This book is the commentary by Shaykh Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ajiba al-Hasani on the poem of Ibn al-Banna of Saragossa.
The Basic Research
£17.95
Description
“To travel the path of courtesy and instruction is before everything and the mightiest means to Allah. The most direct access for the slave of his Lord is to keep company with the gnostics, those who have high yearning and prophetic instruction, and to have courtesy between the hands of the shaykhs who have noblemish and are pure and who know the stations and states of worshippers, zahids, fuqara and sufis. Research their behaviour and states. and take on their highly pleasing courtesy. Realise their behaviour and their pure good manners.”
The Basic Research is the commentary by Shaykh Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ajiba al-Hasani on the poem of Ibn al-Banna of Saragossa.
Shaykh Ahmad ibn ‘Ajiba
Ahmad ibn ‘Ajiba (1747–1809) was an 18th-century Moroccan Shaykh in the Darqawa Sufi order. He was born of a Hasani sharif family in the Anjra tribe that ranges from Tangiers to Tetouan along the Mediterranean coast of Morocco. As a child he developed a love of knowledge, memorising the Qur’an and studying subjects ranging from Classical Arabic grammar, religious ethics, poetry, Qur’anic recitation and tafsir.
When he reached the age of eighteen he left home and studied in Qasr al-Kabir under the supervision of Sidi Muhammad as-Susi as-Samlali. It was here that he was introduced to studies in the sciences, art, philosophy, law and Qur’anic exegesis in depth. He went to Fes to study with Ibn Suda, Bennani, and al-Warzazi, and joined the new Darqawiyya in 1208 AH (1793), of which he was the representative in the northern part of the Jbala region. He spent his entire life in and around Tetouan, and died of the plague in 1224 AH (1809). He is the author of a considerable number of works and a Fahrasa which provides interesting information concerning the intellectual center that Tetouan had become by the beginning of the 19th century.
Excerpt from the book on Dhikr
(discussed in relation to retreat)
Commenting on:
He perseveres in the dhikr, the tonguestops and the invocation still flows.The inward is imprinted with the Name accordingto how much the tongue repeats it.Then its meaning flows in the heart likeNourishment flows in the body.Then, at that time, the tablet of the Unseenfaces the mirror of the heart, and it is not hidden.Then he grasps the known and the unknown,becauseHe has accumulated a readiness to grasp.
From the poem of Ibn al-Banna of Saragossa.
Shaykh ibn Ajiba has said: I say that when the faqir enters retreat, he must use isolation, that is the iso-lation of the heart. Retreat is for the body, and isolation is for the heart.Complete detachment is necessary, otherwise it will be of no benefit to him. Wehave seen previously what was said about isolation in the Hikam.
The purpose of retreat is the cure of the heart. The heart is not cured except when it is empty of mixtures. The heart is like the stomach, once a lot of things are mixedin it, it gets sick. These mixtures are ideas and disturbances. If the heart isempty, invocation is of benefit to it, otherwise, not. The faqir continues topronounce the invocation until his tongue stops, and the inward continues. The inward must confirm what the tongue is saying, because to invokewithout the inward cannot take one to the Presence of Eye-witnessing.So the faqir must continue to invoke with his tongue and to confirm it withhis inward until its meaning flows into his heart and its light is firm in hisheart. Then it will flow in all his limbs like blood or the water that runs in ten-der plants. The body moves by the dhikr of Allah. I have heard from the Shaykh of our Shaykhs, Moulay al-‘Arabi, may Allah be pleased with him, ‘I continued to do the invocation of the Supreme Name for four years. My whole body used to move by the dhikr. If I put my hand on my thigh to stillit, the other one would move. If I put my hand on the other one, the first onewould shudder once more.’If the mirror is polished and is shining, then the gleams of the Unseen will reflect upon it. These are the lights of facing, and the introduction to thelights of witnessing. Witnessing begins as gleams, then appearance, then thesun of gnosis shines, and it does not set. Then the realities of things arerevealed to him, and he grasps the secret of every existent being and heknows the reality of every known and unknown thing, which means that thatwhich was unknown to him becomes known and whatever was known is grasped by its secret and wisdom. He knows the secret of resemblances and the realities of intricate matters. So the circle of knowledges becomes wide around him and the treasures of understanding open up for him and he goes out to the space of witnessing and controls by his secret existence. The earth cannot contain him, and the heaven cannot shade him. The fields of the Unseen are open to him, and he is purified of every wrong and fault. ‘No person knows what delights of the eye are kept hidden for them as a reward for their deeds.’ (32:17) The phrase ‘the tongue stops and the invocation still flows’ means that the invocation is imprinted on the heart completely so that it flows from the heart even when the tongue is silent. This is the purpose of dhikr. The phrase ‘the inward is imprinted with the Name’ means that there is a result being built when the heart confirms the invocation of the tongue. This result is according to how much the tongue repeats it. Here we understand that dhikr by the tongue is advised so that perhaps the dhikr can enter the inward. In the first case, we have notice of Presence when the tongue is doing the dhikr. That is the best, because if there is no struggle with the dhikr of the tongue, it cannot move to the heart, even if it is a lot. The phrase ‘Then, its meaning flows in the heart’ means that the heart is dyed in the meaning of the dhikr, which is stillness and tranquillity by the invocation of Allah. The phrase ‘when the tablet of the Unseen faces the mirror of the heart’ means that when the heart has been dyed by the invocation of Allah in tranquillity, the lights of the Unseen face its polished, pure mirror. These lights are expressed as the Tablet of the Unseen. It is also called the gleams. Att hat time, what was hidden appears of the lights of witnessing. Then the existence of every existent being is folded up. Ash-Shushtari say,
What was hidden is manifested, and I have enfolded the entire cosmos.From me my glasses went around, after my death you see me, alive.
