Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Ways: Abu Hasan al-Shadhili

Imām Abū al-Hasan ash-Shādhilī, may Allah preserve his secret, said,
"Of all the Ways there are two:
the Way of Travelling (Sulūk) and the Way of... Attraction (Jadhb).
Our Way is the Way of Jadhb.
Our beginning is their end. Their beginning is ...our end."

Shaykh Abū’l-’Abbās Ahmad Zarrūq, commenting on this, said,
"The variety in a branch is due to the variety of its origin.
The origin of Tasawwuf is in the station of Ihsān
and it splits into two kinds:
‘to worship Allāh as if you see Him'
and ‘if you see Him not, He nevertheless sees you.’
The first is the degree of the Knower ('Ārif);
the latter is the degree of the Seeker (Sālik).
The Folk of ash-Shādhilī revolve around the first
and the Folk of al-Ghazālī revolve around the other."

2 comments:

  1. Forgive my stupidity sister, but that quote went over my head. I'm bothering to comment, though, because it sounds intriguing.

    Except that quote from the hadith, on worshipping Allah as if you see Him, though you cannot, but knowing still He sees you. That much I understand.

    nice blog. Mississauga is a cool place.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Forgive my stupidity sister, but that quote went over my head. I'm bothering to comment, though, because it sounds intriguing.

    ReplyDelete