Original content

English translation

And among them: the commander of commanders and traveler of the path of divine encounter, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Adham ibn Mansur, may Allah be pleased with him.

He was the unique one of his age, and in his era he was the master of his peers and the king of kings among men. He was a disciple of the Prophet Khidr, peace be upon him, and had met many of the ancient masters. He had a difference of opinion with the greatest imam, Abu Hanifa (may Allah be pleased with them both), and had learned knowledge from him.

At the beginning of his state he was the prince of Balkh. When it was the will of God the Exalted that he should become a king of the world, one day he had gone out hunting and had become separated from his army, and he galloped after a deer. God, mighty and glorious, in the perfection of His kindness and generosity, caused that deer to speak to him, so that in eloquent tongue it said: 'Was it for this that you were created, or was it this that you were commanded to do?' This word became a proof for him; he repented, withdrew his hand entirely from the kingdoms of this world, and took up the path of asceticism and abstinence.

He found Fudayl ibn Iyad and Sufyan al-Thawri and kept company with them, and throughout his whole life he ate nothing except from the earning of his own hand. He has manifest dealings, famous miracles, and, in the realities of Sufism, novel words and precious subtleties.

And Junayd, may Allah be pleased with him, says: 'The keys of the sciences are Ibrahim' — that is, the key to the sciences of this path is Ibrahim.

And they narrate from him that he said: 'Take Allah, the Exalted, as your companion and leave the people aside.' The meaning of this is that when a servant's turning toward God the Exalted is sound, and he is sincere in his devotion to God, the soundness of his turning toward God demands turning away from creation; for the company of creation has nothing to do with the discourse of the Truth, and the company of the Truth is sincerity in fulfilling His command, and sincerity in obedience arises from purity of love, and purity of love for the Truth arises from enmity toward the lower self and desire. For whoever is intimate with desire is separated from God, mighty and glorious, and whoever is cut off from desire is at rest with the Lord. So, as far as you are concerned, all creation is yourself: when you turn away from yourself, you turn away from all. One who turns away from creation and turns toward himself — this is oppression; for all creatures, in whatever state they are, are set right by the decree of destiny. Your business is with yourself.

And the foundation of the uprightness of the outer and inner for the seeker rests on two things: one of them is to be known, and one is to be done. What is to be known is the vision of the Truth's decree of good and evil; for in the whole of the kingdom no moving thing becomes still and no still thing becomes moving except by a motion that the Lord, the Exalted, creates in it and a stillness that the Lord, the Exalted, places in it. And what is to be done is the fulfillment of the command, the soundness of dealing, and the keeping of religious obligation; and under no circumstances does His decree become an excuse for abandoning the command.

Thus, turning away from creation does not come right until there is turning away from the self. When you turn away from yourself, all creation is needed for the attainment of the Truth's purpose, and when you turn toward God the Exalted, you are needed for the establishment of His command. So there is no way to be at rest with creation; and if you wish to be at rest with anything other than the Truth, at least be at rest with another — for rest with another is the vision of divine unity, while rest with the self is the affirmation of nullifying it. And it was for this that Shaykh Bu'l-Hasan Salba, may the mercy of God be upon him, used to say: 'For a disciple to be under the authority of a cat is better than to be under his own authority; because company with another is for the sake of God, while company with oneself is for the sake of desire.' And on this meaning, discourse will come in this book in its proper place, if God the Exalted wills.

And among the tales I found that Ibrahim Adham said: When I reached the desert, an old man came and said to me: 'O Ibrahim, do you know what a place this is, that you travel without provision and without a mount?' He said: I knew that he was Satan. I had four dangs of silver with me, for which I had sold a basket in Kufa; I took it out of my pocket and threw it away, and I vowed that at every mile I would perform four hundred rak'ats of prayer. I remained in the desert for four years, and God the Exalted, at the appointed time, sent me sustenance without effort. And in the meantime the Prophet Khidr, peace be upon him, kept company with me and taught me the Greatest Name of God the Exalted. Then my heart was at once emptied of all that is other than Him.

And he has many virtues, and success is through Allah.