The great scholar Sidi Ahmad ibn Mubarakk al-Lamati (d. 1156/1741) reports in Kitab Al-Ibriz that his shaykh al-Qutb Sidi Abdul-Aziz ibn Masud al-Dabbagh (d. 1132/1717) said,
And I heard him sayGod be pleased with him: 'Those who compile writings about the thaumaturgic gifts of the Friends of GodGod be pleased with themthough they benefit the people by informing them about the Friends, also do them great harm because they confine themselves to relating miracles and relate nothing of the ephemeral things that are done by the Friends who possess these gifts. Anyone reading their words and seeing miracle after miracle, one case of the power of free disposal after another, and one unveiling after another, will imagine the Friend of God has no lack of power when it comes to something he desires and that nothing in the way of offenses ever issues from him, not even on the level of appearances. Thus the reader falls into grave ignorance, thinking the Friend of God is characterized by one of the qualities of divine Lordliness, namely that he can do whatever he wishes and is unaffected by any incapacity. And the reader thinks the Friend is characterized by one of the qualities of prophethood, namely sinlessness (isma).
Now the first matter belongs to the special attributes of Lordliness and God the Sublime didn't confer it on his noble apostles, so bow would he confer it on his Friends? God the Sublime said to His ProphetGod's blessings and peace be upon him: "None of the matter is to do with you, whether He turns toward them or punishes them. For they are evildoers. (Quran 3:128) And He said: "You don't guide whomever you please but God guides whomever He wishes" (Quran 28:56)
And the Prophet saidGod's blessings and peace be upon him: I asked my LordHe is mighty and gloriousfor two things and He bestowed them on me. And I asked him for two more things but He refused them to me. God the Sublime said: "Say: 'He is able to send punishment upon you from above you..." (Quran 6:65) And I (the Prophet) exclaimed: I seek protection [from this) with Your noble face, and God said: "I have granted it." "...or from under your feet.." (Quran 6:65). And I exclaimed: "I seek protection [from this] with Your noble face", and God said: "I have granted it" "...or to confuse you in sects.." (Quran 6:65). And I exclaimed: "I seek protection (from this] with your noble face", but God said: "It has already been decreed." "..and to make you taste the violence of one another" (Quran 6:65). And I exclaimed: I seek protection [from this) with Your noble face", but God said: "It has already been decreed.
God the Sublime replied to Noah's request to save his son from drowning [as follows]: "And Noah called lo his Lord and said; 'My Lord, my son is of my family and Your promise is surely the truth. You're the most just of those who judge.' God said: 'Oh Noah, he isn't of your family. It isn't a righteous deed. Don't ask Me what you have no knowledge of. I admonish you lest you should be among the ignorant"' (Quran 11:45). And God the Sublime said: "God has formulated a similitude for the unbelieversthe wife of Noah and the wife of Lot- They were under two of Our righteous bondsmen bat they betrayed them so they were of DO avail at all for them against God" (Quran 66:10).
Today if people see that a Friend of God invokes God but his prayer isn't answered or they see that his son isn't on the right path or that his wife isn't godfearing, they say: He isn't a Friend of God. For if he were a Friend of God, God would answer his prayer. And if he were a Friend of God, he'd set right the people of his house." They think the Friend of God can set right someone other than himself, even though he isn't able to set himself right. God the Sublime has said: "If not for God's generosity to you and His mercy, not one of you would ever have been pure but God renders pure whom He wishes" (Quran 24:21).
As for the second matter, namely sinlessness (isma), it's one of the characteristics of prophethood, and Friendship with God doesn't compete with prophethood. He saidGod be pleased with him: The food which appears on the part of the Friend of God is actually due to the blessing of the ProphetGod's blessings and peace be upon bunsince faith (iman) which is the cause of that good has come to him through the mediation of the ProphetGod's blessings and peace be upon him! As for the body of the Friend of God, it's like all bodies, with the exception of the prophetsblessings and peace be upon them! The prophets are naturally disposed to sinlessness and in their nature is knowledge of God the Sublime and fear of God. Therefore they have no need of a law to follow and no need of a teacher to benefit from. The truth residing in their bodieswhich is the letter (harf) of prophethood inherent in themconducts them along the proper track and the righteous path.'
