Tag: Stories

A disciple of the great Sufl Shaykh Sirri relates that Shaykh Sirri once had a female student who’s son visited an Alim. The Alim sent him to work the hand mill. On his way there the child fell into a lake and drowned. The Alim then informed Shaykh Sirri about the incident. Shaykh Sirri accompanied his companions to see the mother. He related the virtues of patience and of being content with fate. She wondered aloud, “What is the motive behind these words”. He informed her that her son has drowned. She cried, “My son?” He replied, ”Yes”. She proclaimed, “Allah has not done this.” Shaykh Sirri informed her that there is no doubt that her child has drowned. She demanded, “If what you say is true then take me to that place.”

They took her to the river and showed her the place in which he had drowned. She called out, “Mohammad, Mohammad my son”. All of a sudden he replied, “I am here mother”. When she heard his voice she went into the water, holding him by the she pulled him out and then took him home. Shaykh Sirri turned to Junaid (one of the great Sufi Shaykhs’) in amazement and asked, “What is this? “He said, this woman adorns herself with obedience to the Creator and the blessing of that, if there is any matter concerning her, she is informed first of it, and because she was not informed that her son has drowned, she denied her son had died and said Allah has not done this”.

Abu Abdullah al Jawhari relates, once I went for Hajj. On the night of Arafat at Muzdalifah I dreamt of two angels descending from heaven. One asked the other. “How many people made Wukoof (the stand before Allah) of Arafah this year . His companion replied, “600,000 of which only 6 peoples Hajj was accepted by Allah”. When I heard this I wanted to cry out aloud. ‘The first angel then inquired, “What did Allah do with he Hajj of the remaining pilgrims?” The second angel replied, “Allah looked at them with mercy and forgave 100,000 people for every one accepted Hajj’; thus accepted the Hajj of 600,000. “That is the Mercy of Allah, He bestows it on whomever He wills and the rnercy of Allah is great’.

A pious man relates that once I left for hajj. On the way I slept under the moonlit night, when I heard a voice of a weak man. “Oh Abu Ishaaq I have been waiting for you since yesterday. I went close to him and found that he was a very young thin man, close to death. He was surrounded by lots of flowers, some of which I had never seen before. I asked him where he was from. He mentioned a town and then said, “I was living a life of luxury when my nafs demanded seclusion from it all, so I left, puzzled and confused to the jungles and now I am here on the verge of death. I prayed to Allah to send me a Wali of His and I hope you are him”. I asked, “Do you have any parents?” he replied “Yes, I also have a brother and sisters”. I further questioned, “Did you ever desire to meet them or remember them?” He replied, “Never except today, I wished to smell their fragrance. These wild beasts took pity on me. They cried and brought me these flowers”. Ibraheem says, ‘A big snake then came with a big narcissus in his mouth and contended, “Remove your evil from him, Allah is aware of the condition of his friends and those that are obedient to him”.

Ibraheem revealed, “On seeing this I fainted and when I came round the young man had died”. I then fell asleep again, I woke up to realise that I was on the road to Makkah for Hajj. After I had completed the Hajj, I went to the city the young man had mentioned. There I discovered a woman who resembled him. She had a pot of water in her hands. I approached her and confirmed her identity. I then related the incident to her.

She asked, “So how did you find the young man? and then remarked, “I have been waiting three days for you”. I mentioned the words of the young man, which were, “I wished to smell their fragrance”- She screamed, “The fragrance reached him”. After this exclamation, she died. Later a few women came and took care of her burial.

A pious man relates, whilst I was sitting next to the Ka’ba an old man with his face covered came and drank water from the well of Zam Zam using a container. I then drank what he had left over and found that it tasted of honey. I turned to see where he had gone, but he had left.

The next day I came and sat next to the well, the old man came again with his face covered. On this occasion he drew out the water with a bucket and drank from it. As usual he left some behind which I drank. This time I found the water tasted of sweet milk. I had never tasted anything better.

It is related that Zainul Abideen would pray one thousand rakahs every night, even if he were travelling.  When he performed ablution he would turn yellow and during prayer he would tremble. When asked why this happened to him, he responded, “Do you not know who I stand before?” If the wind blew he would fall down unconscious out of the fear of Allah.

Once there was a fire in his house while he was prostrating in prayer. The people began to warn him, “Oh son of the messenger of Allah, FIRE! FIRE!” He did not raise his head untill the fire had extinguished itself. He was later asked why he did not respond to the cries of the people. He replied “The fire of hell had diverted my attention”.

A pious man relates, I was travelling with a caravan through a jungle when I saw a woman walking ahead. She appeared weak, so I thought that perhaps she was walking in front so that she is not left behind. I found a few dirhams in my pocket and gave them to her and said, “When the caravan stops, come to me and I will ask the people to offer you some money”, enabling her to purchase an animal to ride on. She stretched out her hands and showed me some dirhams clenched in her hands. She gave them to me and said “You took them from your pocket and I from the unseen”.

Shaykh Abu Saeed al-Kharraz relates, once I entered Masjid al-Harram and noticed a man begging. He wore two torn, dirty garments. I thought, “People like him are a burden on the rest”. Unexpectedly, he turned and looked at me, reciting the following verse from the Qur’an. “Know well that Allah Knows what is in your hearts, so be fearful of him”. On hearing this, I immediately turned to Allah to forgive me for my evil thought. The man then called me and recited, “It is He who accepts repentance from His servants and pardons evils and knows what you do”.

