Documents of the Right Word

Sa’îd Abu-l-khayr, [1]
one of the greatest Awliyâ, was asked: “So
and so walks on water (without sinking. What do you think)?” He
replied, “It is quite easy. Seagulls walk on water, too.” They said,
“So and so flies in air.” He said, “Birds and flies can fly, too.”
When they said, “So and so goes from one city to another in a
flash,” his answer was: “The devil also can travel from the far east
to the far west in the same breath. Such things are of no value. A
manly person will lead a life like anybody else. He will do
shopping. He will get married. And he will not forget Allâhu ta’âlâ
even for a moment.”
Shihâb-ud-dîn Suhrawardî, [2] a great Walî, after giving detailed
information about wonders and miracles in his book Awârif,
brings his discourse to the following conclusion: “All these
wonders and kerâmats are almost nothing when compared to the
heart’s drilling dhikr of Allâhu ta’âlâ.”
Shaikh-ul-islâm Hirawî Abdullah Ansârî [3]
states, “Intuition
attained by a person with ma’rifats is to see whether a person is
sâlih, (pious, obedient to Islam) or fâsiq (sinful, wrongdoing) at
first sight. Intuition possessed by people who subject themselves
to hunger and other methods of mortification is to see where
(secret) things are and to inform about, (say), lost property.
People in the latter category inform about (things pertaining to)
creatures. For they are unaware of Allâhu ta’âlâ. People of
Ma’ârif, on the other hand, recognizing the pieces of information,
the hâls and ma’rifats coming to their hearts from Allâhu ta’âlâ,
always inform about (facts inspired by) Allâhu ta’âlâ. People are
mostly oblivious of Allâhu ta’âlâ and their hearts are occupied by
worldly thoughts; consequently, they wish to know about material
beings, to find out about unknown things. They look on people
who inform about these things as Ahl-ullah, as Awliyâ, as people
loved by Allâhu ta’âlâ. They do not attach any importance to the
kashfs of the people of haqîqat, of the Awliyâ. They do not
believe in the information these people convey from Allâhu
ta’âlâ. They say, ‘If these people were men of Allah (Ahlullah),
they would know and inform about facts about creatures. How
can a person who is unaware of facts about creatures know about
things of higher level, how can he be an ârif of Allâhu ta’âlâ?’ As
[1] Abû Sa’îd Abu-l-khâyr passed away in 440 [A.D. 1048].
[2] Shihâb-ud-dîn ’Umar Suhrawardî Shâfi’î Siddîqî passed away in
Baghdad in 636 [A.D. 1234].
[3] Abdullah Ansârî passed away in Hirât in 481 [A.D. 1088].
– 406 –