KENNETH HONERKAMP
University of Georgia
What is sanctity? Is
there a pathway to becoming a saint? The literature of Sufism, from the
earliest works of Hakim al-Tirmidhi (d. 320/932) and Abü Talib al-Makki (d.
385/996) to the al-Futuhat al-makkiyya of Ibn ‘Arabi (d. 637/1240), has
defined sanctity (walaya) theologically within the context of a journey
in search of experiential knowledge of divine reality (marifa).1
In Islam this journey is most often portrayed as a personal quest particular to
each individual and time: ‘To each of you We have appointed a path and a way’
(Qur’an, 5. 48). Each quest has its criteria, disciplines, stages, and
contingencies based upon a specific model, or itinerary, the perilous nature of
which traditionally necessitates the support of an experienced traveller or
guide. Given the centrality to Islamic spirituality of the Prophet’s Miraj
(the Night Journey),2 this itinerary with its varied landscapes and
ever-changing panoramas is metaphorically represented as an ascendant path
through degrees or stations of experiential knowledge. Al-Sulami’s (d.
412/1021) treatise The Stations of the
1
I have translated marifa
as ‘experiential knowledge of the divine’ rather than ‘gnosis’, which imports a
nuance more specifically doctrinal than the Sufi connotation of this term. As
the central theme of the text under consideration is the multi-faceted nature
of ma rifa, the term is employed frequently and in a highly nuanced
manner. I will therefore use the Arabic, allowing its subtleties to be
determined by context rather than a fixed definition.
2
Al-Sulami dedicated a
work to the Mi raj entitled: Mas'alat bayan lata if al-mi raj, MS
2118, fos. 12a-18b in the compilation entitled al-Sulamiyyat
from the Library of the Muhammad b. Sa‘üd Islamic University of Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia. Another early example of Mi raj literature is Abü l-Qasim
‘ Abd al-Karim al-Qushayri’s (d. 455/1063) Kitab al-Mi raj, ed. A. H. ‘
Abd al-Qadir (Cairo: Dar al-Kutub al-Haditha, 1964).
Righteous3 is
a prototype to this approach and an important precursor to this genre of
Islamic literature.
In this little studied treatise, one of the
foremost fifth/eleventh century scholars of Sufism, discusses the integral
principles behind the paths of the People of the Path of Blame (the
Malamatiyya),4 the Sufis, and the
3
The present study is
based upon my recent critical edition of Mas alat darajat al-sadiqln fl l-tasawwuf.
I based it on two newly discovered manuscripts: (1) MS 2118, fos. 53a-57b
in al-Sulamiyyat (see n. 1 above); (2) MS 1208 in compilation 91, fos.
227a-232b, listed under the title al-Farq bayn
al-tasawwuf wa-l-malama (the manuscript itself lacks a title), Library of
Ibn Yüsuf, Marrakesh, Fihris makhtutat Ibn Yusuf fl Marrakush (Beirut:
Dar al-Gharb al-Islâmï, 1994), 331. Sezgin has erroneously cited this work
under the title Mas'alat darajat al-salihln (GAS I, 673). His reference
to the Fatih MS 2650/3 however, corresponds to Brockelmann’s (GAL2
I, 219) and H. Ritter’s (Oriens 7 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1954), ‘Books
and Periodicals’ 397-99) less exact references to Fatih MS 2653 and 2650
respectively, both under the title Mas8alat darajat al-sadiqln fl
l-tasawwuf. I feel safe in assuming that the manuscript referenced in all
these citations is the same. Süleyman Ates based his critical edition of this
treatise on the same Fatih MS, which he referenced as Fatih 2650, fos. 59a-69a.
See al-Sulami, Tis'at kutub fl usul al-tasawwuf wa-l-zuhd li Abl ‘Abd
al-Rahman Muhammad b. al-Husayn b. Musa al-Sulaml, ed. S. Ates (Ankara:
Ankara University Press, 1981), 141-51; (Beirut: al-Nashir, 1993), 377-90. The
edition of Dr. Ates, based on a single manuscript, has a few misreadings and a
lacuna of one folio at least (from aba an yushrifa ‘ala to illa
izdada fl nafsihi tawadu an, (Ankara) 151; (Beirut) 390). That led me to
prepare a second edition, which I hope will soon see the light of day. I did
not have access to the Fatih MS for my critical edition, and so included the
variant readings presented in the edition of Dr. Ates within my critical
apparatus. I have made my textual references in the present study, where
possible, to the text of Mas'alat darajat al-sadiqln fl l-tasawwuf
edited by Dr. Ates, using both the Ankara and Beirut editions. Shurayba does
not include Mas'alat darajat al-sadiqln fl l-tasawwuf among the works of
al-Sulami he cites. Brockelmann cites a work by al-Sulami entitled: Darajat
al-mu amalat, Berlin MS 3453 (GAL2 I, 219). This title, however,
represents a different work, see Darajat al-mu amalat, in Tis‘at
al-kutub, ed. S. Ates, (Ankara) 21-6; (Beirut) 165-79. For a translation of
the treatise under study see al-Sulaml: Stations of the Righteous in Three
Early Sufi Texts, trans. K. Honerkamp (Louisville: Fons Vitae, 2003),
111-28.
4
On the Malamatiyya, see EI2,
art. ‘Malamatiyya,’ Fr. de Jong, Hamid Algar, and Colin Imber; Abdülbakî
[Golpinarli], Melamllik ve Melamller (Istanbul: Devlet Matbaasi, 1931);
al-Sulami, Risalat al-malamatiyya, ed. Abü l-A‘ la al- ‘ Afifi (Cairo:
Dar Ihya’ al-Kutub al-‘Arabiyya, 1945); Sara Sviri, ‘Hakim Tirmidhi and the
Malamati Movement,’ in Leonard Lewisohn (ed.) Classical Persian Sufism: from
its Origins to Rumi (London: Khaniqahi Nimatullahi Publications, 1993),
583-613; Fritz Meier, ‘Khurasan and the End of Classical Sufism,’ in Essays
in Islamic Mysticism and Piety, trans. John O’Kane and Bernd Radtke
(Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2000), 215-17; Alexander Knysh, Islamic Mysticism: A
Short History (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2000), 94-9; Hakim al-Tirmidhi, Kitab
Ithbat al-‘ilal, ed. Khalid Zahri (Rabat: Muhammad V University, 1998),
24-5.
5 People of Love (ahl al-mahabba). The organization of the
treatise itself, its depiction of the stations of marifa, and multiple
references to walaya,5 the concealed and revealed saints, and
the ‘pole’ (qutb), all serve to establish a framework for a Sufi
epistemology founded upon a hierarchy of subtle degrees of ma6rifa.
Historically, the text sheds light upon the early theological foundations of
the concept of sanctity in Islam. It also complements and contextualizes the
works of al-Sulami that have come down to us and reveals another, less studied
facet of his thought and person. This treatise, when compared to others of his
works, which focus on Sufi manners and customs, is more metaphysically
oriented. The most singular aspect of this text, however, is the opportunity we
have to meet al-Sulami, best known to Western scholars as a Sufi hagiographer
and Qur’an exegete, as al-Sulami the mystic,6 mentor, teacher and
transmitter of the spiritual tradition of his home city of Nishapur, that of
the Malamatiyya.
ABÙ 'ABD AL-RAHMÂN
AL-SULAMÏ
His full name was
Muhammad b. al-Husayn b. Mû sa b. Khalid b. Salim b. Zawiya b. Sa'id b. Qabisa
b. Sarraq al-Azdi al-Sulami al-Nïsâbûrî. He was of Arab origin and known by the
name Abû 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami.7 He was affiliated to the tribe
of Azd on his father’s side;
See also: Honerkamp, Three
Early Sufi Texts, 91-110; and the collected presentations from the
International Conference on the Malâmatiyya and Bayrâmi Orders
held in Istanbul in June, 1987 in Melâmis-Bayrâmis, eds. N. Clayer, A.
Popovic, and T. Zarcone (Istanbul: Les Editions Isis, 1998).
6
For a linguistic study of
the term walaya and its derivatives, as well as an in-depth discussion
on the hierarchy of saints in Islamic traditional literature, see Michel
Chodkiewicz, Le Sceau des Saints: Prophétie et sainteté dans la doctrine
d’Ibn ‘Arabi (Paris: Gallimard, 1986), 29-78.
7
R. A. Nicholson
considered al-Sulami ‘a celebrated mystic’ (Studies in Islamic Mysticism
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1921; repr. 1967), 14). F. Skali (ed.
and trans., al-Sulami, Futuwah: Traite de Chevalerie Soufie (Paris:
Editions Albin Michel, 1989), 7) wrote that even in his role as narrator and
hagiographer al-Sulami was able to ‘situate and classify this knowledge within
a synthetic vision in accordance with the ‘‘grasp’’ of one that had himself
tasted the intense spiritual savour [of intimate knowledge of God].’
