Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (22/49)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

in benefitting others, the most scrupulously God-fearing, and the most patient in teaching. He was a caller to the Sunnah; he lived for a time in Damascus where he taught the poor, helped them recite the Qur’an, fed them, and humbled himself before them. He was among the people most marked by humility, self-effacement, and fear of Allah—I do not recall having seen anyone whose reverence for Him was greater. He was constant in prayer and supplication, prolonging his prostrations and bowing, and he paid no heed to those who reproached him. Several extraordinary divine favors (karamāt) were reported about him.

Al-Diyāʾ continued: “I have never seen anyone whose prayer was more beautiful or more complete than his, so full of humility and submission. It was said that he would recite the tasbīḥ ten times, unhurriedly, and that he might make up several prayers in a single day and night. He fasted one day and broke his fast the next. Whenever he supplicated, hearts felt certain his prayer would be answered because of the intensity of his entreaty and the sincerity behind it. Each Wednesday he would go to the martyrs’ cemetery at Bāb al-Ṣaghīr, where he would beseech Allah and strive in supplication for a long stretch of time.”

Among his well-known invocations was: “O Allah, forgive the hardest of our hearts, the gravest of our sins, the heaviest of our burdens, and the most serious of our offenses.” He would also say: “O Guide of the bewildered, lead us to the path of the truthful and make us among Your righteous servants.”

When issuing a legal opinion, he exercised the utmost caution.

He said (1): “As for his asceticism, I do not know that he ever involved himself in any worldly affair, sought it out, or competed for it, nor am I aware that he ever entered the court of any ruler or governor. He was strong in the cause of Allah yet physically weak, never deterred by the blame of any critic. He constantly enjoined what is right; whenever he saw someone performing the prayer poorly, he would address him (2) and teach him.”

(1) The whole passage is the speech of Shaykh al-Diya. (2) The base manuscript has the word “walahu,” which is clearly a scribal error.

نَفْعاً، وَأَشَدِّهِم وَرَعاً، وَأَكْثَرِهِم صَبْراً عَلَى التَّعْلِيْمِ، وَكَانَ دَاعِيَةً إِلَى السُّنَّةِ، أَقَامَ بِدِمَشْقَ مُدَّةً يُعلِّمُ الفُقَرَاءَ، وَيُقْرِئُهُم، وَيُطْعِمُهُم، وَيَتَوَاضَعُ لَهُم، كَانَ مِنْ أَكْثَرِ النَّاسِ تَوَاضُعاً، وَاحْتِقَاراً لِنَفْسِهِ، وَخَوْفاً مِنَ اللهِ، مَا أَعْلَمُ أَنَّنِي رَأَيْتُ أَشدَّ خَوْفاً مِنْهُ، وَكَانَ كَثِيْرَ الدُّعَاءِ وَالسُّؤَالِ للهِ، يُطِيلُ السُّجُوْدَ وَالرُّكُوْعَ، وَلاَ يَقبَلُ مِمَّنْ يَعْذُلُهُ، وَنُقِلَتْ لَهُ كَرَامَاتٌ. ثُمَّ قَالَ الضِّيَاءُ: لَمْ أَرَ أَحَداً أَحْسَنَ صَلاَةً مِنْهُ وَلاَ أَتَمَّ، بِخُشُوْعٍ وَخُضُوْعٍ، قِيْلَ: كَانَ يُسبِّحُ عَشْراً يَتَأَنَّى فِيْهَا، وَرُبَّمَا قَضَى فِي اليَوْمِ وَاللَّيْلَةِ صَلَوَاتٍ عِدَّةٍ، وَكَانَ يَصُوْمُ يَوْماً، وَيُفْطِر يَوْماً، وَكَانَ إِذَا دَعَا، كَانَ القَلْب يَشْهَدُ بِإِجَابَة دُعَائِهِ مِنْ كَثْرَةِ ابْتِهَالِهِ وَإِخْلاَصِهِ، وَكَانَ يَمضِي يَوْمَ الأَرْبعَاءِ إِلَى مَقَابِرِ بَابِ الصَّغِيْرِ عِنْدَ الشُّهَدَاء، فَيَدْعُوا وَيَجْتَهِدُ سَاعَةً طَوِيْلَةً. وَمِنْ دُعَائِهِ المَشْهُوْرِ: اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لأَقْسَانَا قَلْباً، وَأَكْبَرِنَا ذَنْباً، وَأَثْقَلِنَا ظَهْراً، وَأَعْظَمِنَا جُرْماً. وَكَانَ يَدْعُو: يَا دَلِيلَ الحَيَارَى، دُلَّنَا عَلَى طَرِيْقِ الصَّادِقِيْنَ، وَاجْعَلْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِكَ الصَّالِحِيْنَ. وَكَانَ إِذَا أَفْتَى فِي مَسْأَلَة، يَحتَرِزُ فِيْهَا احتِرَازاً كَثِيْراً. قَالَ (١) : وَأَمَّا زُهْدُهُ، فَمَا أَعْلَم أَنَّهُ أَدخَلَ نَفْسَه فِي شَيْءٍ مِنْ أَمر الدُّنْيَا، وَلاَ تَعرَّضَ لَهَا، وَلاَ نَافَسَ فِيْهَا، وَمَا عَلِمْتُ أَنَّهُ دَخَلَ إِلَى سُلْطَانٍ وَلاَ وَالٍ، وَكَانَ قَوِيّاً فِي أَمْرِ اللهِ، ضَعِيْفاً فِي بدنه، لاَ تَأْخُذُه فِي اللهِ لَوْمَة لاَئِم، أَمَّاراً بِالمَعْرُوف، لاَ يَرَى أَحَداً يُسِيْءُ صَلاَتَهُ، إِلاَّ قَالَ لَهُ (٢) وَعَلَّمَهُ.

(١) الكلام كله للشيخ الضياء. (٢) في الأصل: " وله " وليس بشيء.