Sufis of Andalusia

Extract from Sufis of Andalusia

Abu Ja’far al-‘Uryani of Loule [1]

This master came to Seville when I was just beginning to acquire knowledge of the Way. [2] I was one of those who visited him. When I met him for the first time I found him to be one devoted to the practice of Invocation. [3] He knew, immediately he met me, the spiritual need that had brought me to see him.

He asked me, ‘Are you firmly resolved to follow God’s Way?’ I replied, ‘The servant may resolve, but it is God Who decides the issue.’ Then he said to me, ‘If you will shut out the world from you, sever all ties and take the Bounteous alone as your companion, He will speak with you without the need for any intermediary.’ I then pursued this course until I had succeeded.

Although he was an illiterate countryman, unable to write or use figures, one had only to hear his expositions on the doctrine of Unity to appreciate his spiritual standing. By means of his power of Concentration [4] he was able to control men’s thoughts, and by his words he could overcome the obstacles of existence. He was always to be found in a state of ritual purity, his face towards the qiblah [5] and continuously invoking God’s Names.

Once he was taken captive, along with others, by the Christians. [6] He knew that this would happen before it took place and he accordingly warned the members of the caravan in which he was travelling that they would all be taken captive on the next day. The very next morning, as he had said, the enemy ambushed them and captured every last man of them. To him, however, they showed great respect and provided com­fortable quarters and servants for him. After a short time he arranged his release from the foreigners for the sum of five hundred dinars and travelled to our part of the country. [7]

When he had arrived it was suggested to him that the money be collected for him from two or three persons. To this he replied, ‘No! I would only want it from as many people as possible; indeed, were it possible I would obtain it from every-one in small amounts, for God has told me that in every soul weighed in the balance on the Last Day there is something worth saving from the fire. In this way I would take the good in every man for the nation of Muhammad.’

NOTES

[1] Cf. Futûhât, I, p.186; II, p.177; III, p. 539, where he is called Abû al-‘Abbâs. In the Durrah he is called ‘Abdallah (see below, p.68).

[2] He must have come to Seville before the year 580/1184. Cf. Futûhât, II, p.425.

[3] See Introduction, p. 55.

[4] The power of Concentration (himmah) which results from the achievement of certain stages of spiritual consciousness, makes it possible to exert control at various levels of existence. This may produce effects of a miraculous kind. cf. T. Burkchardt, Introduction to Sufi Doctrine, Lahore, 1959.

[5] Both ritual purity and the facing towards the qiblah (Mecca) are necessary conditions for the proper performance of the prayer rite (salâh). Cf. below, p.86.

[6] By the middle of the twelfth century, Muslim power extended over little more than Andalusia which suffered constant incursions, great and small, by Christian bands from the north.

[7] In the somewhat more detailed version of this story in the Durrah, he and his fellow-travellers were ambushed just three mlles outside his native town to which he was returning from Seville