8
For an excellent survey
of the life and works of al-Sulami, see Tabaqat al-sufiyya, ed. Nûr
al-Din Shurayba (Cairo: Maktabat al-Khanji, 1969), 11-47 and the biographical
references cited there. See also: ‘Afifi, Risalat al-malamatiyya, 71-85;
al-Sulami, Kitab Adab al-suhba, ed. M. J. Kister (Jerusalem: The Israel
Oriental Society, 1954), Arabic introduction, 3-17; EI2, art.
‘al-Sulami,’ G. Bowering; also by G. Bowering, ‘The Qur’an Commentary of
Al-Sulami,’ in W. B. Hallaq and D. P. Little (eds.) Islamic Studies
Presented to Charles J. Adams (Leiden: Brill, 1991), 41-56. See also S.
Ates,
9 the appellation al-Sulami was his mother’s tribal affiliation to
the Sulamïyïn, who had been among the immigrants to Nishapur early in the
eighth century.
Al-Sulami was born in Nishapur in 325/937 and
died in the same city in 412/1021. He was of a prestigious family, well
respected for their involvement in the intellectual pursuits of that city. Among
his ancestors had been Ahmad b. Yusuf b. Khalid al-Nïsâbüri, a famous scholar
of Hadith. Little is known of al-Sulami’s father, Husayn b. Muhammad b. Músa
al-Azdi (d. 348/958).8 He was among those who had frequented the early
Malamatiyya of Nishapur, and later migrated to Makka, leaving al-Sulami under
the care of his maternal grandfather, Abú ‘Amr Isma‘il b. Nujayd al-Sulami (d.
360/971).9 Ibn Nujayd was a well-known Shafi‘i scholar of Hadith and
spiritual heir to Abú ‘Uthman al-Hiri (d. 298/910), regarded as one of the
founders of the Malamatiyya
TiSat al-Kutub, 5-140; Rkia
E. Cornell, Early Sufi Women (Louisville, KY: Fons Vitae, 1999), 15-42;
J-J. Thibon, ‘Hiérarchie Spirituelle: Fonctions du Saint et Hagiographie dans
l’Oeuvre de Sulami,’ in R. Chih and D. Gril (eds.) Le Saint et son Milieu
(Cahier des Annales Islamologiques, 19 (2000): Institut Francais
d’Archeologie Orientale), 13-31. In the present biographical survey I will only
touch on the aspects of al-Sulami’s life of relevance to the text under study.
10
Al-Sulami’s father had
close ties with the early Malamatiyya of Nishapur. Of the four narrations
al-Sulami attributes to his father in Tabaqat al-sufiyya two are from
Ibn Munazil (d. 320/932), 271, 366, (al-Qushayri referred to Ibn Munazil as the
Shaykh al-Malamatiyya, al-Risalat al-Qushayriyya, ed. Ma‘úf Zurayq and
‘Ali ‘Abd al-Hamid Baltaji (Beirut: Dar al-Khayr, 1993), 435); one narration
from Abú ‘Ali al-Thaqafi (d. 328/940), 361, (a disciple of both Hamdún
al-Qassar and Abú Hafs) and the fourth is from Muhammad al-Dinúri (d. 340/952),
477. Ibn al-Mulaqqin (Tabaqat al-awliya, ed. Shurayba (Cairo: Maktabat
al-Khanaji, 1973), 189) narrates that al-Sulami’s father based his suluk upon
correct comportment (husn al-khuluq), continual striving (dawam
ijtihad), and discerning speech in the science of human relationships (lisan
al-Haqq fl ‘ulum al-mu amala); he also reports that al-Sulami’s father had
met Abú Bakr al-Shibli (d. 334/946), who had frequented al-Junayd and Khayr
al-Nissaj. Al-Sulami described him (Tabaqat, 337) as ‘unique in his time
in both knowledge and spiritual state’.
11
Al-Sulami writes of his
grandfather (Tabaqat, 454-7): ‘Abú ‘ Amr b. Nujayd Isma‘il b. Nujayd b.
Ahmad b. Yüsuf b. Salim b. Khalid al-Sulami was my grandfather on my mother’s
side—may God bless him. He frequented Abú ‘ Uthman al-Hiri. He was one of his
most eminent companions and the last of the companions of Abú ‘ Uthman to die.
He met Junayd. He was among the most illustrious mentors (mashayikh) of
his times. He was unique in his practice of the path, due to his concealment of
his interior state and the manner in which he guarded his intimate moments
[with God]. He heard, narrated, and dictated Aadlth. He was a reliable
narrator (thiqa). He died in 360 [971].’
12 of Nishapur.[10]
Al-Sulami thus inherited the Malamatiyya tradition at an early age from both
his father and grandfather. In his youth he also studied theology,
jurisprudence of the Shafi'i school, and travelled extensively in pursuit of
Hadith, until he became known as an authority in his own right. He was given a
certificate of competence (ijâza) to issue formal legal opinions
(fatwas) and to teach.[11]
Yet like so many of the scholars of his day, he also sought instruction in the
teachings and practices which were believed to lead to ma rifa.
Al-Sulami’s early
introduction to Sufism was within his grandfather’s circle of associates. Abü
Sahl Muhammad b. Sulayman al-Su'lüki (d. 367/977), a Hanafi judge and companion
of Isma'il b. Nujayd, formally initiated al-Sulami into Sufism and gave him
permission to instruct novices.[12]
Al-Sulami also received initiation to the path at the hand of Abd l-Qasim
al-Nasrabadhi (d. 367/978),[13]
an important Shafii scholar of hadl th of Nishapur and a companion of
Abü Sahl al-Sulükï. According to al-Jami, Abü l-Qasim invested al-Sulami with
the Sufi mantle (khirqa).[14]
Al-Sulami, as his mentors had before him, exemplified a balance between the
narration of hadlth, the study of jurisprudence and the transmission of
the teachings and disciplines he had inherited from his teachers among the
Malamatiyya of Nishapur. For over forty years al-Sulami, as an exemplar and
mentor, taught from the small lodge[15]
(duwayra) that he had built in his quarter of sikkat al-Nawand in
Nishapur. He died in 412/1021.
Scholars have regarded
al-Sulami’s works[16]
from a variety of perspectives. E. Kohlberg distinguishes two specific aims
behind
his works: ‘to defend
Sufism against its many critics, and to spread knowledge of Sufism both among
the general public and among the Sufis.’[17] G. Bowering has divided al-Sulami’s
work according to genre: ‘Sufi hagiography, Sufi commentary on the
Qur’an, and treatises on Sufi manners and customs.’[18] The body of these works
varies from collections of short Sufi aphorisms and manuals of correct
comportment to erudite discourses on Sufi commentary on the Qur’an and mystical
theology.
Given the broad scope of
his works, it is important to consider the audience for which a particular work
was primarily intended: 1) a general interest audience, 2) a more erudite Sufi
community, and 3) Sufi initiates (murldum).[19]
An example of a work of general interest is his Kitab al-Arba'ln ft
l-tasawwuf[20] a collection of
forty ahadlth, in which al-Sulami presents the basic teachings of the
Sufis through a narration of the deeds and sayings of the Prophet; in doing so
he establishes the orthodox nature of Sufism. Another work in this category is ‘
Uyub al-nafs wa-mudawatuha[21] (The Illnesses of the
Lower Soul and Their Remedies) which deals with self-purification and
piety. Other works like Kitab al-Futuwwa[22]
[23] (The Book of Chivalry),
Kitab Jawamf adab al-sfiyya22, (The Book of Sufi Manners) and Bayan
zalal al-fuqara[24] (The
Stumblings of Those Aspiring), a treatise dedicated to the essential nature
of faqr, are compilations of ahadlth, Sufi maxims, and poems that
respond more explicitly to the question, ‘What constitutes the Sufi path?’
These works would appeal to both a general audience as well as one with an
engaged commitment to Sufism as a devotional path.
Other works are oriented
towards a more erudite audience of initiated practitioners of Sufism. This category
includes works such as Darajat al-mu amalat[25]
(Stations of Exemplary Comportment), in which al-Sulami defines thirty-four
technical terms of Sufism; Manahij al-arifïn[26] (The Ways of the
Gnostics), a concise discussion of the Sufi path; SulU k al- arifï n[27]
(The Spiritual Journeying of the Gnostics), in which al-Sulami cites
fifteen divergent points of view between the mystics of Khurasan and Baghdad;
and the unpublished Fusul ft l-tasawwuf,[28] a collection of
short discourses most probably preserved from al-Sulami’s personal teaching
circle in Nishapur. These works all contain specialized vocabulary and refer to
particular trends that marked Islamic mysticism in al-Sulami’s times.[29]
In this third category, al-Sulami deals most specifically with the practical
aspects of spiritual journeying, the comportment incumbent upon the murï d,
and the inner attitudes that he perceived as the foundational elements of all
the degrees of ma rifa. In these works we encounter al-Sulami most
clearly as the mystic and teacher in his own right. The Stations of the
Righteous is an example par excellence of this third category of his
works.