Shaykh Fath al-Mowsily relates, once I saw a young boy walking through the jungle. It appeared as if he was uttering some words. I greeted him with Salaam and he replied accordingly. I inquired, “Where are you going ? ”He retorted, “To the house of Allah.” I further asked, ”What are you reciting?” ”The Qur’an” he replied. I remarked, ”You are at a tender age, it is not an obligation that you are required to fulfil.” He said , ”I have witnessed death approach people younger than me and therefore would like to prepare if death was to knock on my door.”

I astoundingly commented, ”Your steps are small and your destenation far.” He responded, ”My duty is to take the step and it remains the resposibility of Allah to take me to my destenation.” I continued to ask, ”Where is you provision and conveyance (means of transport).” He replied ”My Yakeen is my provision and my feet are my conveyance. ”I explained, ”I am asking you regarding bread and water. ”He replied ”Oh Shaykh if someone invited you to their house, would it be appropriate to take your own food?” I exclaimed, ”No!” ”Similarly, My Lord has invited His servant to His house, it is only the weakness of your Yakeen (certainty) that maked us carry provisions. I despite this. Do you think Allah will let me go to waste? ”Never.” I replied. He then left.

Sometime later I saw him in Makkah. He approached me and inquired, ”Oh Shaykh are you still of weak belief?”

It is said that a young man was making tawaf of the Ka’ba. At the same time he was engaged in sending Salaam on the Prophet (SAW). A man on hearing this inquired, “Do you know of any benefits of sending Salaam?” “Yes” he replied. “My father and I left for hajj, he fell sick on the way and died. His face turned black, his eyes blue and his stomach had swollen up. I cried and said, “We belong to Allah and to him we return”.

That night when I went to, sleep I saw the Prophet (SAW) in my dream wearing white garments and smelling of a beautiful fragrance. He (SAW) came close to my father and wiped his hand over his face which turned as white as milk .The Prophet (SAW) then wiped his hands over my father’s stomach and it returned to its previous state.

He (SAW) was about to leave when I held onto his garment and asked, “I swear by the one who has sent You to my father as a mercy in an unknown land, who are you?” The Prophet (SAW) replied ‘.  Do you not know me?” I am Mohammed (SAW) the Messenger of Allah. Your father spent his life in disobedience to Allah, concurrently he sent Salaam on me many a time. Allah states in the Qur’an, “If you remember me in times of ease then I will remember you in times of difficulty”. When he was afflicted with this difficulty he asked for help and so Allah relieved him from his adversity”.

Zun-Noon Misri relates, we once embarked on a ship and a handsome young man, whose face was gleaming with light also set out with us. During the voyage the owner of the ship lost a bag which contained his money. This led to a search of all the passengers on board. When the young man was approached, he leaped out of the ship into the water. Whilst we looked on he supplicated, “Oh Allah they have accused me. I take oath that you order every creature in the sea to raise their head with a pearl resting in their mouths.”

Zun- Noon further states that before the young man could complete his supplication we witnessed the creatures doing just as he had requested. The young man continued, “Oh Allah it is Ye we worship alone and Ye we seek help from.” He then disappeared.

After witnessing such a remarkable incident the narrator exclaimed, “The Hadith of Prophet (SAW) came to mind. There will always remain thirty people from among my Ummah whose hearts will be like the heart of Ibraheem. Every time one dies Allah will replace him.” Perhaps the narrator believed this young man was one of them.

It is related that a man would come every night to all ardent worshipper from amongst the worshippers of Al-Haram, with two pieces of bread with which he would break his fast. This devotee of Allah would not concern himself with anything but the remembrance of Allah. One day his nafs whispered to him, “You rely on this man for food and have forgotten the One who provides for the creation. What is this inattentiveness.”

When the man approached him with pieces of bread again, he did not accept them. The worshipper remained without food for three days and complained to Allah. That night in a dream he saw himself standing in front of Allah, and Allah asked “Why did you return what I sent for you with my servant?” He replied, “Oh Allah I felt I was -relying on somebody else besides you.” Allah asked “Who sent him to you?” “You my Lord”, he answered. “Who did you then take it from?” Allah asked. “From you Oh Allah” he replied. “Take it and do not repeat this again”, Allah ordered him. He then saw the man who gave him bread standing in front of Allah. Allah asked, “Oh my servant why did you stop giving him his food?” He answered “Oh my Lord you know better than I.” Allah enquired, “For whose sake did you not give it?” “For your sake”, he replied. Allah proclaimed, “Keep giving and your reward will be Jannah.

Ibraheem al-Khawwas relates, in my travels there was once an occasion when I felt so thirsty that I passed out. Some water was sprinkled to bring me round again. My eyes opened. I saw a man of outstanding beauty riding a grey horse. He offered me some water and requested that I accompany him on his horse. After a short while he enquired, “What do you see?” I suprisingly replied, “Madinah!” He then said, “Proceed to the Mosque and send Salam upon the Prophet (SAW) and tell him that your brother Khadir also sends you Salam.”

A pious man relates, once I remained in the desert of Hijaz for a few days without any food. I desired to eat bread and lentils but thought, “I am in the middle of the desert the distance between it and the nearest country namely, Iraq seems too vast”. I was still contemplating this when a Bedouln called from far, “lentils and bread”. I turned immediately and advanced towards him and asked. “Do you have lentils?” “Yes.” he replied. Consequently he laid his cloth and utensils on the ground and took out some bread and served lentils. He said, “Eat” and so I began to eat. Once I had completed my portion he insisted I ate some more, I therefore continued. Again when I had finished he maintained, “Eat” and so I continued. He persistently continued until the fourth time I stopped and said “I swear by the one who has sent you to me, who are you?” He replied “Khadir” and then disappeared.