—face-down, unconscious, while Fudayl stood fixed at the same verse.
I said to myself, “Alas! Do you possess nothing of the fear that fills Fudayl and ʿAlī?” I kept waiting for ʿAlī, and he did not come to until a third of the night had passed.
This incident was also narrated by Ibn Abī al-Dunyā from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAffān, who added, “Fudayl did not move beyond the verse; he then led us in a prayer performed by one in dread, and ʿAlī did not regain consciousness until half the night had gone by.”
Ibn Abī al-Dunyā further related: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn Yazīd narrated to us, from Fudayl ibn ʿIyāḍ, who said: “My son ʿAlī burst into tears, so I asked, ‘My dear boy, what makes you weep?’ He replied, ‘I fear that the Day of Resurrection may not reunite us.’ ”
Ibn al-Mubārak once said to me, “Abū ʿAlī, how excellent is the state of one who has severed every tie for Allah’s sake.” My son ʿAlī overheard this, whereupon he collapsed unconscious.
Musaddad ibn Qaṭan reported: al-Dawraqī narrated to us; and Muḥammad ibn Nūḥ al-Marwazī narrated to us, from Muḥammad ibn Nājah, who said: “I prayed the dawn prayer behind Fudayl. He recited al-Ḥāqqah, and when he reached the words, ‘Seize him and shackle him’ (Qurʾan 69:30), he was overcome by weeping, and his son ʿAlī fell unconscious. He then told the whole story.”
Ahmad ibn Salamah informed us, from ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Muḥammad; Abū ʿAlī al-Muqriʾ informed us; Abū Nuʿaym narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us; Abū Yaʿlā narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn Yazīd narrated to us: “I heard Fudayl say, ‘One night I looked down into the courtyard and saw ʿAlī standing there, repeating, “The Fire—when will there be deliverance from the Fire?” ’
He said to me, ‘Father, ask the One who granted me to you in this world to grant me to you again in the Hereafter.’ Fudayl added, ‘His heart never ceased to be broken and sorrowful.’
Fudayl then wept and said, ‘He used to aid me in sorrow and in weeping—O fruit of…’