He saidGod be pleased with him: 'Were it the intention of those who compile writings on thaumaturgic gifts to explain the state of the Friend of God they write about, if they recounted what occurred to him after Illumination in the way of enduring upright matters as well as ephemeral matters, people would come to know the Friends of God in reality. They'd know the Friend of God sometimes raises up a prayer of supplication and it's answered, but sometimes it isn't answered. He wishes for something and sometimes it's granted, but sometimes it isn't granted. This is just as happened with the noble prophets and the apostlesblessing and peace be upon them! What's additional in the case of the Friend of God is that sometimes obedience appears upon his limbs and sometimes wrongdoing appears upon them like with alt people. But the Friend of God is distinguished from them by one thing, namely the divine insights (ma'arif) God the Sublime has assigned him and the illuminations He's conferred on him. Despite that, disobedience manifests itself in him but this is (only] according to what appears to us and not in reality. For the vision (mushahada) be experiences rejects disobedience and it binders sin, though not in a way that goes as far us sinlessness so that Friendship with God competes with prophethood. Hindrance to sin in the prophets is essential (dhati), where in the Friends of God it's contingent ('aradi). It's possible for it to disappear in the Friends of God but it can't disappear in the prophets.
The secret behind this is what was previously explained, namely that the good of prophets comes from their bodies (dkawSi), whereas the good of the Friends of God comes from other than their bodies. Thus the sinlessness of the prophets is essential, whereas the sinlessness of the Friends of God is contingent. So if the perfect knower of God commits an act of disobedience, it's only to do with appearances (surati), not with reality (haqiqi). His intention is to use it to test and examine the person who witnesses it. This involves secrets. We beseech God the Sublime to give us success in believing in His Friends, the way He has given us success in believing in His prophetsblessings and peace be upon them!'
And he saidGod be pleased with him: 'Whoever knows the life (sira) of the ProphetGod's blessings and peace be upon himwith regard to his food and drink, his sleep and his waking, and all his circumstances in his house, and knows his life with regard to his wars and military expeditions, how fortune at times favored him and other times turned against him, and how people requested a group of his Companions from him but then went and betrayed them as in the case of the expedition of al-Raji and the expedition of Bir Ma'una, and whoever knows what happened in the incident of Hudaybiya and other similar cases and all of this involves Lordly secrets about which God the Sublime informed our ProphetGod's blessings and peace be upon himfor such an individual acquaintance with the Friends of God is easy. He won't consider important the ephemeral matters and the human characteristics that he sees in their exterior.
It's incumbent on an intelligent person who loves goodness and the people of goodness to read frequently the life of the ProphetCod's blessings and peace be upon him! This will guide him to acquaintance with the Friends who are knowers of God and nothing from their affairs will be obscure for him. This then is how much the pen is capable of clarifying. A hint to the sensible and the wise is sufficient! God alone confers success!'
And I heard him sayGod be pleased with him: 'A man may hear of a Friend of God in a distant country and create for himself an image of the Friend that corresponds to the miracles reported about him. If he then finds him to be different from the image previously formed in his mind, be harbors doubt about whether the person is a Friend of God.
Then be relatedGod be pleased with him: 'A man in Algiers heard about a Friend of God in Fez. Many miracles by the Friend were reported to him. He created for himself an image of the Friend as being a great shaykh with an awe-inspiring presence and he set out to meet him to acquire some of his secrets. When he reached the city of Fez, he asked for die Friend of God's house and was directed to it. He thought the Friend would have doormen stationed at the entrance to his house. He knocked at the door and the Friend of God came out. The visitor said: "Oh Sayyidi, I'd like you to advise me as to the whereabouts of my lord the shaykhfor he thought the person who came out to him was the doorman. The Friend said to him: "The person you've come from your country to see and for whose sake you've journeyed for a month or more is none other than myself." The man said: "Oh Sayyidi, I'm a foreigner and I've come to the shaykh in great longing. Direct me to him and may God have mercy on you!" He spoke like this because when he looked at the Friend of God, he didn't perceive any sign in him or an awesome appearance. The Friend said to him: "Oh poor wretch, I'm the one you seek. The visitor said: "I tell you I'm a foreigner. I've asked you to anew me to the shaykh but you're mocking me. The Friend said to him: "As God is my witness I'm not mocking you!" At that the visitor exclaimed: "God is your sufficiency!, and he departed. This was because he found the Friend different from the image he'd formed of him in his thought.
I, Shaykh al-Lamati, would add that many a person has railed for this reason. If someone reads books written about the miracles of the Friends of God, he pictures the Friend more or less in accordance with what he's heard in the books. If he then compares this image with the Friends of God of his own era, he has doubts about all of them due to the characteristics be sees in them that aren't recorded in the books. Had he witnessed the Friends of God whose miracles have been recorded before their miracles were recorded, he'd have perceived some characteristics in them that he disapproves of in the people of his own era. In some persons ignorance may reach the point that they deny Friendship with God to anyone among the people of their own era because of the constraints established in their minds concerning Friendship with God and its actualization by means of rules. If someone applies these rules to a person among the people of his own time, he finds they don't fit that person and so he denies Friendship with God to him. The result is he comes to believe in a general Friend of God who has no existence in the external world. He doesn't know that Friendship with God is purely a question of God the Sublime choosing His bondsman and no creature among created beings is capable of defining it precisely.
