"'I was also escorted by al-Khidr
(peace be upon him), when I entered 'Iraq for the very first time, though I did
not then know who he was, and he stipulated that I must never contradict him.
When we reached a certain spot, he said to me: "Sit down and stay here," so I
sat down and stayed where he told me to stay, for three whole years. He would
come to see me once each year, and he would tell me: "Stay here in your place,
until I come to you again!” "'The charms of this world, its ornaments, and its
desires kept coming to me, in all their shapes and forms, but ALLAH (Almighty
and Glorious is He) would always shield me from being influenced by their
attraction. The devils [shayatin] would also come to me in various disturbing
guises, and they would engage me in combat, but ALLAH would always strengthen me
against them. My own lower self [nafs] would adopt a certain attitude toward me:
at one time it would humbly beseech me to let it have what it wanted, then at
another time it would engage in a fight with me, but ALLAH would always help me
to keep it under control. I took my lower self sternly to task, and whenever a
particular method [Tariqa] of spiritual discipline proved effective for this
purpose, at an early stage, I would embrace it, grasp it firmly with both my
hands, and continue to apply it on a regular basis.
"'I stayed for a long period of time in the ruined areas of the big cities,
taking my lower self sternly to task by applying the method [Tariqa] of
spiritual discipline. Thus I spent one year eating food from the dumps, without
drinking any water, and one year drinking water. Then I spent a whole year
drinking water, but without eating food from the dumps, and another year without
eating, drinking, or sleeping. I did fall asleep once, in the Great Porch of
Chosroes [Iwan Kisra], on a bitterly cold night. I experienced a seminal
emission in my sleep, so I got up and went to the bank of the river, where I
performed a major ritual ablution. In the course of that night, I experienced
forty seminal emissions, and I performed the major ritual ablution forty times
on the bank of the river. Then I climbed back up to the Porch, afraid of falling
asleep yet again. I also stayed for two years in the ruins of al-Karkh [an
ancient suburb of Baghdad], where my only source of nourishment was the papyrus
plant [bardi]. At the beginning of each year, a man would come to me with a
jubbah made of wool.
"'I entered into a thousand different states of being [alf fann], in order to
obtain relief from this world of yours, and my condition could only be diagnosed
as dumbness [takharus], craziness [balam] and insanity [junun]. I used to walk
barefoot amid the thorns and other hazards. If anything scared me, I would
venture straight into it. Never did my lower self [nafs] prevail upon me, in the
effort to get what it wanted, nor did anything ever seduce me with its worldly
charm.'
"May ALLAH be well pleased with him!"
Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir Jilani (RA) finds relief from almost unbearable pressures,
by repeating two verses from the Qur'an.
It was Shaikh Abu 'Abd'illah an-Najjar who said: "Our master Shaikh 'Abd
al-Qadir Jilani (RA) once told me: 'I would sometimes feel the weight of many
burdens, heavy enough to make the mountains disintegrate, if they had been
laidupon them. So, when those pressures multiplied upon me, I would set my
forehead on the ground, and say [in the words of the Qur'an]:
So truly with hardship comes ease: Truly with hardship comes ease. (94:5,6) [fa-inna
ma'a 'l-'usri yusra, inna ma'a 'l-'usri yusra.]
"'Then I would raise my head, and to my great relief, I would always find that
those heavy pressures had been chased away from me.'"
Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir Jilani (RA) experiences a spiritual crisis.
Shaikh Abu 'Abd'illah an-Najjar went on to say: "He once told me: 'During the
time when I was engaged in the study of Islamic jurisprudence [Fiqh], attending
the classes held by the Sheikhs, I would go out into the desert, instead of
lodging in Baghdad. I would sit in the wasteland by night and by day. I used to
wear a jubbah made of wool [suf], to cover my body, and on my head I wore a cap
like a miniature patched cloak [khuraiqa]. I used to stroll barefoot among the
thorns and other hazards. For nourishment, I used to eat carob beans, plucked
from the thorn bushes, as well as vegetable waste and lettuce leaves, collected
from the side of the stream and the bank of the river. If anything scared me at
all, I would venture into it. I would subject my lower self [nafs] to strict
discipline, until an unseen visitor [Tariq] came from ALLAH (Almighty and
Glorious is He) to visit me, and I would experience such visitations by night
and by day. I would go into the desert, utter loud screams, and feel a glowing
sensation on my face. My condition could only be diagnosed as a form of dumbness
[takharus] and insanity [junun]. I was carried off to the hospital [bimaristan],
where I experienced strange states of being, until I died. Then they came to me
with the shroud and the ritual washer of corpses, and set me on the washing
bench to give me my final ablution. Then the visitation went away and left me.'"
As if in answer to a prayer, Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir Jilani (RA) is greeted by a
stranger, who turns out to be none other than Shaikh Hammad ad-Dabbas.
"'Then, not long after that, I experienced the visitation by night of spiritual
states [ahwal], which I found difficult to understand, so I wished that ALLAH
would provide me with someone who could disclose their meaning to me. When the
next day came, I passed through the quarter known as al-Muzaffariyya, where a
man opened the door of his house, and said to me: "O 'Abd al-Qadir, come over
here!" So I went and stood in front of him, an