Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (12/89)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

so he leaned out from his cell.

“What is your name?” I asked.

“Jurayj,” he answered.

I said, “What keeps you here?”

He replied, “I have confined myself from worldly desires.”

I said, “Would it not be more fitting for you to come down here among us, then restrain your soul from its cravings?”

“Far from it!” he said. “What you are describing requires strength, and I am weak.”

I asked, “Why do you do this to yourself?”

He said, “We find in our books that the body of the son of Adam was created from the earth, while his spirit was created from the celestial realm. When a person makes his body go hungry, exposes it, keeps it awake, and subdues it, the spirit yearns for the place from which it came. But when he feeds it and grants it comfort, the body inclines to the place of its origin and comes to love this world.”

I asked, “If he acts in this way, is his reward hastened for him in this world?”

“Yes,” he replied, “with a light commensurate with it (1).”

[Aḥmad continues:] I relayed this to Abū Sulaymān al-Dārānī, and he exclaimed, “May Allah combat him! They are only describing—(2)”

I said, “The most excellent path is the Muhammadan one: to partake of what is wholesome and to enjoy the lawful desires without excess, as the Exalted has said: ‘O Messengers, eat of the good things and act righteously’ (Al-Mu’minūn 51).

“The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—also said: ‘But I fast and I break my fast; I stand (in prayer) and I sleep; I marry women; and I eat meat. Whoever turns away from my sunnah is not of me’ (3). Thus monasticism was not prescribed for us (4), nor…"

(1) In Hilyat al-Awliyaʾ, 10/5: “Yes, a light that veils it.” (2) Hilyat al-Awliyaʾ, 10/5. (3) A passage from a hadith recorded by al-Bukhari, 9/89–90; Muslim, no. 1401; and al-Nasaʾi, 6/60, on the authority of Anas ibn Malik. (4) Rather, this practice is an innovation of those who preceded us; they imposed it on themselves yet did not observe it properly. Allah, exalted is He, says: wa-rahbāniyyatan ibtadaʿūhā mā katabnāhā ʿalayhim illā ibtighāʾa riḍwān Allāh fa-mā raʿawhā ḥaqqa riʿāyatihā fa-ātaynā alladhīna āmanū min-hum ajrahum wa-kathīrun min-hum fāsiqūn (And monasticism which they themselves invented—we did not prescribe it for them—save in pursuit of Allah’s good pleasure; yet they did not observe it as it should be observed, so We rewarded those of them who believed, while many of them are rebellious) [Sūrat al-Ḥadīd 27]. Al-Baghawī comments on the phrase wa-rahbāniyyatan: it is not conjunctive with the preceding words (…wa-jaʿalnā fī qulūbi alladhīna ittabaʿūhu raʾfatan wa-raḥmatan wa-rahbāniyyatan…) but stands in the accusative because of an implied verb, as though one said: “They invented monasticism,” meaning they introduced it on their own. Ibn Kathīr, on the clause illā ibtighāʾa riḍwān Allāh, cites two interpretations: (1) they adopted it seeking Allah’s pleasure, as reported from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr and Qatādah; (2) We did not prescribe it for them—rather, We only enjoined upon them the pursuit of Allah’s pleasure.

