Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (19/595)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

He would speak about the flaws that undermine deeds, about sincerity, and about scrupulous piety. He had subjected his own soul to many kinds of spiritual struggle, practiced most trades and crafts in order to earn what was lawful, and was gifted with spiritual unveiling.

It is related from him that he said: “When Allah loves a servant, He turns the servant’s chief concern to what he has neglected; but when He dislikes a servant, He turns his chief concern to what has already been allotted to him.”

He also said: “Knowledge is a clear highway; but if you seek it for other than Allah, it becomes evidence against you.”

It was said that he used to accept votive offerings but later abandoned that practice because of the Prophet’s ﷺ statement, “A vow is only extracted from the miser.” (1) After that he came to live on what he was shown in dreams. (2)

Al-Mubārak ibn Kāmil said: “The gnostic, the scrupulously pious man whose speech overflowed with wisdom, Ḥammād, died in the year 525 AH. I have never seen anyone like him. At times he dressed like the wealthy, and at other times like the poor.”

Ibn al-Jawzī (3) said: “He practiced Sufism, claimed gnosis, unveiling, and the sciences of the inner realm, yet he was stripped of knowledge of the Sacred Law. He gained currency among the ignorant. Ibn ʿAqīl used to drive people away from him, and when he learned that Ḥammād would give a feverish patient a single almond and a raisin claiming it would cure him, he sent word: ‘If you do this again, I will strike off your head.’ He died in Ramadan.”

(1) Reported by al-Bukhari, no. 6693, and Muslim, no. 1639, both in the Book of Vows: the Prophet forbade making vows, saying, “They bring no good; they are only taken from a miser.” Muslim also transmits it from Abu Hurayra, no. 1640, with the wording: “Do not make vows, for a vow does not alter destiny; it is only taken from a miser.” (2) Al-Muntazam, 1/23: “He came to live off people’s dreams: someone would arrive and say, ‘I saw in a dream that you must give Hammad such-and-such,’ so a circle of followers formed around him, and he spent on them from what was thus provided.” (3) Al-Muntazam, 10/22.

وَكَانَ يَتَكَلَّمُ عَلَى آفَاتِ الأَعْمَال، وَالإِخلاَصِ، وَالوَرَعِ، قَدْ جَاهدَ نَفْسَه بِأَنْوَاعِ المُجَاهِدَاتِ، وَزَاوَلَ أَكْثَرَ المِهَنِ وَالصَّنَائِع فِي طَلَبِ الحَلاَل، وَكَانَ مكَاشفاً. فَعَنْهُ قَالَ: إِذَا أَحَبَّ اللهُ عبداً، أَكْثَر هَمَّهُ فِيمَا فَرَّط، وَإِذَا أَبغض عَبداً، أَكْثَرَ هَمَّه فِيمَا قَسَمَه لَهُ. وَقَالَ: العِلْمُ مَحَجَّةٌ، فَإِذَا طلبتَهُ لِغَير الله، صَارَ حُجَّة. وَقِيْلَ: كَانَ يَقْبَلُ النَّذر، ثُمَّ تَركه، لِقَوْل النَّبِيّ ﷺ: (إِنَّهُ يُسْتَخْرَجُ مِنَ البَخِيْلِ (١)) ، ثُمَّ صَارَ يَأْكُلُ بِالمَنَام (٢) . قَالَ المُبَارَكُ بن كَامِلٍ: مَاتَ العَارِفُ الوَرِعُ النَّاطق بِالحِكْمَة حَمَّاد فِي سَنَةِ خَمْسٍ وَعِشْرِيْنَ وَخَمْسِ مائَةٍ، لَمْ أَرَ مِثْلَهُ، كَانَ بِزِيِّ الأَغنِيَاء، وَتَارَةً بزِيِّ الفُقَرَاء. وَقَالَ ابْنُ الجَوْزِيِّ (٣) :كَانَ يَتصَوَّفُ، وَيَدَّعِي المَعْرِفَة وَالمكَاشفَة، وَعُلُوْمَ البَاطِن، وَكَانَ عَارِياً عَنْ علمِ الشَّرع، وَنَفَقَ عَلَى الجهَال، كَانَ ابْنُ عَقِيْلٍ يُنَفِّرُ النَّاسَ عَنْهُ، وَبَلَغَهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّهُ كَانَ يُعطِي المَحمُومَ لَوْزَةً وَزبِيْبَة ليبرَأَ، فَبَعَثَ إِلَيْهِ: إِنْ عُدْتَ لِهَذَا ضربتُ عُنُقَك، تُوُفِّيَ فِي رَمَضَانَ.

(١) أخرجه من حديث عبد الله بن عمر البخاري (٦٦٩٣) ومسلم (١٦٣٩) كلاهما في النذر أن النبي ﷺ نهى عن النذر، وقال: " إنه لا يأتي بخير، وإنما يستخرج به من البخيل "، وأخرجه من حديث أبي هريرة مسلم " ١٦٤٠) بلفظ " لا تنذروا، فإن النذر لا يغني من القدر شيئا، وإنما يستخرج به من البخيل ". (٢) في " المنتظم ": ١ / ٢٣، فصار يأكل بالمنامات، وكان يجئ الرجل، فيقول: قد رأيت في المنام: أعط حمادا كذا، فاجتمع له أصحاب ينفق عليهم ما يفتح له. (٣) المنتظم: ١٠ / ٢٢.