Darajat al-sadiqïn opens, as is
common in many texts of this era, with a question from a student to his
teacher.[30]
In this case the question is ‘How are Sufism, the Path of Blame, and the Path
of the People of Love
distinguished from one
another?’31 The treatise is a response to this question.
One might suppose from this opening passage that
the text would comprise a three-part exposition on Sufism, the Path of Blame,
and the Path of Love. Al-Sulami’s response, however, initiates a discourse on
Sufism itself and the degrees of ma rifa to which the journeyer (salik)
on this path ascends. He writes:
Know well... that these
three names refer to outward characteristics based upon differing spiritual
stations and varied points of view; and that both Blame and Love are stations
among the stations of Sufism and innate characteristics of its totality.32
His response reflects his
own perception of the essential unity in manifestation (tawhid) that is
an integral aspect of the Islamic mystical tradition. From here the Darajat
al-sadiqln thus offers the reader a detailed itinerary of the journey
through the stations of ma6rifa as they mirror the journeyer’s
gradual cognizance of the degrees of tawhld as he eventually attains the
station of sainthood. The treatise was intended for disciples already initiated
to the language of Sufism. It has no summary of the preliminaries of Sufism and
no conditions are set forth, such as submitting, on the level of comportment,
to the Shari'a, while submitting, on the level of spiritual guidance, to a
mentor or guide.33 References to the Qur’an, Hadith and the sayings
of the pious elders are used sparingly. The text is singularly devoid of
aphorisms and commentary on Sufi manners and customs. From the first words of
the treatise, al-Sulami speaks with the authority of an experienced mentor (murshid),
drawing the disciple’s attention to the complementary nature of the varying
modalities of Sufism, the Path of Blame and the Path of Love. For al-Sulami the
perception of unity within diversity provides the thread of continuity, central
to all the stations of ma6rifa. Having alluded
(Beirut: Dar al-Kutub
al-'Ilmiyya, 1997), x. 79-80. Also see the treatises of al-Muhasibi such as Kitab
al-Rïâya li-huqUq Allah, eds. 'Abd al-Halim Mahmüd and 'Abd al-Qadir Ahmad
‘Ata (Cairo: Dar al-Kutub al-Haditha, 1970), and Kitab al-Tawahhum, ed.
A. J. Arberry (Cairo: 1937).
31
‘Sa’alta... ‘an al-farq
bayna al-tasawwuf wa-turuq al-malama wa-ahl al-mahabba.'’ Mas'alat darajat al-sadiqin, (Ankara) 143;
(Beirut) 379.
32
‘Fa-lam... anna hadhihi
l-asami l-thalatha hiya simat ‘ala ikhtilaf al-maqamat wa-tabayuni l-amakin,
wa-anna kulla wahidin min al-malama wa-l-mahabba maqam min maqamat al-taBawwuf
wa-khuluq min akhlaqihi.’ Mas’alat darajat al-sadiqin, (Ankara)
143; (Beirut) 379.
33
al-Sulami, Manahij
al-‘ârifïn (ed. E. Kohlberg), 19-20.
34
to the integral nature of
Sufism, he embarks without delay on a detailed description of the states and
stations the journeyer must traverse and the degrees of marifa that
await him as he approaches the divine presence. He encourages the questioner,
as if to say, ‘Do not allow yourself to become distracted here in diversity,
the goal is still before you in the Stations of the Righteous.’
To facilitate the
analysis of the text I have divided Mas’alat darajat al-sadiqln into
eighteen sections.[31]
Section one deals with the question posed by the disciple. Section two
comprises the preamble prayer, and al-Sulami’s concise response.[32]
From his response al-Sulami embarks upon a detailed discussion of the inner
attitude most important to a successful completion of the journey, namely
spiritual poverty (faqr).[33]
For al-Sulami faqr is the attitude that best corresponds to the innate
human state: total dependency upon God. Self-sufficiency (ghana) is the
opposite of faqr and corresponds to the state of Lordship. The Qur’an
(2. 273) identifies the fuqara (pl. of faqlr) as ‘those sorely
pressed in the way of God’ and assures that, ‘you will know them by their
distinguishing signs’. Among the signs of faqr al-Sulami mentions are
total submission to destiny, obedience in the prescriptions of the religion,
and placing one’s reliance on God. The true faqlr has been totally
divested of discrete will, acts of obedience, and qualities. Al-Sulami writes
of the wayfarers at the end of the path, ‘[they are] empty of their attributes (sifat)
and innate temperaments (tabai)’.[34]
Correct comportment in faqr
is discussed in section three.[35]
This reference to a normative concept of conduct concords with al-Sulami’s
three-fold schema of the path of ma'rifa: correct comportment (adab),
inner attitudes (akhlaq)[36] and mystical states
(ahwal).[37] The themes
developed in Darajat al-sadiqln remain true to this pattern. The first
step on the path is sincere repentance, and the renunciation of all personal
aspirations through service to others. The second step is constant vigilance
over one’s interior states, which is the sole means to the third step, the
realization that all one’s acts and states are defective and worthy of
contempt.[38]
Al-Sulami’s portrayal of the journeyer here is reminiscent of the maldml
ideal of a life spent in worship and service to others while never seeing
oneself worthy of esteem, nor finding repose in the accomplishment of virtue.
He writes:
Among the comportment
that brought them to this station and this degree is the spiritual discipline (riyadiyat)
they impose upon themselves, preceded by sound repentance, then perfect
detachment, turning from all other than God—from the world and its
inhabitants—the abandonment of all they own, distancing themselves from all
familiar things (malufat), departure upon long journeys, denial of
outward passionate desires, constant watchfulness over their innermost secrets (al-asrar
al-batina), deference towards the mentors, service to brethren and friends,
preference to others over themselves in worldly goods, person, and spirit,
perseverance in [their] efforts at all times, and regarding all that may arise
from them inwardly or outwardly—of their actions or their states—with contempt
and disdain.[39]
Section four[40]
treats the inner attitudes that must accompany the outer disciplines of faqr.
The journey thus far, al-Sulami relates, is still self-motivated and has not
gone beyond self-directed striving (irada). Now is the time for the
journeyer to direct his efforts inwardly calling upon his lower self to turn
from dependence upon itself and the world and place its trust in God in all its
concerns. Al-Sulami remarks here how ‘returning to God (al-ruju ila Allah)
in all things’[41]
leads directly to the degree of certainty (yaqln). Certainty is then
followed by the most praiseworthy of degrees among the wayfarers—the degree
of total renunciation of
self-direction (tafwld) and submission (taslîm) to divine will.
These interior attitudes, in al-Sulami’s estimation, define one’s behaviour in
times of trial. The aspirant first realizes patience, then equal acceptance of
both affliction and comfort until he perceives that the higher good lies in
affliction and he prefers it to ease, with neither pretension nor feelings of
self-denial detracting from his inward state. When he has attained this stage
of inner and outer submission to divine will (rida), he regards others
with deference and views all beings with the eye with which God views creation (bi-ayn
al-Haqq).[42]
The journeyer in this
lofty station does not lose sight of the flawed nature of his soul, and he
fears that the states of tafwld, tasllm, and rida that have come
before may be tainted with self-deception and that he is being led on by subtle
degrees (istidraj). His fear, however, is offset with hope and
confidence in God’s attribute of compassion. He knows that only by divine aid
will he be purified of the imperfections of these stations and preserved from
erring. Here al-Sulami provides the epistemological foundation, which
necessitates constant vigilance over the lower soul (nafs) in all its
states, that marked the Malamatiyya. For al-Sulami constant vigilance over the
lower soul was a precursor to the stations of ma6rifa.
In sections five through
seven[43]
al-Sulami treats the stages that mark the transition from irada to ma6rifa.
He forewarns the journeyer, however, that no one accesses the stations of ma6rifa
through the perfection of their spiritual discipline or intention.[44]
[45]
This station is marked by a return to the initial stages of the journey after
the journeyer has traversed all the stations a first time. Al-Sulami addresses
this question in section five, citing two well known figures of formative
Sufism, Abû Yazid al-Bistami (d. 261/874)48 and Abñ ‘Uthman
al-Maghribi (d. 370/984).[46]
These narrations confirm al-Sulami’s view that unless the journeyer has
revisited his earlier states, after having attained the station of ma rifa,
he will never realize the inherent deficiencies of his lower soul. When
discernment of the subtle degrees of ma rifa begins, al-Sulami relates,
the journeyer becomes able to differentiate the inner motivating agents of the
self: inspiration, temptation, rational thought, inclination, miracles,
self-deception, certainty, and being led on by subtle degree from one to
another. It is not until this final stage before the station of ma6rifa
that the aspirant attains to the state of inner equilibrium (al-istiqama)
and reposes in God’s presence. This is the state of stability. All the domains
of the soul: the lower soul itself, the innermost soul (sirr), volition (irada),
natural inclinations (tab‘), thought (fikr), and the reflective faculty (khatir)
are at last in equilibrium.
