Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Second Fascicle

the other hand. There are three groups of Tasawwuf: the first
group are adherent to the Hadîth and Sunnat. The second group
are heretics like the Kurâmiyya. The third group are the followers
of the books of Ikhwan as-safâ and the words of Abu’I-Hayyân.
Ibn al-’Arabî and Ibni Sab’în and the like adopted philosophers’
statements, and turned them into statements of the men of
Tasawwuf. Ibni Sînâ’s book, Âkhir al-ishârat ’alâ maqâmi-l’ârifîn,
contains many such statements. Also, Imâm al-Ghazâlî said such
things in some of his books, such as in his Al-kitâb al-madnûn and
Mishkât al-anwar. In fact, when his friend, Abû Bakr ibn al’Arabî,
warned him that he had taken to philosophy, he tried to save
himself from it, but he could not. On the other hand, Imâm al-
Ghazâlî said that philosophers were disbelievers. Towards the end
of his life he read al-Bukhârî. Some said that this made him give
up the ideas he had written. Others said that those statements
were written for defaming Imâm al-Ghâzâli. There are various
rumours about Imâm al-Ghazâlî in this respect. Muhammad
Mâzarî, a Mâlikî savant educated on the island of Sicily, Turtûshî,
an Andalusian savant, and Ibn al-Jawzî and Ibni ’Uqail and others
said many things.”
The assertions quoted above from Ibni Taymiyya reveals his ill
will about the savants of the Ahl as-sunnat clearly. He cast such
aspersions upon even the greatest ones of the Sahâba. He
stigmatized most of the savants of the Ahl as-sunnat as heretics.
Meanwhile, as he heavily denigrated the great Walî and the qutb
al-’ârifîn Hadrat Abul-Hasan ash-Shâdhilî on account of his books
Hizb al-kebîr and Hizb al-bahr and cast squalid aspersions upon
the great men of Tasawwuf, such as Muhyiddîn Ibn al-’Arabî and
’Umar ibn al-Fârid and Ibni Sab’în and Hallâj Husain ibni Mansûr,
the savants during his time declared unanimously that he was a
sinner and a heretic. In fact, some of them issued a fatwâ stating
that he was a disbeliever. [The profound Islamic savant ’Abd al-
Ghanî an Nablusî gives the names of these superiors of Tasawwuf
in the 363rd and 373rd pages of his book al-Hadîqat an-nadiyya,
says that they are Awliyâ’ and that those who speak negatively
about them are ignorant and unaware.] A letter written to Ibni
Taymiyya in 705 [1305 A.D.] stated: “O my Muslim brother, who
considers himself a great savant and the imâm of his time! I loved
you for Allah’s sake. I disapproved of the savants who were
against you. But hearing your words that are incompatible with my
loving you has consternated me. Does a wise person doubt that the
night begins when the sun sets? You said that you were on the
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