Documents of the Right Word

deeds are real, too. It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf, “Yâ Rabbî! I
request that Thou shouldst grant me îmân that will not end in
disbelief!” The hundred and thirty-sixth âyat of Nisâ sûra, which
purports, “O you who have had îmân! Have îmân in Allah and
His Messenger!”, points to this kind of îmân. Imâm-i-Ahmad ibni
Hanbel [1]
occupied a highest grade in knowledge and ijtihâd.
However, he had recourse to Bishr-i-Hâfî and humbly expressed
his wish for this ma’rifat. When people (around him) asked him
why he had done so, he said, “He (Bish-i-Hâfî) is more ârif (has
closer knowledge) of Allâhu ta’âlâ than I am.” Abû Hanîfa
Nu’mân-i-Kûfî ‘rahmatullâhi aleyh’ [2] gave up ijtihâd and lived in
seclusion in the last two years of his lifetime. After his death, he
is reported to have said in (someone’s) dream, “Had it not been
for the last two years, Nu’mân would have perished.” The
purpose in his seclusion was to perfect this ma’rifat, and to attain
perfect îmân, which is a result of this ma’rifat. His grade in
knowledge and deeds was already very high. No deed could reach
the grade of ijtihâd. No worship could equal the grade of
teaching. Maturity of (one’s) deeds depends on the maturity of
(one’s) îmân. Luminousness of worships depends on the degree
of ikhlâs (one has). And the maturity of îmân and the degree of
ikhlâs, in their turn, depend on ma’rifat. Since this ma’rifat and
real îmân depend on attaining Fanâ and the nafs’s death before
one dies, the better fanâ is the more perfect îmân. For this reason,
the îmân possessed by Siddîq-i-ekber exceeded the total îmân
held by this Ummat (Muslims). It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf, “If
Abû Bekr’s îmân were to be weighed against the îmân of this
Ummat, Abû Bekr’s îmân would weigh heavier.” For he was
peerless in Fanâ. It is stated in another hadîth-i-sherîf, “If you
would like to see a dead person walking, see Abû Kuhâfa’s son!”
Abû Bekr’s having been presented as an exemplification of Fanâ
is an evidence for his perfection in Fanâ. For all the As-hâb-ikirâm
attained Fanâ. How lucky for the person who has attained
this ma’rifat! One should run towards this blessing whereever it
is. Shameful to say, what is to be aspired after is being turned
away from. What one has been commanded to smash is being
meliorated. Where will we find the face and the excuse to answer
with on the Judgement Day?
[1] Ahmad ibni Hanbel passed away in Baghdâd in 241 [A.D. 855].
[2] Abû Hanîfa passed away in Baghdâd in 150 [A.D. 767].
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