In section seven
al-Sulami reminds the disciple that the only person to have perfectly attained
this elevated station was the Prophet and that anyone else’s attainment to it
will never be free of deficiency.[47]
This is the state of perfected servanthood (‘ubUdiyya) in which one
submits totally to one’s Lord with neither predilection nor goal. All one’s
striving is left to the will of God. In no state does the journeyer attain
perfection, for he changes as willed by his Lord. Here al-Sulami discusses the
necessity of the relinquishment of self-direction (tark al-irada).[48] For al-Sulami,
total renunciation of one’s aspiration and striving is a prerequisite to
attaining ‘the stations of the righteous’, not the result.
The remaining sections,
eight to eighteen,[49]
of the Darajat al-sadiqi n comprise one of the most detailed discourses
on ma rifa found in the
writings of formative
Sufism. In his treatment, al-Sulami avoids the doctrinal orientation of the
compendia of early Sufism53 in favour of a more epistemologically
oriented discourse in which ma rifa is contextualized within a process
of spiritual development functioning upon multiple centres of experience—the
reason, the heart, and the spirit. This approach sets the Stations of the
Righteous apart from those compendia. In this respect this treatise has a
singular place even among the other works of al-Sulami.54
In the initial stations
of ma rifa, as al-Sulami recounts to the journeyer, the dawning of
knowledge of the divine effaces all that went before; yet the journeyer’s self,
deeds, and states have not become totally effaced. He is not yet devoid of all
that is latent in him; he manifests qualities, yet he is not confirmed in them.
As the journeyer perceives the initial lights of this station, he is purified,
permitted access to the unseen, and may apprise others of that which accords
with destiny. This is the intuition (firasa) mentioned in the hadlth.
‘Beware the intuition of the believer,
53
In the compendia of
formative Sufism, marifa tended to be treated as a technical term (mustalah).
The concept of marifa within the context of early Sufi epistemology
differentiated Sufism from other areas of Islamic intellectual endeavour and,
as the Sufis saw it, made Sufism superior to all other pursuits; see Abü Talib
al-Makki (d. 386/996), the chapter, ‘Discourse on the superiority of marifa
and yaqln over all other sciences’ in QUt al-QulUb (Beirut: Dar
Sadir, 1995), 237-8. This perception of marifa as that which set Sufism
apart from the other Islamic sciences led the authors of the early compendia to
feel a need to provide a concise definition for it—as they had for other Sufi
terms, such as al-fana (extinction) and al-baqa (permanence). The
definitions in these works vary and are often presented in a question/answer
format, in which one of the early Sufis would be asked, ‘What is marifa?
These definitions often tended to be doctrinal pronouncements that reflected
the particular point of view of the person asked. See Abü Bakr al-Kalabadhi (d.
384/994-5), al-Ta‘arruf li madhhab ahl al-tasawwuf, ed. Ahmad Shams
al-Din (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-' Ilmiyya, 1993), 151-3; al-Qushayri, al-Risala
al-Qushayriyya, 311-17; Abü Nasr al-Sarraj (d. 378/988), al-Luma,
ed. 'Abd al-Halim Mahmüd and Taha 'Abd al-Baqi Surür (Cairo: Dar al-Kutub
al-Haditha, 1960), 65-104; 'Ali b. 'Uthman al-Jullabi al-Hujwiri (d. circa
465/1071), Kashf al-mahjub, trans. R. Nicholson (Gibb Memorial, revised
edn., 2000), 267-77. For an excellent study of the early development of Islamic
mystical theology and translations of the above texts, see Knowledge of God
in Classical Sufism, Foundations of Islamic Mystical Theology, introd. and
trans. J. Renard (New York: Paulist Press, 2004).
54
In other works al-Sulami
has treated ma rifa as a technical term and provided the more concise
definitions we would expect of a work of this period. See al-Sulami, Darajat
al-mu amalat, ed. Ates, (Ankara) 30; (Beirut) 176; Kitab al-Muqaddima fî
l-tasawwuf, ed. S. Ates, (Ankara) 101; (Beirut) 306.
55
for he sees by the light
of God.’[50]
More profound yet is the faculty, also attained by those in this station, which
enables one to ascertain with certainty the outcomes of as yet undisclosed
events. Al-Sulami writes at the beginning of this section, ‘these stations are
all the first stations of ma rifa’ (awail maqamat al-ma rifa).
Here al-Sulami discusses
the nature of the ma rifa stating, as did al-Junayd before him that, ‘Ma
rifa is denial (al-ma rifa inkar), and may only truly be realized
through denial of all but the Known (al-ma ruf )’. He interprets
al-Junayd as meaning that no one may claim a degree of ma rifa while
affirming any secondary cause of joy or dread, or while seeking refuge from
other than God. For al-Sulami, ‘denial of all but the known’ is the key to
sincerity (ikhlas) a prerequisite to the stations of ma rifa.
In section nine al-Sulami
comments on the well-known Sufi saying, ‘He who knows his self, knows his
Lord.’[51]
He interprets this to mean that one cannot know God while being cognizant of
the nafs and that ‘when one forgets the nafs, he knows his Lord’.
Al-Sulami supports this point of view with citations from two well-known
masters of Khurasan: Abñ Turab al-Nakhshabi (d. 245/859-60),[52]
a disciple of Hatim al-Asamm,[53]
and Abñ ‘Uthman al-Hiri, a disciple of Abñ Hafs.[54] Their narrations
emphasize the complementary relationship between the fulfillment of God’s
decrees and commands on the level of Shari a and experiential knowledge of God.
Sincerity, the result of the journeyer’s earnest practices, results in veracity
(sidq), the essence of
sincerity, through which
the journeyer attains to the stations of the Siddïqïn.6°
Those who attain these stations, in accordance with a well- known hadïth,
are envied by the Prophets and martyrs alike.[55] [56] Al-Sulami commenting upon
this hadïth as it relates to the elevated states of the siddïqïn,
emphasizes that the state of prophecy is higher and more perfect than the state
of the siddïq.
One of the people of marifa
was asked about this hadï th of the Prophet’s, ‘they are envied by the
prophets and martyrs.’ ‘How might the prophets envy them when they [the
prophets] are above them in rank?’ To which he answered, ‘Because the prophets
were occupied with the obligation of the proclamation [of their message] and
being witnesses to all created beings, while those [who are envied] bore not
that burden, hence nothing distracted them from God. For this reason the
prophets envy them, even though the state of prophecy is higher and more
perfect.’[57]
In section ten, the
traveller, now firmly established and confirmed in the station of sincerity, is
admitted to the station of ma6rifa. Commenting on the nature of
this station al-Sulami writes:
Then upon being
established in the Station of Sincerity, in ma6rifa of God, and
knowledge (ilm) of Him, sustained through Him by extinction from all
other than He, collected in Him, dispersed from all that is not He, he enters
the fields of proximity and communion, whereupon he is known as one who has
arrived at the Truth (al-Haqq) through his separation from all that is
other than He.[58]
This station is the point
of embarkation upon the path of the ninety-nine Divine Names. This is the
station of no station; the journeyer, effaced to
himself, is sustained in
God (yabqa ma a l-Haqq bi-la maqam). Of these stations of the
ninety-nine names and of the journeyer as he progresses through them, Al-Sulami
writes:
To each of these stations
corresponds a state in which the traveller is in direct relationship with one
of these names, the grace (baraka) of which becomes manifest through his
person. That name is the place from which he drinks (mashrab), his
spring (mawrid), and his place of origin (masdar). Each of these
stations bathes him in its own light and luminosity, no one resembling the
preceding one, until the traveller reaches the outermost limits [of his path] (aqsa
al-nihayat). Here he has traversed all the stations and subsists with God (al-Haqq),
having neither station, locale, name, form, quality, pretence, desire, sight,
vision (mushahada), striving (sa‘y) nor goal (talab). The servant
is as though he were not, and God (al-Haqq) is as He has always been.[59]
In the following station,
discussed in section eleven, the journeyer beholds the knowledge of the hidden
nature of things (6ilm al-batin); ‘God’s secrets, which are revealed
only to the umana (trustworthy) among the saints.’ This is the knowledge
from the divine presence (al-ilm al-ladunl) referred to in the Quranic
story of Moses and Khadir.[60]
This knowledge, al-Sulami relates, in and of itself suffices to convince any
listener of its veracity, with need of neither proof nor reasoned argument.