And I heard him sayGod be pleased with him: 'Those who compile writings about the thaumaturgic gifts of the Friends of GodGod be pleased with themthough they benefit the people by informing them about the Friends, also do them great harm because they confine themselves to relating miracles and relate nothing of the ephemeral things that are done by the Friends who possess these gifts. Anyone reading their words and seeing miracle after miracle, one case of the power of free disposal after another, and one unveiling after another, will imagine the Friend of God has no lack of power when it comes to something he desires and that nothing in the way of offenses ever issues from him, not even on the level of appearances. Thus the reader falls into grave ignorance, thinking the Friend of God is characterized by one of the qualities of divine Lordliness, namely that he can do whatever he wishes and is unaffected by any incapacity. And the reader thinks the Friend is characterized by one of the qualities of prophethood, namely sinlessness (isma).
Now the first matter belongs to the special attributes of Lordliness and God the Sublime didn't confer it on his noble apostles, so bow would he confer it on his Friends? God the Sublime said to His ProphetGod's blessings and peace be upon him: "None of the matter is to do with you, whether He turns toward them or punishes them. For they are evildoers. (Quran 3:128) And He said: "You don't guide whomever you please but God guides whomever He wishes" (Quran 28:56)
And the Prophet saidGod's blessings and peace be upon him: I asked my LordHe is mighty and gloriousfor two things and He bestowed them on me. And I asked him for two more things but He refused them to me. God the Sublime said: "Say: 'He is able to send punishment upon you from above you..." (Quran 6:65) And I (the Prophet) exclaimed: I seek protection [from this) with Your noble face, and God said: "I have granted it." "...or from under your feet.." (Quran 6:65). And I exclaimed: "I seek protection [from this] with Your noble face", and God said: "I have granted it" "...or to confuse you in sects.." (Quran 6:65). And I exclaimed: "I seek protection (from this] with your noble face", but God said: "It has already been decreed." "..and to make you taste the violence of one another" (Quran 6:65). And I exclaimed: I seek protection [from this) with Your noble face", but God said: "It has already been decreed.
God the Sublime replied to Noah's request to save his son from drowning [as follows]: "And Noah called lo his Lord and said; 'My Lord, my son is of my family and Your promise is surely the truth. You're the most just of those who judge.' God said: 'Oh Noah, he isn't of your family. It isn't a righteous deed. Don't ask Me what you have no knowledge of. I admonish you lest you should be among the ignorant"' (Quran 11:45). And God the Sublime said: "God has formulated a similitude for the unbelieversthe wife of Noah and the wife of Lot- They were under two of Our righteous bondsmen bat they betrayed them so they were of DO avail at all for them against God" (Quran 66:10).
Today if people see that a Friend of God invokes God but his prayer isn't answered or they see that his son isn't on the right path or that his wife isn't godfearing, they say: He isn't a Friend of God. For if he were a Friend of God, God would answer his prayer. And if he were a Friend of God, he'd set right the people of his house." They think the Friend of God can set right someone other than himself, even though he isn't able to set himself right. God the Sublime has said: "If not for God's generosity to you and His mercy, not one of you would ever have been pure but God renders pure whom He wishes" (Quran 24:21).
As for the second matter, namely sinlessness (isma), it's one of the characteristics of prophethood, and Friendship with God doesn't compete with prophethood. He saidGod be pleased with him: The food which appears on the part of the Friend of God is actually due to the blessing of the ProphetGod's blessings and peace be upon bunsince faith (iman) which is the cause of that good has come to him through the mediation of the ProphetGod's blessings and peace be upon him! As for the body of the Friend of God, it's like all bodies, with the exception of the prophetsblessings and peace be upon them! The prophets are naturally disposed to sinlessness and in their nature is knowledge of God the Sublime and fear of God. Therefore they have no need of a law to follow and no need of a teacher to benefit from. The truth residing in their bodieswhich is the letter (harf) of prophethood inherent in themconducts them along the proper track and the righteous path.'
He saidGod be pleased with him: 'Were it the intention of those who compile writings on thaumaturgic gifts to explain the state of the Friend of God they write about, if they recounted what occurred to him after Illumination in the way of enduring upright matters as well as ephemeral matters, people would come to know the Friends of God in reality. They'd know the Friend of God sometimes raises up a prayer of supplication and it's answered, but sometimes it isn't answered. He wishes for something and sometimes it's granted, but sometimes it isn't granted. This is just as happened with the noble prophets and the apostlesblessing and peace be upon them! What's additional in the case of the Friend of God is that sometimes obedience appears upon his limbs and sometimes wrongdoing appears upon them like with alt people. But the Friend of God is distinguished from them by one thing, namely the divine insights (ma'arif) God the Sublime has assigned him and the illuminations He's conferred on him. Despite that, disobedience manifests itself in him but this is (only] according to what appears to us and not in reality. For the vision (mushahada) be experiences rejects disobedience and it binders sin, though not in a way that goes as far us sinlessness so that Friendship with God competes with prophethood. Hindrance to sin in the prophets is essential (dhati), where in the Friends of God it's contingent ('aradi). It's possible for it to disappear in the Friends of God but it can't disappear in the prophets.
