Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (14/235)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Aḥmad—others state that his full name was Ruwaym ibn Muḥammad ibn Yazīd ibn Ruwaym ibn Yazīd al-Baghdādī—the spiritual master of the Sufis and one of the jurists of the Ẓāhirī school, having studied jurisprudence under Dāwūd. He is known as “the younger Ruwaym,” whereas his grandfather, “the elder Ruwaym,” lived in the days of the caliph al-Maʾmūn.

The subject of this entry was brought to trial during the Ghulām Khalīl affair (1). Ghulām Khalīl said of him, “I heard him say, ‘There is no veil between me and Allah.’” Because of this, he fled to Syria and remained in hiding for some time.

As for the question of the veil, the statement is acceptable in the sense that nothing whatsoever can screen Allah from seeing His creation. We, however, are veiled from Him in this world, while the unbelievers are veiled from Him in both worlds. Concerning the unqualified use of the term “veils,” it is authentically reported that “His veil is light” (2). We affirm this, dispute it not, and stop where the text stops.

Among his fine aphorisms are: “To feel at ease with one’s spiritual states is self-delusion,” and, “Patience is to refrain from complaint, and contentment is to relish affliction.”

Ruwaym died in Baghdad in the year 303 AH.

Ibn Khafīf said, “I have never seen anyone among the gnostics like Ruwaym.”

(1) For the ordeal of Ghulam Khalil, see p. 71 of this volume. (2) Muslim, Sahih, no. 179, Book of Faith, chapter “Allah does not sleep and His veil is light”; Ibn Majah, nos. 195–196, Introduction, chapter “Concerning what the Jahmiyya denied”; and Ahmad, Musnad, 4:401, 405—all transmit the following, through various chains from Abu Ubayda, from Abu Musa: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ addressed us with five statements, saying, “Allah does not sleep, and it is not fitting for Him to sleep. He lowers the scale and raises it. The deeds of the night are lifted to Him before the deeds of the day, and the deeds of the day before the deeds of the night. His veil is light; were He to remove it, the radiance of His Face would burn everything His sight encompasses of His creation.”

أَحْمَدَ، وَقِيْلَ: رُوَيْم بنُ مُحَمَّدِ بنِ يَزِيْدَ بنِ رُوَيْم بن يَزِيْدَ البَغْدَادِيّ، شَيْخُ الصُّوْفِيَّة، وَمِنَ الفُقَهَاء الظَّاهِريَّة، تَفَقَّهَ بدَاوُد. وَهُوَ رُوَيْم الصَّغِيْر، وَجدُّه هُوَ رُوَيْم الكَبِيْر، كَانَ فِي أَيَّامِ المَأْمُوْن. وَقَدِ امتُحِنَ صَاحِب التَّرْجَمَة فِي نَوْبَة غُلاَم خَلِيل (١) ، وَقَالَ عَنْهُ: أَنَا سَمِعْتُهُ يَقُوْلُ: لَيْسَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ الله حِجَاب. فَفَرَّ إِلَى الشَّامِ وَاخْتَفَى زمَاناً. وَأَمَّا الحجَابُ: فَقولٌ يسوغُ بَاعتبَار أَنَّ اللهَ لاَ يحجُبُهُ شَيْءٌ قَطُّ عَنْ رُؤْيَة خَلْقه، وَأَمَّا نَحْنُ فمحجوبُوْنَ عَنْهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا، وَأَمَّا الكفَّار فمحجوبُوْنَ عَنْهُ فِي الدَّارَيْن. أَمَا إِطلاَق الحجبِ، فَقَدْ صَحَّ: (أَنَّ حجَابَهُ النُّوْر (٢)) فنؤمنُ بِذَلِكَ، وَلاَ نجَادلُ، بَلْ نَقف. وَمِنْ جَيِّد قَوْله: السُّكُونُ إِلَى الأَحْوَال اغترَار. وَقَالَ: الصَّبْرُ تركُ الشَّكوَى، وَالرِّضَى اسْتِلذَاذُ البَلْوَى. مَاتَ رُوَيْم بِبَغْدَادَ سَنَةَ ثَلاَثٍ وَثَلاَثِ مائَةٍ. قَالَ ابْنُ خَفِيْف: مَا رَأَيْتُ فِي المَعَارِف كَرُوَيْم.

(١) انظر حول محنة غلام خليل الصفحة (٧١) من هذا الجزء. (٢) أخرج مسلم في صحيحة (١٧٩) في الايمان: باب قوله ﵇: إن الله لا ينام وحجابه النور، وابن ماجه (١٩٥) و (١٩٦) في المقدمة: باب فيما أنكرت الجهمية، وأحمد: ٤ / ٤٠١ و٤٠٥، كلهم من طرق عن أبي عبيدة، عن أبي موسى قال: قام فينا رسول الله ﷺ بخمس كلمات فقال: " إن الله لا ينام ولا ينبغي له أن ينام، يخفض القسط ويرفعه، ويرفع إليه عمل الليل قبل عمل النهار، وعمل النهار قبل عمل الليل، حجابه النور، ولو كشفه لاحرقت سبحات وجهه ما انتهى إليه بصره من خلقه ".