This mystical knowledge overwhelmed Moses even though he was, as a
prophet—al-Sulami stresses—still superior to Khidr in state and station.
The journeyer in section
twelve,[61]
as al-Sulami continues his narrative, is admitted to the knowledge of the
secrets of the inner nature of things (ilm batin al-batin). He beholds
these secrets by the purity of his own inner secret (sirr), the strength
of his states, and his extinction from his own qualities. The early Companions
of the Prophet knew this station. Al-Sulami narrates that ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Abbas
(d. 68/687) said, ‘God bless 6 Umar (d. 23/644), it is as though he regards
destiny through a thin veil.’ The early Sufis also had experienced this
station. Al-Sulami relates that
one day Abû Muhammad
al-Jarïrï[62]
asked his disciples, ‘Is there one among you who knows what will arise from the
unseen before it appears?’ and when they answered ‘No’, he said, ‘Weep over
hearts brought far from God.’ Depicting the state of the journeyer in this
station, al-Sulami writes: ‘[They are those whose] hearts are never absent from
the divine presence (al-hadra); they are never unaware of God (al-Haqq),
nor do they disperse themselves in companionship with others.’
In section thirteen,
al-Sulami provides important perspectives into the ontological theology of
early Sufism. He contrasts, through the eyes of the journeyer, the inherent
deficiency of the created order of being with God’s perfection. Al-Sulami
writes of the journeyer as he attains this station:
From these states the
aspirant ascends to a state in which he deems miracles insignificant. This is
the moment of witnessing of God’s glory, omnipotence, and magnificence. All
else appears deprecated in his eyes, and through his perception of the
defective nature of all appearances he realizes that the locus of created being
(mahall al-hawadith) will never be devoid of defects.[63]
Thus, upon witnessing divine design (sun) he is intimately drawn to its
freedom from all imperfection. When he witnesses the locus in which the divine
design appears, he feels estranged, conscious of the defects [inherent in
creation]. This is among the stations of the illustrious and the masters [of
the path].[64]
Al-Sulami’s perception of
an inherently flawed created order implied that, even though the aspirant might
approach complete effacement in God, the context of self-awareness would always
mediate the mystical knowledge of God.[65] He depicts the journeyer’s
dilemma, as one caught
between his perceptions
of the divine and created orders when he writes: ‘This is a time of purity in
impurity and impurity in purity.’ [66] Illustrating his point he
contrasts Moses’ quest for fire (Qur’an, 27. 7-10) and Adam’s quest for eternal
life in proximity to God (20. 120-3). While Moses seeks fire for his family, an
outwardly mundane task, he finds proximity to God, and knows divine discourse.
Adam, on the other hand, seeking the lofty ideal of eternal proximity to God
(the reason given in the Qur’an for his partaking of the forbidden fruit) is
expulsed and abased.
In this section al-Sulami
eloquently treats the transformative epistemology behind the spiritual
evolution of the journeyer as he passes through the stations of marifa.
Particular to his portrayal is the impact the multiple degrees of marifa,
depicted in this section as intimate discourse (sama), unveiling (kashf),
and understanding (fahm), have upon a hierarchy of subtle centres of
human consciousness.[67]
In this station the journeyer hears divine discourse and finds proximity
to God wherein he resides in repose from the distractions of creation.
Al-Sulami writes of the aspirant’s experience in this station:
This is the moment
wherein permission is granted [the journeyer] to intimate discourse [with God]
and to have its meanings unveiled to him. He is honoured by the understanding
of what he hears, by being addressed, and by witnessing the inner meaning of
hearing and cognition thereof, increasing his proximity and intimacy. God said
[Qur’an, 50. 37]: Lo! Therein verily is a reminder for him who has a heart
or has listened attentively while witnessing (shuhud). [This is also] the
moment of finding (wujUd), repose (rawh) in the innermost secret (al-sirr),
heavenly fragrance (rayhan) in the heart, light in the innermost secret,
and illumination (diya) in the breast (sadr). God said [56.
88-9]: Thus if he is of those brought nigh, then [he shall find] divine
bliss, heavenly fragrance, and a garden of bounty. Thus divine bliss brings
deliverance to their innermost secrets from [the distractions of] creation
through union with its Creator; while the
heavenly fragrance, here
refers to the repose of their hearts in God (al-Haqq) at the
commencement and at the end [of their journey].[68]
In section fourteen the
journeyer’s security (amn) is guaranteed him. These tidings reach him by
means of inspiration (wahy), the word of a prophet, the intuition of a
saint (firasat wall), witnessing of the unseen (mushahadat al-ghayb),
or personal intuition (musamarat khatir). Al-Sulami cites here several ahadlth
in which the Prophet announced to certain of his Companions their eventual
places in Paradise. He cites the example of the story of Uways al-Qarani.[69]
In section fifteen the
journeyer ascends to the Station of Realized Sainthood. In this station subtle
degrees of awe, reverence, and apprehension take the place of the dismay and
fear that perplexed the journeyer in the earlier stations. The principle behind
this diversity, al-Sulami affirms, is the deficiency inherent in all phenomena.
He writes of the journeyers who have attained to this station:
When God has brought one
of His servants to the Station of Realized Sainthood (tahqlq al-walaya),
he is freed of attitudes of fear; whereas solemn awe (hayba) never
leaves him. Those who have reached this station vary in degree. Some are brought
from a state of fear to a state of apprehension (khashiya), while
others, of subtler nature, are brought to the state of fearful awe (rahba).
This is because the locus of phenomena cannot possibly be devoid of defects.[70]
In this station the
element of fear may dominate the servant and his attributes become embodied in
one of the divine attributes. He loses all his individuating qualities and
inclinations.[71]
Lost to himself in proximity to God he manifests the truth of the divine when
he speaks. Of this station al-Sulami continues:
It may come to pass that
divers degrees of fear gain dominion over the servant, and his own qualities
will fade away. This is as God mentioned in His venerable book [38. 47-8]: We purified
him with a pure thought, remembrance of the hereafter. Verily in our sight they
are of the elect, the excellent. His state is such that his attributes
become embodied in an attribute of the [divine] attributes, until the servant
is empty of all his attributes and inclinations. He speaks from pure truth (sirf
haqq), and communicates the purity of a divine reality (safa haql qa).[72]
Al-Sulami likens this
station to a flash of lightening. It is without duration. For were it to
endure, he writes, it would drive one to distraction in its raptures and bring
one to naught. Al-Sulami culminates his discourse on this station with the
rhetorical question: ‘How many there are [on this path] mad with love and
brought to naught in this station?’[73]
Section sixteen treats
the role of the journeyer who, after having attained to the station of Realized
Sainthood and divine proximity, returns to live among humankind. For these journeyers
there is one of two possibilities: they may be concealed among the crowd and
live unnoticed, or they may be made known to people, to serve as a guiding
light and a source of wisdom to other journeyers on the path. If one of them is
revealed, it is out of mercy for humankind, for were his knowledge,
comportment, and disciplines lost, the seekers of ma rifa
would lose their way.
They are exemplars and mentors, a reference point and a shelter to the
aspirants, just as the jurists are exemplars and a protection for the
generality of Muslims. Of these journeyers who return al-Sulami writes:
Then, once God has
brought one of his servants to these degrees, given him refuge in a place of
proximity to Him, bestowed upon him the intimacy of His remembrance, and made
him a stranger to all other beings, He may reveal him to people as a model and
a refuge to which aspirants might turn in their quest for Him. In this He
permits the outward aspect [of the servant] to turn towards humankind as a
mercy from Him to them. For were they to lose [access to] his knowledge, inner
attitudes, and disciplines they would stray in their journey and their quest
and fall into self-delusion. By the lights of those masters, they seek
illumination, and by their counsel they find good guidance in their efforts to
reach their goal. [Those returned to awareness of creation] are the masters of
the people of divine Reality (ahl al-haqa iq). They are the lords of
hearts and lofty degrees. They are the points of reference for the travellers
of the path, in them they find a model and refuge, in the same manner the
generality of believers find a refuge concerning questions of law in the
jurists. When God shows one of his saints to humankind, He causes temptation to
fall away from him. Thus he neither deludes others nor is he deluded.[74]
Section seventeen treats
those journeyers whom God has veiled from the eyes and hearts of humankind.
They live among the generality as one of them. They have attained the highest
degrees of proximity and discourse with God; there is no means of separation
for them. God is too jealous of them to reveal them to his creatures. He
reveals their outer aspects to humankind, while protecting their inner regard
for Himself alone. He occupies them in affairs related to the daily concerns of
the religion and their brothers. Such a one is, as Abñ Salih said, ‘by night a
lamp to his brothers and by day a staff.’[75] This state of equilibrium
between outwardly turning towards humanity while inwardly turning towards God
represents, for al-Sulami, the highest human state attainable, for it implies
no preference or choice on the part of the servant, of the inward over the
outward.
