Original content

English translation

A group of the shaykhs disapproved of reciting the Qur'an with melodies and of listening to qasidas and verses—when the letters exceed their proper bounds—and they themselves abstained from it and were extreme in that; and they are several groups, and each of them has a different reason for it.

One group of them are those who found in the [prophetic] traditions [proof] for its prohibition, and in that they followed the pious ancestors (salaf salih) and imitated them; such as the Prophet, peace be upon him, rebuking Shirin, the slave-girl of Hassan ibn Thabit, for singing; and Umar, may God be pleased with him, striking with the whip that Companion who was singing; and Ali's disapproval of Mu'awiya for keeping singing slave-girls; and his forbidding Hasan, may God be pleased with him, from watching that Abyssinian woman who was singing, saying that she is the consort of Satan; and the like of this.

And they also say: our greatest proof of the reprehensibility of singing is the consensus (ijma) of the community, in our time and before us, that it is reprehensible—to the point that a group holds it absolutely forbidden.

And on this matter they relate from Abu'l-Harith that he said: I was earnest in practicing sama'. One night someone came to my cell and said: 'A group of the seekers of the court of God Most High are gathered and await your presence; if you would do the favor and take the trouble.' He said: I went out and followed after him; it was not long before I reached a group who had formed a circle, with an old man sitting among them. They showed me exceedingly great honor, and that old man said: 'If you permit, [some] may recite a verse?' I consented. Two persons began reciting, in beautiful melodies, verses that the poets had composed on separation; and they all rose in ecstasy (tawajud), uttering pleasant cries and making subtle gestures, and I remained astonished at their state, and their pleasant moment [continued] until near dawn. Then that old man said to me: 'O Shaykh, will you not ask me who you are and who these people are?' I said: 'Your dignity restrains me from asking.' He said: I am the accursed of God, Iblis, and these are all his children, and in this sitting and singing there are two benefits for me: one is that I keep [alive the memory of] the calamity of separation and the days of my [former] fortune; the other is that I lead pious men astray and cast them into error.

Abu'l-Harith says: from that time the desire for sama' was negated from my heart, and I was struck with great regret and shame at that loss.

And I, who am Ali ibn Uthman al-Jullabi, heard from Shaykh Abu'l-Abbas al-Shaqani, may God have mercy on him, who said: One day I was in a gathering where a group were performing sama'; I saw devils, naked, capering about among them, and I remained astonished at their state, for they were blowing [incitement] into them and they were growing more heated by it.

And there is another group who, out of fear and danger for their disciples—lest they fall into affliction and idleness, and imitate them, and not return from repentance to disobedience, and lest passion gain strength in them and caprice annul the resolve for their [spiritual] wellbeing, since [sama'] is a place of affliction and a source of temptation—did not perform sama' and did not sit among them.

And it comes from Junayd, may God be pleased with him, that he said to al-Jariri, at the beginning of his repentance: 'If you desire the safety of your religion and the observance of your repentance, do not look at nor go to the sama' that the Sufis perform, and do not consider yourself one of its people, while you are young; and when you have grown old, do not make people sinful.'

Another group said that the people of sama' are of two divisions: one lahi (heedless) and the other ilahi (divine). The lahi is in the very source of temptation and does not fear it; and the ilahi, through spiritual exercises and struggles, and through the severance of the heart from creatures and the turning-away of the inner self from created things, has driven temptation away from himself and become safe from it. Since we are neither of this group nor of that, abandoning it is better for us, and being occupied with something that accords with our [spiritual] moment is more fitting.

And another group said: since for the common people there is temptation in sama', and from our listening the belief of people becomes disturbed, and they are veiled from our rank and become sinful because of us, therefore we have compassion on the common folk and counsel the elect, and at the time of [spiritual] jealousy (ghayrat) we withhold our hand from it—and this is a praiseworthy way.

And a group said that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: 'Part of the excellence of a man's Islam is his leaving what does not concern him.' We withhold our hand from a thing that can be dispensed with. To occupy ourselves with what does not concern us is a wasting of time, and the time of the friends [of God] with the friends is precious and must not be squandered.

And another group of the elect said: sama' is [only] report (khabar), and its pleasure is the attainment of the desired; and this is the work of children—for what value has report in the presence of direct vision ('iyan)? So the [real] work belongs to [direct] witnessing (mushahadat).

These are the rulings of sama' that I have mentioned in brief. Now I shall bring a chapter on ecstasy (wajd), being (wujud), and induced ecstasy (tawajud), and set it in order, God the Mighty willing, He alone.