoted someone as saying: ‘When you see him at the beginning you will say: “A righteous friend”; when you see him at the end you will say: “A zindiq (heretic).”’ Al-Ghazālī then explained, ‘The name “zindiq” attaches only to one who abandons the obligatory duties, not to one who abandons the supererogatory.’

He went on: ‘The Sufis have turned to sciences gained by divine inspiration, not those acquired by instruction. One of them sits with an empty heart, his whole concern gathered, saying continuously: “Allah, Allah, Allah” (1), emptying his heart and engaging neither in Qur’an recitation nor in writing down hadith.’

He added: ‘When he reaches this stage, he commits himself to seclusion in a dark room and wraps himself up…’

(1) Repeating the single divine name in dhikr has no basis in the Sunnah, for dhikr is a form of praising Allah, and true praise can only be conveyed through a complete sentence. Hence the Prophet’s practice is obligatory in this and similar matters. It is authentically reported that he said: “Afdalu ma qultu ana wannabiyyuna min qabli: la ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharika lah” (The finest words I and the prophets before me have ever spoken are: ‘There is no god but Allah alone, without partner’). See al-Muwattaʾ, 1/422–423; al-Tirmidhi, 3579.

وَقَالَ أَبُو حَامِدٍ: وَصُدُوْرُ الأَحرَارِ قُبُوْرُ الأَسرَارِ، وَمَنْ أَفشَى سِرَّ الرُّبوبيَة، كفر، وَرَأَى قَتْلَ مِثْلِ الحَلاَّج خَيراً مِنْ إِحيَاء عَشْرَة لإِطلاَقه أَلْفَاظاً، وَنَقَلَ عَنْ بعضهِم قَالَ: لِلرُّبوبيَّة سِرٌّ لَوْ ظهر، لَبَطَلت النُّبُوَّة، وَللنُبُوَّة سِرٌّ لَوْ كُشِفَ، لبَطل العِلْمُ، وَلِلْعلمِ سِرٌّ لَوْ كشف، لَبَطَلت الأَحكَامُ. قُلْتُ: سِرُّ العِلْم قَدْ كشف لصُوْفَة أَشقيَاء، فَحلُّوا النّظَام، وَبطل لديهِم الحَلاَلُ وَالحَرَامُ. قَالَ ابْنُ حَمْدِينَ: ثُمَّ قَالَ الغزَالِي: وَالقَائِلُ بِهَذَا، إِنْ لَمْ يُرِدْ إِبطَال النُّبُوَّة فِي حقِّ الضُّعَفَاء، فَمَا قَالَ لَيْسَ بِحقٍّ، فَإِنَّ الصَّحِيح لاَ يَتنَاقضُ، وَإِنَّ الكَامِل مَنْ لاَ يُطفئ نُوْرُ مَعْرِفَته نُورَ وَرعه. وَقَالَ الغزَّالِي فِي العَارِف: فَتتجلَى لَهُ أَنوَارُ الحَقِّ، وَتنكشِفُ لَهُ العُلُوْم المرموزَةُ المحجوبَةُ عَنِ الْخلق، فَيعرِفُ مَعْنَى النُّبُوَّة، وَجَمِيْعَ مَا وَردت بِهِ أَلْفَاظُ الشرِيعَة الَّتِي نَحْنُ مِنْهَا عَلَى ظَاهِرٍ، لاَ عَلَى حقيقَة. وَقَالَ عَنْ بعضهِم: إِذَا رَأَيْتَهُ فِي البِدَايَة، قُلْتَ: صديقاً، وَإِذَا رَأَيْتهُ فِي النِّهَايَة، قُلْتَ: زِنْدِيقاً، ثُمَّ فَسَّره الغزَّالِي، فَقَالَ: إِذِ اسمُ الزِّنْدِيق لاَ يُلصق إِلاَّ بِمعطِّل الفَرَائِضِ لاَ بِمعطِّلِ النَّوَافل. وَقَالَ: وَذَهَبت الصُّوْفِيَّةُ إِلَى العُلُوْمِ الإِلهَامِيَة دُوْنَ التَّعليمِيَة، فَيجلس فَارغَ القَلْب، مجموعَ الهَمِّ يَقُوْلُ: اللهُ اللهُ اللهُ (١) عَلَى الدَّوَام، فَلْيُفَرِّغ قَلْبَهُ، وَلاَ يَشتغِلْ بِتِلاَوَة وَلاَ كتب حَدِيْث. قَالَ: فَإِذَا بلغَ هَذَا الحدّ، الْتزم الخلوَةَ فِي بَيْت مُظْلِمٍ وَتَدَثَّرَ

(١) الذكر بالاسم المفرد لم يرد في السنة، لان الذكر ثناء على الله، والثناء لا يكون إلا بجملة تامة، وهدي رسول الله ﷺ واجب الاتباع في هذا وأمثاله، وقد ثبت عنه ﷺ قوله: " أفضل ما قلت أنا والنبيون من قبلي لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له ". انظر " الموطأ ": ١ / ٤٢٢ - ٤٢٣، والترمذي (٣٥٧٩) .