In this section dealing
with the ‘return to creation’ al-Sulami treats the issue of the possibility of
error on the part of one of the saints and the
means of their
restoration to rectitude. This is the role of the Qutb,[76]
one of God’s concealed saints, who al-Sulami considers to be the guardian
overseer who is responsible for the hierarchy of saints. He writes of the role
of the Qutb:
Should one of the saints
made apparent to men err, by a glance or a word—and he could not err beyond
this—the concealed saint would return him to the straight way. He would either
reveal himself to him and restore him to rectitude or befriend him (yukhallituhu),
while remaining veiled, and restore him to equilibrium by [the authority of]
his inner qualities (akhlaq). There shall always be a Pole (Qutb)
among the saints watching over them. The Pole restores one who swerves from the
Truth (al-Haqq), to his path by either his inner qualities or the
overwhelming nature of his authority (qahr sultanihi). Have you not seen
how [Abü Bakr] al-Siddiq, the most esteemed individual among the Islamic
community after the Prophet himself, brought everyone [to the straight way] by
his overwhelming authority when they differed with him on waging war against
the apostates,[77]
until ‘Umar [Ibn al-Khattab] stated, ‘When God opened Abü Bakr’s heart to war,
I knew it was the true way.’ Thus is the authority of the realized saints after
him [Abu Bakr] from state to state and degree to degree.[78]
This reference to the
Pole (al-Qutb) represents one of the earliest mentions of this central
figure within Islamic mystical thought.[79] As al-Sulami relates, the
existence of the Pole among the saints assures and guards for the journeyers
the authenticity of their teachings and the disciplines they exemplify. The Qutb
achieves this through his exemplary conduct and the manifest nature of his
authority.
In the final section
al-Sulami summarizes the itinerary and reiterates the primary foundations of
the path, the Qur’an and Sunna, calling upon the journeyer to bring his inward
qualities into conformity with divine unity through surrendering his will to
God’s by the abandonment of his own ambitions and aspirations. Al-Sulami, the
mentor, promises a
successful culmination to
the disciple whose journey is laid upon the foundations he has just discussed
and lauds the states and station of one who has attained to the degree of ma
rifa. Al-Sulami ends the treatise with the following:
There can be no
successful completion of the journey through the stations of marifa
without a sound beginning. He who has not founded his journey upon the Qur’an
and the practice of the Prophet (Sunna) will in the end attain nothing of the
degrees of knowledge of the divine (al-ma arif ). If his commencement is
sound, his culmination will be sound. If the culmination of his journey is
sound, he will be brought from the station of turning towards God (iqbal),
to the station of God’s turning towards him, and from the station of drawing
near God (taqarrub), to the station of God’s proximity (qurb) to
him, and from the station of self-direction (irada), to the station of
God’s choosing for him. Glad tidings to this servant, his state and station,
eminent rank and high esteem. God could only grant him a more exalted state
were he [the journeyer] to increase himself in humility and abasement, knowing,
that [as the Prophet said,] ‘He who humbles himself before God, God elevates
[in degree].’ 5 He thus seeks, through his own abasement, high
station from his Lord.[80]
[81]
Al-Sulami ends his
discourse with Shari' a and haqlqa as the twin foundations of the
stations of ma rifa, a word of assurance for the journeyer, and a
reminder that the lofty degrees of the righteous are only attained
through humility and self-abasement.
The Darajat al-sadiqln
is a treatise that elucidates the essential doctrine of Islamic mystical
theology in the form of an itinerary through ever more subtle stations of
experiential knowledge of divine reality. In this treatise al-Sulami discusses
the primary origins and epistemological foundations of Islamic sainthood, while
reminding the listener that this station may only be attained through realizing
the deceptive nature of the self and by becoming well-founded in the knowledge
of the defects and deficiencies inherent in creation. Toward this realization
al-Sulami focuses his discourse on the three-fold Path of aspiration and the
multiple stations of ma rifa that lead to the Station of Realized
Sainthood. Al-Sulami first treats the spiritual disciplines (adab),
emphasizing the initial
renunciation of self in favour of service to the other. Then, he treats the
interior attitudes (akhlaq) incumbent upon the mm d and calls
upon him to bring his inward qualities into conformity with the stations he has
been granted access to by surrendering his will to God’s. Then, by divine
grace, the journeyer loses himself in divine proximity and embarks upon the
stations of the ninety-nine names, the mystic states (ahwal) of marifa.
Here the journeyer perceives the inherent imperfections of the created order
and is drawn in intimacy to the perfection of the presence of God. Finally,
from the intimacy that has made him a stranger to creation, he returns to dwell
among people, either as a concealed saint, hidden among the generality of
believers, or as a revealed saint and a spiritual mentor, a source of light and
wisdom, for those seeking God. In either case, al-Sulami affirms, the saint’s
inner being resides in nearness to God, while their outward appearance has been
bestowed, through compassion, upon humankind.
The Mas’ alat darajat
al-sadiqln provides an opportunity to see the works and life of al-Sulami
in a rarely perceived theoretical context. While many of his works are examples
of treatises of applied Sufism, this text bears closer resemblance to a
work of mystical theology. In it al-Sulami affirms the intrinsic unity of the
Malamatiyya path, Sufism and the Path of Love as facets of an integral whole,
united by a single essential principle: the faqr innate to the human
condition. This text, when contrasted to his other works, provides an exemplary
exposition of both the inner and outer aspects of the teachings of the
Malamatiyya of Nishapur. The uniqueness of Mas'alat darajat al-sadiqln
lies in its explicit textual references to the flawed nature of the phenomenal
world; a concept that is key to the Malamatiyya teachings on multiple levels.
This theme runs through the text, giving life to their doctrine and providing
an important key to our comprehension of the precepts of this important school
of Islamic spirituality. This statement of metaphysical doctrine coupled with
al-Sulami’s detailed exposition of the stations of ma'rifa as they
eventually prepare the journeyer for sainthood elevates the Malamatiyya from
being seen as a spiritual tendency based upon a pessimistic view of human
nature to being a school of mystical theology.
In Mas'alat darajat
al-sadiqïn al-Sulami has laid out an itinerary that takes his reader to the
highest stations of proximity and marifa.
He employs a minimum of
narrative material thus giving direct expression to his own perceptions. His
lucid discourse elicits a vision of the journey as though we are seeing it
through the eyes of one that made the journey himself. Al-Sulami accompanies
his reader through the stations until he hears with his own ears the intimate
discourse of divine proximity and sees that, ‘the locus of created being is
never free of defects’. In the light of this perspective we are perhaps better
suited to see al-Sulami as others saw him and to situate his works as a
response to the needs of those around him—a response that embodied correct
inner attitudes and conduct as the essential conditions to the process of
spiritual development.
[10] Abü
'Uthman al-Hiri of Nishapur (d. 298/910) had frequented Abü Hafs, the founder
of the Malamatiyya, and taken his spiritual path (tarlqa) from him.
Al-Sulami, Tabaqât, 170.
[11] See
Kister (ed.), K. Adâb al-suhba, 4 (Arabic). Also see Shurayba’s
introduction to Tabaqât al-sUfiyya, 19-27, for a complete list of the
scholars that Sulami studied under.
[12] Taj
al-Din Subki, al-Tabaqât al-shâfiâyya al-kubrâ, 6 vols. (Cairo:
al-Matba'a al-Husayniyya, 1906, iii. 61. For the sayings of Abü Sahl al-Su'lüki see al-Qushayri, al-Risâlat
al-qushayriyya, 65, 134, 251-2, 283, 334, 342 and 370.
[13] See the
biography of him in al-Sulami, Tabaqât, 484-8.
[14] 6Abd
al-Rahman al-Jami, Nafahât al-uns, Arabic edn., Muhammad Adib al-Jadir,
2 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya, 2003), i. 442.
5 Sibt b. al-Jawzi, Mir’ât al-zamân, vol. 11, fo. 3, the events of
412. Cf. Shurayba (ed.), T abaqât, 31.
[16] For a
list of al-Sulami’s works see GAS I, 671-4.
[17] E.
Kohlberg, in his introduction to: al-Sulaml: JawamF adab al-sufiyya
wa-uyub al-nafs wa-mudawatuha (Jerusalem: Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
1976), 8-9. Dr. Kohlberg kindly sent me a copy of this out of print work, for
which I am most appreciative.
[18] G.
Bowering, ‘The Quranic Commentary of al-Sulami,’ 45.
[19] See E.
Kohlberg, al-Sulaml: JawamF adab al-sufiyya, 9.
[20] The text
of this work has been edited with a critique of its Hadith sources. See
Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad al-Sakhawi (d. 906/1501), Takhrlj
al-Arba‘ln al-Sulamiyya fl l-tasawwuf, ed. ‘Ali ‘Abd al-Hamid (Beirut:
al-Maktab al-Islami, 1988).
