Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (14/525)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

and Ibn ʿAmruwayh, Muḥammad ibn Makkī al-Naysābūrī, and ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣaydilānī al-Balkhī—a shaykh whom Abū Dharr al-Harawī met as well.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nuʿaym (1) said: “He heard a great deal from Qutaybah ibn Saʿīd.”

I heard Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Rāzī, in Nasā, relate that he had heard him say:

“The ruin of Islam comes from four kinds of people: those who do not act on what they know; those who act on what they do not know; those who make no effort to learn what they do not know; and those who keep others from knowledge.”

I say: These are exactly the traits of the tribal chieftains of the Arabs and the Turks, and of many among the ignorant masses. Had they acted on even a small portion of what they already know, they would have prospered; had they refrained from practicing innovations, they would have been granted success; and had they examined their religion and asked the People of Remembrance—not the people of trickery and deceit—they would have found happiness. Instead, they shun learning out of arrogance and laziness. Any one of these characteristics is fatal—so what do you think when they come together?!

And what if to them are added pride, debauchery, criminality, and open insolence toward Allah? We ask Allah for well-being.

Al-Sulamī reports in Trials of the Sufis: When Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl spoke in Balkh about understanding the Quran and about the states of the leading imams, the jurists of Balkh denounced him and said, “He is an innovator.”

Their only grievance was that he held the creed of the Ahl al-Ḥadīth. He replied, “I will not leave until you drive me out and parade me through the marketplaces.”

So they did, whereupon he declared, “Allah has stripped your hearts of His love and knowledge.”

It was then said that no Sufi native to that city ever emerged from it again.

He next went to Samarkand, where the people honored him profusely. It is related that on one occasion he delivered an exhortation and four individuals died in the gathering.

He died in 317 AH.
This date was recorded by al-Sulamī and by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn

(1) In al-Hilya, vol. 10, pp. 232–233.

بن عمروَيْه، وَمُحَمَّدُ بنُ مَكِّيٍّ النَّيْسَابُوْرِيُّ، وَعُبَيْدُ اللهِ بنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الصَّيْدَلاَنِيُّ البَلْخِيُّ - شَيْخٌ لَقِيَهُ أَبُو ذَرٍّ الهَرَوِيُّ -. قَالَ أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ الحَافِظُ (١) :سَمِعَ الكَثِيْرَ مِنْ قُتَيْبَةَ بنِ سَعِيْدٍ. وَسَمِعْتُ مُحَمَّدَ بنَ عَبْدِ اللهِ الرَّازِيَّ بِنَسَا أَنَّهُ سَمِعَهُ يَقُوْلُ: ذَهَابُ الإِسْلاَمِ مِنْ أَرْبَعَةٍ لاَ يَعْملُوْنَ بِمَا يَعْلَمُوْنَ، وَيَعْمَلُوْنَ بِمَا لاَ يَعْلَمُوْنَ، وَلاَ يَتَعَلَّمُوْنَ مَا لاَ يَعلَمُوْنَ، وَيَمنَعُوْنَ النَّاسَ مِنَ العِلْمِ. قُلْتُ: هَذِهِ نُعُوتُ رُؤُوْسِ العَرَبِ وَالتُّركِ وَخَلْقٍ مِنْ جَهَلَةِ العَامَّةِ، فَلَو عَمِلُوا بِيَسِيْرِ مَا عَرَفُوا، لأَفلَحُوا، وَلَوْ وَقَفُوا عَنِ العَمَلِ بِالبِدَعِ، لَوُفِّقُوا، وَلَوْ فَتَّشُوا عَنْ دِيْنِهِم وَسَأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ - لاَ أَهْلَ الحِيَلِ وَالمَكْرِ - لَسَعِدُوا، بَلْ يُعرِضُونَ عَنِ التَّعَلُّمِ تِيْهاً وَكَسَلاً، فَوَاحِدَةٌ مِن هَذِهِ الخِلاَلِ مُرْدِيَةٌ، فَكَيْفَ بِهَا إِذَا اجْتَمَعَتْ؟! فَمَا ظَنُّكَ إِذَا انْضَمَّ إِلَيْهَا كِبْرٌ، وَفُجُورٌ، وَإِجرَامٌ، وَتَجَهْرُمٌ عَلَى اللهِ؟! نَسْأَلُ اللهَ العَافِيَةَ. قَالَ السُّلَمِيُّ فِي (مِحَنِ الصُّوْفِيَّةِ) :لَمَّا تَكَلَّمَ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ الفَضْلِ بِبَلْخَ فِي فَهْمِ القُرْآنِ وَأَحْوَالِ الأَئِمَّةِ، أَنكَرَ عَلَيْهِ فُقَهَاءُ بَلْخَ، وَقَالُوا: مُبْتَدِعٌ. وَإِنَّمَا ذَاكَ بِسَبِبِ اعْتِقَادِه مَذْهَبَ أَهْلِ الحَدِيْثِ، فَقَالَ: لاَ أَخرُجُ حَتَّى تُخرِجُونِي، وَتَطُوفُوا بِي فِي الأَسوَاقِ. فَفَعلُوا بِهِ ذَلِكَ، فَقَالَ: نَزَعَ اللهُ مِنْ قُلُوْبِكُم مَحَبَّتَهُ وَمَعْرِفَتَه. فَقِيْلَ: لَمْ يَخْرُجْ مِنْهَا صُوْفِيٌّ مِنْ أَهْلِهَا. فَأَتَى سَمَرْقَنْدَ، فَبَالَغُوا فِي إِكرَامِهِ، وَقِيْلَ: إِنَّهُ وَعَظَ يَوْماً، فَمَاتَ فِي المَجْلِسِ أَرْبَعَةُ أَنْفُسٍ. مَاتَ: سَنَةَ سَبْعَ عَشْرَةَ وَثَلاَثِ مائَةٍ. أَرَّخَهُ: السُّلَمِيُّ، وَعَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بنُ

(١) في " الحلية " ١٠ / ٢٣٣ ٢٣٢.