وَأَشْرَفَ مِنْ صَوْمَعَتِهِ: مَا اسْمُكَ؟ قَالَ: جُرَيْجٌ. قُلْتُ: مَا يَحْبِسُكَ؟ قَالَ: حَبَسْتُ نَفْسِي عَنِ الشَّهَوَاتِ. قُلْتُ: أَمَا كَانَ يَسْتَقيمُ لَكَ أَنْ تَذْهَبَ مَعَنَا هَا هُنَا، وَتَجِيءَ وَتَمْنَعَهَا الشَّهَوَاتِ؟ قَالَ: هَيْهَاتَ!! هَذَا الَّذِي تَصِفُهُ قُوَّةٌ، وَأَنَا فِي ضَعْفٍ. قُلْتُ: وَلِمَ تَفْعَلُ هَذَا؟ قَالَ: نَجِدُ فِي كُتُبِنَا أَنَّ بَدَنَ ابْنِ آدَمَ خُلِقَ مِنَ الأَرْضِ، وَرُوْحُهُ خُلِقَ مِنْ مَلَكُوْتِ السَّمَاءِ، فَإِذَا أَجَاعَ بَدَنَهُ وَأَعْرَاهُ وَأَسْهَرَهُ وَأَقْمَأَهُ نَازَعَ الرُّوْحَ إِلَى المَوْضِعِ الَّذِي خَرَجَ مِنْهُ، وَإِذَا أَطْعَمَهُ وَأَرَاحَهُ أَخْلَدَ البَدَنُ إِلَى المَوَاضِعِ الَّذِي مِنْهُ خُلِقَ، فَأَحَبَّ الدُّنْيَا. قُلْتُ: فَإِذَا فَعَلَ هَذَا يُعَجَّلُ لَهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا الثَّوَابُ؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ، نُوْرٌ يُوَازِيْهِ (١) . قَالَ: فَحَدَّثْتُ بِهَذَا أَبَا سُلَيْمَانَ الدَّارَانِيَّ، فَقَالَ: قَاتَلَهُ اللهُ، إِنَهُمْ يَصِفُوْنَ (٢) . قُلْتُ: الطَّرِيْقَةُ المُثْلَى هِيَ المُحَمَّدِيَّةُ، وَهُوَ الأَخْذُ مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ، وَتَنَاوُلُ الشَّهَوَاتِ المُبَاحَةِ مِنْ غَيْرِ إِسْرَافٍ، كَمَا قَالَ -تَعَالَى -: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الرُّسُلُ، كُلُوا مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَاعْمَلُوا صَالِحاً﴾ [المُؤْمِنُوْنَ: ٥١] . وَقَدْ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ: (لَكِنِّي أَصُومُ وَأُفْطِرُ، وَأَقُوْمُ وَأَنَامُ، وَآتِي النِّسَاءَ، وَآكُلُ اللَّحْمَ، فَمَنْ رَغِبَ عَنْ سُنَّتِي، فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي (٣)) ، فَلَمْ يَشْرَعْ لَنَا الرَّهْبَانِيَّةَ (٤) ، وَلاَ

(١) في " حلية الأولياء " ١٠ / ٥: نعم نورا يواريه. (٢) " حلية الأولياء " ١٠ / ٥ (٣) قطعة من حديث أخرجه البخاري ٩ / ٨٩، ٩٠، ومسلم (١٤٠١) ، والنسائي ٦ / ٦٠ من حديث أنس بن مالك ﵁. (٤) بل هي من ابتداع من كان قبلنا، ألزموا أنفسهم بها، ومع ذلك فما رعوها حق رعايتها، كما قال سبحانه: (ورهبانية ابتدعوها ما كتبناها عليهم إلا ابتغاء رضوان الله فما رعوها حق رعايتها فآتينا الذين آمنوا منهم أجرهم وكثير منهم فاسقون) [الحديد: ٢٧] . قال البغوي في قوله تعالى: (ورهبانية) : وليس هذا بعطف على ما قبله ( ... وجعلنا في قلوب الذين اتبعوه رأفة ورحمة ورهبانية ... ) ، وانتصابه بفعل مضمر، كأنه قال: وابتدعوا رهبانية، أي: جاؤوا بها من قبل أنفسهم. وقال ابن كثير في قوله تعالى: (إلا ابتغاء رضوان الله) : فيه قولان: أحدهما أنهم قصدوا بذلك رضوان الله، قاله سعيد بن جبير وقتادة. والآخر: ما كتبنا عليهم ذلك، إنما كتبنا عليهم ابتغاء رضوان الله.