He also said: “I have asked God not to punish me for my speech; and it has sometimes crossed my mind that the leader of a company is the worthiest to be despised among them.
He likewise remarked: “The people of Baghdad have been granted ecstatic outpourings and eloquent expression; the people of Khurasan, tender hearts and generosity; the people of Basra, detachment and contentment; the people of Syria, forbearance and harmlessness; and the people of the Hijaz, patience and penitence.”
It was said to one of the dialectical theologians—some claim he was Ibn Kullab (1), though the report is not sound—“You have listed the sects and disputed with them, yet you have not mentioned the Sufis.”
He replied, “I know of no science, doctrine, or aim that can be ascribed to them.”
Someone retorted, “On the contrary, they are the masters.”
They mentioned al-Junayd to him; so they went to al-Junayd and asked him about Sufism. He answered:
“Sufism is to single out the Eternal from the contingent, to leave one’s homeland, to sever beloved attachments, to relinquish what one knows or ignores, and to be indifferent to what is with God while yearning for what is God’s with Him. Whoever attains this is led to the unveiling of the sciences, the ability to articulate subtle meanings, knowledge of hidden secrets, and insight into the spirits.”
The theologian exclaimed, “By God, this is fine knowledge! If only you would repeat it so that we might write it down.”
Junayd replied, “No. Go back to the place where forgetfulness began,” and he went on to deliver a lengthy discourse.
The theologian said, “If ever there was a man who could demolish what reason establishes with a single word, it is this one, for his speech admits of no rebuttal.”
Abu Muhammad al-Jariri said: “I heard al-Junayd say, ‘We did not acquire Sufism from gossip and talk, but from hunger, renouncing the world, and cutting off accustomed comforts.’”
I say: This is sound. What he intends is abandoning most familiar indulgences, forsaking worldly excess, and embracing hunger without immoderation.
But whoever carries hunger to extremes—as the monks do—and rejects