[21] al-Sulami,
‘ Uyub al-nafs wa-mudawatuha, ed. E. Kohlberg (Jerusalem: The Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, 1976). For a translation, see al-Sulaml: Les
Maladies de l’Ame et leurs Remedes, trans. Abdul Karim Zein (Milan: Arche
Edidit, 1990).
[22] al-Sulami,
Kitab al-Futuwwa, ed. Suleyman Ates (Ankara: Ankara University Press,
1977). For a translation, see al-Sulaml: The Way of Sufi Chivalry,
trans. T. Bayrak (Rochester: Inner Traditions International, 1983). See also F.
Skali, al-Sulaml: Futuwwa.
[23] See
Kohlberg (ed.), ‘Uyüb al-nafs, 1-68; ed. Ates, (Ankara) 37-92; (Beirut)
173-289.
[24] Bayan
zalal al-fuqara’, ed. Ates, (Ankara) 175-207; (Beirut) 429-63.
[25] al-Sulami:
Darajat al-mu amalat, ed. Ates, (Ankara) 21-6; (Beirut) 165-79.
[26] al-Sulami,
Manahij al-arifïn, ed. E. Kohlberg (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, 1979);
ed. Ates, (Ankara) 3-20; (Beirut) 141-50. (My thanks to Dr. E. Kohlberg for
kindly sending me a copy of his edition.)
[27] al-Sulami,
Suluk al-arifïn, ed. Ates, (Ankara) 153-69; (Beirut) 391-407.
[28] Kitab
Fusul fï l-tasawwuf, MS 1204, fos. 195b-226a,
Ibn Yüsuf Library in Marrakesh, Morocco. For a summary of this text see J.-J.
Thibon, ‘La Relation Maître-Disciple ou Les Elements de l’Alchimie Spirituelle
d’apres trois manuscrits de Sulami’, in Genevieve Gobillot (ed.) Mystique
Musulmane, Parcours en Compagnie d’un Chercheur: Roger Deladriere (Paris:
Editions Cariscript, 2002), 114-23.
[29] Two other
works of al-Sulami that deal almost exclusively with divergent tendencies
within the Sufi community are his Risalat al-Malamatiyya (ed. 'Afifi),
and Kitab Ghalatat al-sufiyya in 'Abd al-Fattah Ahmad al-Fawi Mahmüd (ed.) Usul al-Malamatiyya wa-ghalatat
al-sufiyya (Cairo: Matba' a al-Irshad, 1985), 175-200.
[30] Reminiscent
of this question/answer format is the story of al-Harith al-Muhasibi (d.
243/857) and Junayd (d. 297/910), see Abü Nu' aym al-Isfahani, Hilyat al-awliya wa-tabaqat
al-asfiya, ed. Mustafa 'Abd al-Qadir 'Ata, 12 vols.
[31] I have
followed the example of E. Kohlberg in his edition of Manahij al-arifln.
These divisions do not appear in the manuscripts I have consulted. Al-Sulami’s
well ordered discourse, however, lends itself to this kind of treatment, which
I hope affords structure to the subject matter and makes the text as a whole
more manageable for the reader.
[32] Mas’alat
darajat al-sadiqln, (Ankara) 143; (Beirut) 379-80.
[33] Faqr
is best translated ‘emptiness for God’ (vacare Deo). Al-Sulami devoted a
treatise to faqr and the faults of those who deviate from the adab
of faqr, see Bayan zalal al-fuqara (ed. S. Ates) Tis'at
al-kutub, (Ankara) 185-207; (Beirut) 431-56. I have re-edited this text
using a newly discovered manuscript from the Ben Yüsuf Library of Marrakesh,
compilation 91: fos. 174a-187b. For a translation of this
treatise see K. Honerkamp, al-Sulaml: Stations of the Righteous, 129-71.
[34] Mas
alat darajat al-sadiqln, (Ankara) 150; (Beirut) 389.
[35] Ibid,
(Ankara) 143-4; (Beirut) 379-80.
[36] The term akhlaq
in current usage generally refers to conduct or character. In the traditional
Islamic sources akhlaq is used to refer to traits of character founded
upon interior attitudes. It is therefore essential to read Sulami’s use of the
term akhlaq not as ‘conduct’, but rather as ‘interior attitudes’.
[37] al-Sulami,
Manahij al-arifîn (ed. Kohlberg), 38.
[38] See
al-Sulami, Risalat al-Malamatiyya, tenets 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 12, 15, 19,
20, 26, 32, 35, 36, 40, 45.
[39] Mas’alat
darajat al-sadiqin, (Ankara) 144; (Beirut) 380.
[40] Ibid,
(Ankara) 144-5; (Beirut) 380-1.
[41] This
implies seeing God as the sole agent, from whom all acts within creation
originate.
[42] Al-Sulami
relates in Manahij al-sadiqin, ‘When the station of true faqr becomes
manifest to them they enter the station of compassion towards all created
beings (al-shafaqa ‘alâ l-khalq). Manahij al-arifin (ed. Kohlberg), 34.
[43] Mas
alat darajat al-sadiqin, (Ankara) 145-6; (Beirut) 381-2.
[44] Al-Sulami,
writing of the Malamatiyya, notes that ‘for them it is through the perfection
of striving that one achieves all the stations except the station of marifa.'’
Risalat al-malamatiyya, 88.
[45] Abü Yazid
al-Bistami, Tayfür b. ‘Isa b.
Sarüshân (d. 261/874), a Sunni Sufi from Iran, well known for his ecstatic
states and sayings. See al-Sulami, Tabaqat, 67-74, Abü Nu‘aym, Hilya,
x. 325-31. In early works on Sufism Abü Yazid is often represented as an early
exemplar of the Malamatiyya in Khurasan.
[46] al-Sulami,
Tabaqat, 479: ‘Sa‘id b. Sallam from Qayrawan spent much of his life in
Makka and became the chief shaykh thereof. He was unique in his
assiduous worship and asceticism. He was as a vestige of the early masters and
their epoch. No one has seen one as noble or constant in each moment or as
authoritative in true intuition (firasa) and reverential awe (hayba).
He (later) migrated to Nishapur, where he died in 373/984.’
[47] Mas’alat
darajat al-sadiqin, (Ankara) 145; (Beirut) 382.
[48] Tark
al-irada has been a modality of Islamic mysticism from the formative period
to later times. It served as the pivotal point around which the rejuvenation of
Sufism turned in the seventh/thirteenth century with the founding of the
Shadhiliyya order, its flowering in Egypt, and its subsequent spread to much of
the Muslim world. See Victor Danner, ‘The Shadhiliyyah and North African
Sufism’ in Seyyed Hossein Nasr (ed.) Islamic Spirituality: Manifestations (New
York: Crossroads, 1991) 26-48; also see Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah, al-Tanwîr fl isqat
al-tadbi r, published numerous times in Cairo, and Paul Nwyia, Ibn ‘Ata
Allah et la naissance de la confrérie shadilite (Beirut: Dar al-Mashriq,
1986).
[49] Mas’alat
darajat al-sadiqin, (Ankara) 146-51; (Beirut) 382-90.
[50] See al-‘
Ajluni, Kashf al-khafa wa-muzi l al-ilbas ‘ amma
ishtahara min al-ahadith ‘ala alsinat al-nas, 2 vols. (Beirut: Mu’assasat
al-Risalah, 1988), i. 42-3.
[51] This is
usually reported as a hadi th, but al-Sulami relates it here as a saying
of one of the venerable elders (‘an ba‘d al-salaf ). For a treatise
devoted to the mystical interpretation of this saying, see Awhad al-Din
Balyani, Epître sur l’Unicité Absolue, introd. and trans. M. Chodkiewicz
(Paris: Les Deux Océans, 1982).
[52] Al-Sulami,
Tabaqat, 146: his name is ‘ Askar b. Husayn; he frequented Abñ Hatim al-‘ Attar al-Basri and Hatim al-Asamm
al-Balkhi; he was among the most illustrious of the masters of Khurasan,
renowned for knowledge and nobility of character (futuwwa), reliance
upon God, asceticism, and piety.
[53] Ibid, 91-7:
Hatim al-Asamm from Balkh (d. 230/844) was among the earliest masha ikh
of Khurasan; he associated with Shaqiq b. Ibrahim [al-Balkhi] and was the
teacher of Ahmad b. al-Hadrawayah. He is often seen as a precursor to the
Malamatiyya tradition of Nishapur.
[54] Ibid,
115-22: Abñ Hafs (d. 270/883)
was known as one of the earliest mentors of the Malamatiyya of Nishapur. He is
often reputed to be among the originators of the Malamatiyya.
