Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (9/408)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

132 – al-Hujaymī, Ahmad ibn ʿAṭāʾ al-Baṣrī *

The shaykh of the Sufis, a devoted worshipper and staunch night-vigilant—yet a Qadarī innovator—Ahmad ibn ʿAṭāʾ al-Hujaymī of Basra. How unbecoming it is for ascetics to ride the mount of heresy!

He was a disciple of the Basran master ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Zayd.

Abū Saʿīd ibn al-Aʿrābī mentioned him in Tabaqāt al-Nussāk, saying:
“He excelled in worship and strenuous devotion, subsisted on only the bare minimum of food, and held that the path to Allah opens only through these gates: fasting, prayer, and hunger. He inclined to earning his sustenance with his own hand and adhered to his shaykh’s gentle manner. He was a Qadarī, though not a Muʿtazilī, and he wrote down a portion of hadith.”

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUmar Rustah said: “Ibn Mahdī once saw me on a Friday sitting next to Ahmad ibn ʿAṭāʾ while he was discoursing on qadar (predestination). He was the most ascetic man I ever saw. I excused myself to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, and he said:
‘Do not sit with him. The very least that may befall you is that you hear something from him that obliges you before Allah to say to him, “You have lied,” and perhaps you will not do so.’”

Ibn ʿAṭāʾ installed himself as a spiritual instructor and endowed a house in Balhujaym (1) for devotees and aspirants, where he would deliver his admonitions.

Ibn al-Aʿrābī said: “I believe it was the first house ever endowed in Basra for worship.”

A number of people kept his company, among them: Ahmad ibn Ghassān the ascetic, and Abū Bakr

(*) Al-Dhahabi, Mizan al-Iʿtidal, vol. 1, p. 119; Ibn Hibban, al-Mughni fi al-Duʿafa, vol. 1, p. 47; Ibn Hajar, Lisan al-Mizan, vol. 1, p. 221. (1) Bilhajim: the original form is “Banu al-Hajim”; therefore the kasra on the final mīm should not be followed by nunation. It refers to a district of Basra inhabited by the Banu al-Hajim, a sub-tribe of the Arabs descending from al-Hajim b. ʿAmr b. Tamim b. Mir b. Ad, and the place name derives from them.

١٣٢ - الهُجَيْمِيُّ أَحْمَدُ بنُ عَطَاءٍ البَصْرِيُّ * شَيْخُ الصُّوْفِيَّةِ، العَابِدُ، القَانِتُ، أَحْمَدُ بنُ عَطَاءٍ الهُجَيْمِيُّ، البَصْرِيُّ، القَدَرِيُّ، المُبْتَدِعُ، فَمَا أَقْبَحَ بِالزُّهَّادِ رُكُوْبَ البِدَعِ! كَانَ تِلْمِيْذَ شَيْخِ البَصْرَةِ عَبْدِ الوَاحِدِ بنِ زَيْدٍ. ذَكَرَهُ: أَبُو سَعِيْدٍ بنُ الأَعْرَابِيِّ فِي (طَبَقَاتِ النُّسَّاكِ) ، فَقَالَ: بَرَّزَ فِي العِبَادَةِ وَالاجْتِهَادِ، وَأَخَذَ المَعْلُوْمَ مِنَ القُوْتِ، وَذَكَرَ أَنَّ الطَّرِيْقَ إِلَى اللهِ لاَ يَكُوْنُ إِلاَّ مِنْ هَذِهِ الأَبْوَابِ: الصَّوْمِ، وَالصَّلاَةِ، وَالجُوْعِ، وَكَانَ يَمِيْلُ إِلَى اكْتِسَابِ القُوْتِ بِيَدِهِ، وَلَزِمَ طَرِيْقَ شَيْخِهِ فِي اللُّطْفِ، فَكَانَ قَدَرِياً غَيْرَ مُعْتَزِلِيٍّ، وَكَتَبَ شَيْئاً مِنَ الحَدِيْثِ. قَالَ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بنُ عُمَرَ رُسْتَه: رَآنِي ابْنُ مَهْدِيٍّ يَوْمَ جُمُعَةٍ جَالِساً إِلَى جَنْبِ أَحْمَدَ بنِ عَطَاءٍ، وَكَانَ يَتَكَلَّمُ فِي القَدَرِ، وَكَانَ أَزْهَدَ مَنْ رَأَيْتُ، فَاعْتَذَرْتُ إِلَى عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، فَقَالَ: لاَ تُجَالِسْهُ، فَإِنَّ أَهْوَنَ مَا يَنْزِلُ بِك أَنْ تَسْمَعَ مِنْهُ شَيْئاً، يَجِبُ للهِ عَلَيْكَ أَنْ تَقُوْلَ لَهُ: كَذَبتَ، وَلَعَلَّكَ لاَ تَفْعَلُ. وَكَانَ ابْنُ عَطَاءٍ قَدْ نَصَبَ نَفْسَهُ لِلأُسْتَاذِيَّةِ، وَوَقَفَ دَاراً فِي بَلْهُجَيْمٍ (١) لِلْمُتَعَبِّدِيْنَ وَالمُرِيْدِيْنَ يَقُصُّ عَلَيْهِم. قَالَ ابْنُ الأَعْرَابِيِّ: وَأَحْسِبُهَا أَوَّلَ دَارٍ وُقِفَتْ بِالبَصْرَةِ لِلْعِبَادَةِ. صَحِبَهُ جَمَاعَةٌ، مِنْهُم: أَحْمَدُ بنُ غَسَّانَ الزَّاهِدُ، وَأَبُو بَكْرٍ

(*) ميزان الاعتدال ١ / ١١٩، المغني في الضعفاء ١ / ٤٧، لسان الميزان ١ / ٢٢١. (١) بلهجيم: الأصل " بني الهجيم " ولذا وجب أن لا يصحب الكسرة التي في الميم التنوين، وهي محلة بالبصرة نزلها بنو الهجيم، وهم بطن من العرب ينسبون إلى الهجيم بن عمرو ابن تميم بن مر بن أد، فنسبت إليهم.