When the author said, ‘Then he grasps the known and the unknown’ he means that when the sun of gnosis rises, the murid understands the secret of whatwas unknown, he obtains the gnosis of the secret of his existence and is absent from his witnessing by witnessing the Worshipped. The phrase ‘because he has accumulated a readiness to grasp’ means that he does not grasp the secret of the known and the unknown, except if he amasses strength by his preparation for that. That is, complete emptiness and freedom from things. It is according to his disengagement that the realities of things are revealed to him. It is according to how much you are absent from beings that the witnessing of theCreator is revealed to you. You are with the beings as long as you do not witnessthe Creator. If you witness the Creator, beings become by you. It is impossible for you to be attached to the beings and know the secrets of their Maker in them.Allah the Exalted knows best.
Shaykh ibn Ajiba has also said in his commentary: Shaykh Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “I wanted at the beginning of my path to travel by means of many awrad, and much fasting and prayer. When Allah knew the sincerity of my intention, He sent me one of His awliya, who said to me, “O son, cut from your heart every attachment except Allah alone, and isolate yourself and gather your yearning and say ‘Allah, Allah, Allah.’ Do not add anything to what Allah has made obligatory on you except theSunnah. Say this name with your tongue and your heart and your secret, andmake your heart present, and gather your thoughts. When your self says, ‘Whatis the meaning of this?’ say to it, ‘I am not required to give its meaning. Allah theexalted says to remember the Name of your lord and devote your self to Himwhole-heartedly.'”‘ The Shaykh used to teach the faqir what was necessary, and put him into retreat and then put him in the care of a servant who taught him what the Shaykh had ordered him to do, the dhikr which was suitable to him, and what he needed in his travel. It is a condition that the servant must be higher than him inknowledge, state and taste. Some Shaykhs teach the Supreme name at the beginning, if they see that the faqir is capable of it, and he orders him to kill his self with the dhikr of his Lord. He gives him a time in which he remembers his Lord, and a time in which he kills his self. This is what we found our Shaykhs doing, [although] I say this manner is finished today… What remains is fuqara reminding each other. The Shaykh orders whoever is capable to remind the fuqara… Today, this manner has replaced the servant and the retreat, so the faqir must not hide anything of his states fromthe Shaykh, neither small nor great, because the slightest thing can make him inherit a lot.
‘It is said to him, ‘Say “Allah!” always, and beware, do not forget Him for the blink of an eye.’
18 x 24 cm. 341 pages
Additional information
| Weight | 0.98 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | N/A |
| Edition |
Related products
-
The Foundations of Islam
This book by the author of ash-Shifa is a handbook laid out in five sections corresponding to the five pillars, and laid out with the simplicity of a basic technical manual.
£10.00 -
Islam in the School of Madina
Mufeed al-‘Ibad, of which this book is a translation, is a summation of all the previous commentaries on the work of Ibn ‘Ashir on Ash‘ari ‘aqida, Maliki fiqh and Junaydi tasawwuf.
£9.99 – £56.99 -
Root Islamic Education
This modern classic focuses on the actions of the first three generations of the salafi Muslims of Madinah and the madhdhab of Madinah.
£7.50 – £12.50 -
The African Caliphate
This scholarly work focuses on the establishment in 1809, in what is today Northern Nigeria, of the celebrated Sokoto caliphate, which may well have been the last complete re-establishment, anywhere in the world, of Islam in its entirety, comprising all its many and varied dimensions.
£6.99 – £24.99
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.