[55] Al-Ghazâlï
(Ihya ‘ulum al-dïn, ed. Muhammad al-Dâlï Balta [Beirut: al-Maktabat al-‘
Asriyya, 1996], iv. 517) situates the Station of the Siddïqiyya (the
veracious) as the highest degree attainable before that of Prophethood, which
for him is definitively closed. Ibn al-‘ Arabi, influenced by al-Sulami, suggests
(al-FutUhat al-makkiyya, ii. 249.30) that there is an intermediary
station, namely the Station of Proximity (maqam al-qurba), between this
station and the ultimate Station of Prophethood. Cf. M. Chodkiewicz, Le
Sceau des Saints (Paris: Editions Gallimard, 1986), 77, 142.
[56] ‘God has
servants that are neither apostles nor martyrs, [yet] the apostles and martyrs
envy them...,’ is part of a
lengthy hadïth reported in many hadïth collections. See
al-Tabarani, al-Mu jam al-kabïr, ed. Hamdi ‘Abd al-Majid al-Salafi, 25
vols. (n.p.: Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-‘ Arabi, 2nd edn., 1983) narrated by
Muhammad b. al-‘ Abbas al-Mu’addib, iii. 291, hadïth 3435; al-Tirmidhi, Sahïh
al-Tirmidhï, 13 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-‘ Arabi, n.d. Bab
al-zuhd, ix. 235; also cited in Ihya ‘ ulum al-dïn, iv. 216.
[57] Mas
alat darajat al-sadiqïn, (Ankara) 147; (Beirut) 384.
[58] Ibid.
(Ankara) 147; (Beirut) 384-5.
[59] Ibid.
(Ankara) 148; (Beirut) 385.
[60] Qur’an,
18. 60-82. al-Khadir: ‘the name of a popular figure in legend and story.
Al-Khadir is properly an epithet (‘‘the green man’’); this was in time
forgotten and this explains the secondary form ‘‘Khidr’’ (approximately, ‘‘the
green’’), which in many places has displaced the primary form.’ EI2
art. ‘al-Khadir’, A. J. Wensinck. Ibn al-‘Arabi (al-Futuhat al-makkiyya,
ii. 5.25) considered al-Khadir to be one among the three prophets (the two
others are Elias and Jesus) who continue to live in the worldly dimension.
[61] Mas’alat
darajat al-sadiqin, (Ankara), 148; (Beirut), 385-6.
[62] Al-Sulami,
Tabaqat, 259: Abû Muhammad
al-Jariri (d. 311/923-4) was one of al-Junayd’s greatest disciples. He also
frequented Sahl b. ‘Abdallah al-Tustari. He succeeded al-Junayd as the shaykh
sUfiyya Baghdad because of his perfection of state and knowledge.
[63] ‘fa
idha shahada al-sun anisa bihi li-khuluwwihi ‘an kulli ‘illa, wa-idha shahada
mahall ibda al-sun i minhu istawhasha li-ruyat al-‘ilal.’
[64] Mas
alat darajat al-sadiqln, (Ankara) 150; (Beirut) 389.
[65] Abû l-A‘la Affifi, author of The Mystical
Philosophy of Muhyld Din Ibn al-‘Arabi (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1939), who had studied with R. A. Nicholson and was among the early
Egyptian scholars to do research on Sufism, believed that the continued
awareness of self at the highest levels of ma‘ rifa, prevented the
Malamatiyya from developing the all-encompassing doctrine of divine unity known
among the Sufis of Iraq. See Risalat al-malamatiyya, 22. Jean-Jaques
Thibon (‘Hierarchie Spirituelle’, 21) has noted that the essential nature of
this ‘ontological imperfection of creation’ may furnish the basis for the
mistrust the Malamatiyya expressed towards miracles (karamat).
[66] Mas'alat
darajat al-sadiqtn, (Ankara) 150; (Beirut) 388-9: ‘huwa awan wujud
al-kudura fl l-safa wa-l-safa fl l-kudura.’
[67] A central
teaching of the Malamatiyya was that individual human states are reflected
within a hierarchy of subtle centres of consciousness, referred to as ruh,
sirr, qalb, and nafs. At the summit of the hierarchy was the
divine rendered manifest to the ruh (spirit). The sirr (innermost
mystery) relates to the spiritual realm. The qalb (heart) relates to the
intermediate realm between the worldly and spiritual realms, and the nafs
(ego-self) relates to the worldly or mundane realm. Within this hierarchy the
superior centres were cognizant of the inferior realms, not vice versa. The ruh
was cognizant of the totality of the multi-leveled nature of spiritual reality,
while the nafs was cognizant of only its own realm. See al-Sulami, Risalat
al-Malamatiyya, 100-4.
[68] Masalat
darajat al-sadiqln, (Ankara) 149; (Beirut) 386-87. Al-Sulami’s depiction of
this station is reminiscent of the maqam al-qurba (the Station of
Proximity) where Ibn al-'Arabi describes meeting al-Sulami some two centuries
later. He reports that this is the maqam al-Sulami had attained when he
died. See Ibn al-'Arabi, al-Futûhât al-makkiyya, ii. 260.8-262.32. Also
see D. Gril’s translation of this passage in ‘Le terme du voyage,’ in Ibn
'Arabi, Les Illuminations de la Mecque, ed. M. Chodkiewicz (Paris:
Sindbad, 1988), 339-47.
[69] ‘A
legendary or semi-legendary younger contemporary of Muhammad, said to have been
killed at the battle of Siffin in 37/657, fighting on the side of 'Ali. The nisba
al-Karani connects him with the Karan sub-group of the Yemeni tribe of Murad, and
legend puts his early life in Yemen. Uways first appears in the works of
writers of the 3rd/ 9th century, Ibn Sa'd and Ahmad b. Hanbal, as an
impoverished and ragged figure who chose to live a life of solitude. Muhammad
had allegedly foretold that Uways would come to see his second successor,
'Umar, and said that Uways was both his bosom friend (khalll) in the
Muslim community and the best person in the generation after him.’ EI2 art.
‘Uways al-Karani,’ J. Baldick.
For more on the Uwaysiyya see J. Baldick, The Imaginary Muslims: Uwaysi
Sufis of Central Asia (New York: University of New York Press, 1998).
[70] Mas'alat
darajat al-sadiqln, (Ankara) 150; (Beirut) 388-9.
[71] Al-Sulami’s
portrayal of this station is reminiscent of the Station of Extinction in
Contemplation of the Divine (fana fl al-mushahada) in the works of Ibn
al-6Arabi, who devoted a short treatise to this station alone. This work
entitled: Kitab al-Fana fl l-mushahada has appeared in translation under
the title: Le Livre de l’Extinction dans la Contemplation, trans. M.
Valsan (Paris: Les Editions de l’Oeuvre,
1984). The text in Arabic is available in the 1948 Osmania Oriental
Publications of Hyderabad edition (2 vols. in one) of Rasa il Ibn al-Arabl,
vol. i, text 1.
[72] In his
short introduction to the Tabaqat al-suflya (p. 2) al-Sulami refers to
the journeyer in this station as a muhaddath (one spoken to) and
stresses that the muhaddathun and the ashab al-firasa (the people
of intuition) are saints who act as heirs to the Prophets and Messengers. He
relates elsewhere (Manahij al-arifin, 20), that ‘The muhaddath
receives inspiration (ilham) from God, and this sets him apart from the
rest of humanity’.
[73] Mas'alat
darajat al-sadiqln, (Ankara) 150-1; (Beirut) 389.
[74] Mas’alat
darajat al-sadiqin, (Ankara) 151; (Beirut) 389.
[75] Al-Sulami,
Risalat al-Malamatiyya, 116.
[76] EI2,
art. ‘Kutb,’ F. de Jong.
Chapter 270 of al-Futuhat al-makkiyya is dedicated to a long discussion
of the Qutb and his two Imams. The attributes of the Qutb
cited in this chapter correspond to those of the Malamatiyya, see Ibn
al-‘Arabi, al-Futuhat al-makkiyya, ii. 571.11-574.33. According to Ibn
al-‘Arabi (iii. 573) the Qutb was always chosen from the Malamatiyya.
[77] The
apostates (ahl al-ridda) were the Arab tribes who refused to pay the zakah
that they did pay during the lifetime of the Prophet.
[78] al-Sulami,
Mas'alat darajat al-sadiqln, fo. 57a, al-Sulamiyat.
This important passage is missing in Dr. Ates’s edition.
4 With the exception of Kashf al-Mahjub, the compendia of
formative Sufism (see n. 53, above) do not mention this important figure of
Islamic mystical thought. The Qutb is mentioned by al-Hujwiri four
times; see Kashf al-mahjub, 147, 206, 214, 228, 229.
[80] See al-'
Ajlünï, Kashf al-khafa’, ii. 317.
[81] Mas
alat darajat al-sadiqin, Sulamiyyat, fos. 57a-57b, missing from the edited
version.