Al-Awliya' - Ibn Abi al-Dunya - (9)

Al-Awliya'Ibn Abi al-Dunya

1 – The venerable shaykh, the Imām, Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥusayn Aḥmad b. Ḥamzah b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḥasan al-Sulamī al-Shāfiʿī of Damascus—may Allah protect it—narrated to us in the Great Mosque of Damascus. He said:

The shaykh Abū Saʿd Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Abī Saʿd transmitted to us in his written work in the year 511 AH, and this was likewise conveyed from him by the two shaykhs, the Imāms Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. ʿUmar b. Muḥammad b. Labīdah al-Maʿarrī and Abū al-Baqāʾ Hibat Allah b. Ṣadaqah b. Hibat Allah; it was read aloud to both of them while I was present and listening, on the ninth of Rabīʿ al-Awwal in the year 540 AH. They said:

The ascetic ḥāfiẓ, Shaykh Abū Saʿd Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Abī Saʿd al-Baghdādī informed us. He said: The two shaykhs, the two Imāms, Abū ʿAmr ʿAbd al-Wahhāb b. Abī ʿAbd Allah b. Mandah and Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Ṭahrānī, informed us. They said: Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad b. Ḥumdawayh al-Madanī informed us. He said: Abū al-Ḥasan Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. ʿUmar b. Abān al-Libnānī informed us. He said: Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allah b. Muḥammad b. ʿUbayd Allah b. Sufyān al-Qurashī, known as Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, narrated to us. Al-Haytham b. Khārijah and al-Ḥakam b. Mūsā both related to us, saying:

Al-Ḥasan b. Yaḥyā al-Khushanī narrated to us, from Ṣadaqah al-Dimashqī, from Hishām al-Kinānī, from Anas b. Mālik, from the Prophet ﷺ, from Gabriel عليه السلام, from his Lord—Exalted and Sanctified—who said:

“Whoever shows enmity to a friend of Mine has declared war on Me. I have never hesitated about anything I intend to do as I hesitate to take the soul of My believing servant: he dislikes death while I dislike displeasing him, yet death is inevitable for him. Among My believing servants is one who seeks a gate of knowledge, but I withhold it from him lest self-admiration overtake him and ruin him thereby. No servant draws near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than fulfilling what I have made obligatory upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me through voluntary acts until I love him. When I love him, I become his hearing, his sight, his hand, and his supporter. Should he call upon Me, I answer him; should he ask of Me, I grant him; and if he seeks My counsel, I counsel him.

Among My believing servants are those whose faith is set right only through wealth; were I to impoverish them, it would corrupt them. Among My believing servants are those whose faith is set right only through poverty; were I to enrich them, it would corrupt them. Among My believing servants are those whose faith is set right only through good health; were I to afflict them with illness, it would corrupt them. And among My believing servants are those whose faith is set right only through sickness; were I to restore their health, it would corrupt them. Truly, I manage the affairs of My servants with My knowledge; surely I am All-Knowing, All-Aware.”

