Ibrahim ibn Adham

Besides literary tradition, there were other channels by which the doctrines of emanation, illumination, gnosis, and ecstasy were transmitted, but enough has been said to convince the reader that Greek mystical ideas were in the air and easily accessible to the Muslim inhabitants of Western Asia and Egypt, where the Sufi theosophy first took shape.

One of those who bore the chief part in its development, Du Linan, the Egyptian, is described as a philosopher and alchemist in other words a student of hellenistic science when it is added that much of his speculation agrees with what we find for example in the writings of dionysius we are drawn irresistibly to the conclusion which as i have pointed out is highly probable on general grounds that neoplatonism poured into islam a large tincture of the same mystical element in which christianity was already steeped three gnosticism though little direct evidence is available the conspicuous place occupied by the theory of gnosticism in early sufi speculation suggests contact with christian gnosticism and it is worth noting that the parents of ma'ruf al karki whose definition of sufism as the apprehension of divine realities was quoted on the first page of this introduction are said to have been sabians i dwelling in the babylonian fenland between basra and wasit other moslem saints had learned the mystery of the great name it was communicated to ibrahim ibn adham by a man whom he met while travelling in the desert and as soon as he pronounced it he saw the prophet kadir The ancient Sufis borrowed from the Manichaeans the term Siddique, which they applied to their own spiritual adepts, and a later school, returning to the dualism of Mani, held the view that the diversity of phenomena arises from the admixture of light and darkness.

The ideal of human action is freedom from the taint of darkness, and the freedom of light from darkness means the self-consciousness of light as light.

The following version of the doctrine of the 70,000 veils, as explained by a modern Raphael dervish, shows clear traces of Gnosticism, and is so interesting that I cannot refrain from quoting it here.

On the Transmission of Schools of Thought and Statements and the Arguments of Both Sides There has been a divergence in schools of thought, particularly regarding solitude versus social interaction.

Sufyan al-Thawri, Ibrahim ibn Adam, Dawud al-Tai, Fudhayl ibn Iyad, Sulaiman al-Kawas, Yusuf ibn Asbat, Hudhayfa al-Marashi, and Bishr al-Hafi favored solitude over social interaction.

In contrast, most of the Tabi'un preferred social interaction, forming numerous acquaintances and bonds, and seeking assistance in religion through cooperation in righteousness and piety.

This view was supported by Sayyid ibn al-Musayyib al-Shabi ibn Abi Layla, Hisham ibn Urwa ibn Shubruma, Shuraykh, Sharik ibn Abdullah ibn Uyaynah, ibn al-Mubarak al-Shafi'i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and others.

to 782 of the Common Era.

And Ibrahim ibn Adham was one of the most prominent early Sufi saints known for his Zohd, his renunciation of the worldly life.

And the story of his conversion to a life of asceticism and piety is one of the most celebrated stories among the Sufis.

It is mentioned by Fariduddin Attar in his Tazkiratul Awliya, and many other Sufis mention the story.

And also, Sufi tradition ascribes to Ibrahim ibn Adham many acts of righteousness and a humble lifestyle also, which contrasted sharply to his early life.

As the king of Palkh.

Ibrahim Ibn Adham emphasized the importance of meditation and reflection for spiritual growth.

And people like the famous Rumi, Rahmatul Ali, extensively described the story of Ibrahim Ibn Adham in his Masnawi.

I will be gone.

So how is it my house? A fakir came to Ibrahim Adham Rahmatullah Alaih.

Uh, he was-- they found him sleeping in the, in the main darbar hall, uh, in front of the throne.

So the security guards and so on, they caught hold of him.

So they said, "You are mad.

This is the palace of the king.

How do you say it's a saray?" So they brought him in front of the king, Ibrahim Adham Rahmatullah Alaih.

So Ibrahim Adham asked him, "Uh, what are you doing?" He said, "This is-- I am sleeping in a saray.

Other Muslim saints had learned the mystery of the great name.

It was communicated to Ibrahim ibn Adham by a man whom he met while traveling in the desert, and as soon as he pronounced it, he saw the prophet Qadir, Elias.

The ancient Sufis borrowed from the Manichaeans the term Siddiq, which they applied to their own spiritual adepts, and a later school, returning to the dualism of Mani, held the view that the diversity of phenomena arises from the admixture of light and darkness.

The ideal of human action is freedom from the taint of darkness, and the freedom of light from darkness means the self-consciousness of light as light.

Before the Mohammedan conquest of India in the eleventh century, the teaching of Buddha exerted considerable influence in Eastern Persia and Transoxiana.

We hear of flourishing Buddhist monasteries in Balkh, the metropolis of ancient Bactria, a city famous for the number of Sufis who resided in it.

Professor Goldziher has called attention to the significant circumstance that the Sufi ascetic Ibrahim ibn Adham appears in Muslim legend as a prince of Balkh who abandoned his throne and became a wandering dervish, the story of Buddha over again.

The Sufis learned the use of rosaries from Buddhist monks, and without entering into details, it may be safely asserted that the method of Sufism, so far as it is one of ethical self-culture, ascetic meditation, and intellectual abstraction, owes a good deal to Buddhism.

And you would have worked hard.

The quote that I was thinking of earlier is the quote of Ibrahim ibn Adham.

That's what I was thinking of.

That he said, لو يعلم الملوك وأبناء الملوك ما نحن فيه من النعيم لجادلونا عليه بالسيوف.

He said, Ibrahim ibn Adham, he said, if the kings and the sons of the kings knew what we were in from the sweetness and the pleasure that we are in, They would have sent the people with swords to take it from us.

And Shaykh al-Islam ibn Taymiyyah, he has a statement about the Jannah that exists in this dunya.

And there's a Jannah in this dunya.

And you would have worked hard.

The quote that I was thinking of earlier is the quote of Ibrahim ibn Adham.

That's what I was thinking of.

That he said, لو يعلم الملوك وأبناء الملوك ما نحن فيه من النعيم لجادلونا عليه بالسيوف.

He said, Ibrahim ibn Adham, he said, if the kings and the sons of the kings knew what we were in from the sweetness and the pleasure that we are in, They would have sent the people with swords to take it from us.

And Shaykh al-Islam ibn Taymiyyah, he has a statement about the Jannah that exists in this dunya.

And there's a Jannah in this dunya.