The secret behind this is what was previously explained, namely that the good of prophets comes from their bodies (dkawSi), whereas the good of the Friends of God comes from other than their bodies. Thus the sinlessness of the prophets is essential, whereas the sinlessness of the Friends of God is contingent. So if the perfect knower of God commits an act of disobedience, it's only to do with appearances (surati), not with reality (haqiqi). His intention is to use it to test and examine the person who witnesses it. This involves secrets. We beseech God the Sublime to give us success in believing in His Friends, the way He has given us success in believing in His prophetsblessings and peace be upon them!'
And he saidGod be pleased with him: 'Whoever knows the life (sira) of the ProphetGod's blessings and peace be upon himwith regard to his food and drink, his sleep and his waking, and all his circumstances in his house, and knows his life with regard to his wars and military expeditions, how fortune at times favored him and other times turned against him, and how people requested a group of his Companions from him but then went and betrayed them as in the case of the expedition of al-Raji and the expedition of Bir Ma'una, and whoever knows what happened in the incident of Hudaybiya and other similar cases and all of this involves Lordly secrets about which God the Sublime informed our ProphetGod's blessings and peace be upon himfor such an individual acquaintance with the Friends of God is easy. He won't consider important the ephemeral matters and the human characteristics that he sees in their exterior.
It's incumbent on an intelligent person who loves goodness and the people of goodness to read frequently the life of the ProphetCod's blessings and peace be upon him! This will guide him to acquaintance with the Friends who are knowers of God and nothing from their affairs will be obscure for him. This then is how much the pen is capable of clarifying. A hint to the sensible and the wise is sufficient! God alone confers success!'
And I heard him sayGod be pleased with him: 'A man may hear of a Friend of God in a distant country and create for himself an image of the Friend that corresponds to the miracles reported about him. If he then finds him to be different from the image previously formed in his mind, be harbors doubt about whether the person is a Friend of God.
Then be relatedGod be pleased with him: 'A man in Algiers heard about a Friend of God in Fez. Many miracles by the Friend were reported to him. He created for himself an image of the Friend as being a great shaykh with an awe-inspiring presence and he set out to meet him to acquire some of his secrets. When he reached the city of Fez, he asked for die Friend of God's house and was directed to it. He thought the Friend would have doormen stationed at the entrance to his house. He knocked at the door and the Friend of God came out. The visitor said: "Oh Sayyidi, I'd like you to advise me as to the whereabouts of my lord the shaykhfor he thought the person who came out to him was the doorman. The Friend said to him: "The person you've come from your country to see and for whose sake you've journeyed for a month or more is none other than myself." The man said: "Oh Sayyidi, I'm a foreigner and I've come to the shaykh in great longing. Direct me to him and may God have mercy on you!" He spoke like this because when he looked at the Friend of God, he didn't perceive any sign in him or an awesome appearance. The Friend said to him: "Oh poor wretch, I'm the one you seek. The visitor said: "I tell you I'm a foreigner. I've asked you to anew me to the shaykh but you're mocking me. The Friend said to him: "As God is my witness I'm not mocking you!" At that the visitor exclaimed: "God is your sufficiency!, and he departed. This was because he found the Friend different from the image he'd formed of him in his thought.
I, Shaykh al-Lamati, would add that many a person has railed for this reason. If someone reads books written about the miracles of the Friends of God, he pictures the Friend more or less in accordance with what he's heard in the books. If he then compares this image with the Friends of God of his own era, he has doubts about all of them due to the characteristics be sees in them that aren't recorded in the books. Had he witnessed the Friends of God whose miracles have been recorded before their miracles were recorded, he'd have perceived some characteristics in them that he disapproves of in the people of his own era. In some persons ignorance may reach the point that they deny Friendship with God to anyone among the people of their own era because of the constraints established in their minds concerning Friendship with God and its actualization by means of rules. If someone applies these rules to a person among the people of his own time, he finds they don't fit that person and so he denies Friendship with God to him. The result is he comes to believe in a general Friend of God who has no existence in the external world. He doesn't know that Friendship with God is purely a question of God the Sublime choosing His bondsman and no creature among created beings is capable of defining it precisely.