١ - حَدَّثَنَا الشَّيْخُ الْإِمَامُ تَقِيُّ الدِّينِ أَبُو الْحُسَيْنِ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ حَمْزَةَ بْنِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ الْحَسَنِ السُّلَمِيُّ الشَّافِعِيُّ الدِّمَشْقِيُّ فِي جَامِعِ دِمَشْقَ حَرَسَهَا اللَّهُ تَعَالَى قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا الشَّيْخُ أَبُو سَعْدٍ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي سَعْدٍ فِي كِتَابِهِ سَنَةَ إِحْدَى عَشْرَةَ وَخَمْسِمِائَةٍ، وَأَخْبَرَنَا عَنْهُ الشَّيْخَانِ الْإِمَامُ أَبُو الْعَبَّاسِ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عُمَرَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ لَبِيدَةَ الْمَعَرَّيُّ، وَأَبُو الْبَقَاءِ هِبَةُ اللَّهِ بْنُ صَدَقَةَ بْنِ هِبَةِ اللَّهِ قِرَاءَةً عَلَيْهِمَا وَأَنَا حَاضِرٌ أَسْمَعُ فِي تَاسِعِ شَهْرِ رَبِيعٍ الْأَوَّلِ سَنَةَ أَرْبَعِينَ وَخَمْسِمِائَةٍ، قَالَا: أَخْبَرَنَا الشَّيْخُ الزَّاهِدُ الْحَافِظُ أَبُو سَعْدٍ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي سَعْدٍ الْبَغْدَادِيُّ قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا الشَّيْخَانِ الْإِمَامَانِ أَبُو عَمْرٍو عَبْدُ الْوَهَّابِ بْنُ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَنْدَهْ، وَأَبُو الْعَبَّاسِ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَحْمَدَ الطَّهْرَانِيُّ قَالَا: أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو مُحَمَّدٍ الْحَسَنُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ حُمْدَوَيْهِ الْمَدِينِيُّ قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو الْحَسَنِ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عُمَرَ بْنِ أَبَانَ اللِّبْنَانِيُّ قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو بَكْرٍ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ سُفْيَانَ الْقُرَشِيُّ الْمَعْرُوفُ بِابْنِ أَبِي الدُّنْيَا، حَدَّثَنَا الْهَيْثَمُ بْنُ خَارِجَةَ، وَالْحَكَمُ بْنُ مُوسَى، قَالَا: نا الْحَسَنُ بْنُ يَحْيَى الْخُشَنِيُّ، عَنْ صَدَقَةَ الدِّمَشْقِيِّ، عَنْ هِشَامٍ الْكِنَانِيِّ، عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ عَنْ جِبْرِيلَ ﵇ عَنْ رَبِّهِ تَعَالَى وَتَقَدَّسَ قَالَ: «مَنْ أَهَانَ لِي وَلِيًّا فَقَدْ بَارَزَنِي بِالْمُحَارَبَةِ، وَمَا تَرَدَّدْتُ فِي شَيْءٍ أَنَا فَاعِلُهُ مَا تَرَدَّدْتُ فِي قَبْضِ نَفْسِ الْمُؤْمِنِ؛ لِأَنَّهُ يَكْرَهُ الْمَوْتَ وَأَنَا أَكْرَهُ مُسَاءَتَهُ وَلَا بُدُّ لَهُ مِنْهُ، وَإِنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مَنْ يُرِيدُ بَابًا مِنَ الْعلْمِ فَأَكُفُّهُ عَنْهُ لَا يَدْخُلُهُ عُجْبٌ فَيَفْسَدُ لِذَلِكَ، وَمَا تَقَرَّبَ إِلَيَّ عَبْدِيَ بِمِثْلِ أَدَاءِ مَا افْتَرَضْتُهُ عَلَيْهِ، وَمَا يَزَالُ عَبْدِي يَتَنَفَّلُ لِي حَتَّى أُحِبَّهُ، فَإِذَا أَحْبَبْتُهُ كُنْتُ لَهُ سَمْعًا، وَبَصَرًا، وَيَدًا، وَمُؤَيِّدًا، دَعَانِي فَأَجَبْتُهُ، وَسَأَلَنِي فَأَعْطَيْتُهُ، وَنَصَحَ لِي فَنَصَحْتُ لَهُ، وَإِنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مَنْ لَا يُصْلِحُ إِيمَانَهُ إِلَّا الْغِنَى وَلَوْ أَفْقَرْتُهُ لَأَفْسَدَهُ ذَلِكَ، وَإِنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ لَمَنْ لَا يُصْلِحُ إِيمَانَهُ إِلَّا الْفَقْرُ، وَلَوْ بَسَطْتُ لَهُ لَأَفْسَدَهُ ذَلِكَ، وَإِنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مَنْ لَا يُصْلِحُ لَهُ إِيمَانَهُ إِلَّا الصِّحَّةُ، وَلَوْ أَسْقَمْتُهُ لَأَفْسَدَهُ ذَلِكَ، وَإِنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مَنْ لَا يُصْلِحُ إِيمَانَهُ إِلَّا السَّقَمُ، وَلَوْ أَصْحَحْتُهُ لَأَفْسَدَهُ ذَلِكَ، إِنِّي أُدَبِّرُ أَمْرَ عِبَادِي بِعِلْمِي، إِنِّي عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ»