1Cademy - بخش ۴۰ - ذکر جواب الانطاکی قدس اللّه روحه العزیز / Section 40 - Mention of Jawab al-Antaki, May Allah Sanctify His Glorious Soul

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تذکرة الأولیاء / Memorial of the Saints

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بخش ۴۰ - ذکر جواب الانطاکی قدس اللّه روحه العزیز / Section 40 - Mention of Jawab al-Antaki, May Allah Sanctify His Glorious Soul

Original content

آن امام صاحب صدر آن همام قدر آن مبارز جد و جهد آن مجاهد اهل عهد آن مقدس عالم پاکی احمد بن عاصم الانطاکی رحمة الله علیه از قدماء مشایخ بود و از کبار اولیاء و عالم بود بانواع علوم ظاهر و باطن و مجاهدهٔ تمام داشت و عمری دراز یافت و اتباع تابعین را یافته بود مرید محاسبی بود و بشر و سری را دیده بود و فضیل را یافته و بوسلیمان دارائی او را جاسوس القلوب خواندی از تیزی فراست او، و او را کلماتی عالی است و اشاراتی لطیف بدیع داشت چنانکه یکی از او پرسید که تو مشتاق خدائی گفت: نه گفت: چرا گفت: بجهت آنکه شوق به غایب بود اما چون غایب حاضر بود کجا شوق بود.
گفتند معروف چیست گفت: مدارج آن سه است مدرجه اول اثبات وحدانیت واحد قهار مدرجه دوم بریده کردن دل از ماسوی الله و مدرجه سوم آنکه هیچکس را به عبارت کردن آن ره نیست و من لم یجعل الله نورافماله من نور.

گفتند علامت محبت چیست گفت: آنکه عبادت او اندک بود و تفکر اودایم بود و خلوت او بسیار و خاموشی او پیوسته چون بدو درنگرند او نه بیند و چون بخوانند نشود چون مصیبتی رسد اندوهگین نشود و چون صوابی روی بدو نهد شادنگردد و از هیچکس نترسد و بهیچکس امید ندارد.
و گفتند خوف و رجاء چیست و علامت هر دو کدامست گفت: علامت خوف گریز است و علامت رجا طلب است هر که صاحب رجا است و طلب ندارد او دروغ زن است و هرکه صاحب خوفست و گریز ندارد کذابست.

و گفت: راجی ترین مردمان به نجات کسی را دیدم که ترسناک تر بود بر نفس خویش که نباید که نجات نیابد و ترسناک تر خلق به هلاک کسی را یافتم که ایمن تر بود بر نفس خود آن ندیدی که یونس علیه السلام چون چنان گمان برد که حق تعالی عتاب نکند چگونه عقوبت روی بوی نهاد.
و گفت: کم ترین یقین آنست که چون بدل رسد دل را پرنور کند و پاک کند از وی هرجا که شکی است تا از دل شکر و خوف خدای تعالی پدید آید و یقین معرفت عظمت خدای بود و بر قدر و عظمت خدای تواند بود و عظمت معرفت عظمت خدای بود.

و گفت: چون با اهل صدق بنشینید به صدق نشینید که ایشان جاسوسان دلهااند و در دلهاء شما روند و بیرون آیند.
و گفت: نشان رجا آنست که چون نیکوئی بدو رسد او را الهام شکر دهند یا امید تمامی نعمت از خدای تعالی بر وی اندر دنیا و تمامی عفو در آخرت.

و گفت: نشان زهد چهار است اعتماد بر حق و بیزاری از خلق و اخلاص برای خدای و احتمال ظلم از جهت کرامت دین.
و گفت: نشان اندکی معرفت بنده به نفس خویش از اندکی حیا بود و اندکی خوف.

و گفت: هر که بخدای عارف تر از خدای ترسان تر.
و گفت: چون صلاح دلجوئی یاری خواه بروی به نگاه داشت زبان.

و گفت: نافع ترین فقری آن بود که تو بدان متحمل باشی و بدان راضی.
و گفت: نافعترین عقلی آن بود که ترا شناساگرداند تا نعمت خدای بر خودبینی و یاری دهد تو را بر شکر آن و برخیزد به خلاف هوا.

و گفت: نافع ترین اخلاص آن بود که دور کند از تو ریا و تصنع و تزین.
و گفت: بزرگترین تواضع آن بود که دور کند از تو کبر و خشم را در تو بمیراند.

و گفت: زیان کارترین معاصی آن بود که طاعت کنی بر جهل که ضرر آن بر تو بیش از آن بود که معصیتی کنی بر جهل.
و گفت: هر که اندکی را آسان شمارد و خرد گیرد زود بود که در بسیار افتاد.

و گفت: خواص غواصی می کنند در دریای فکرت و عوام سرگشته و گمراه می گردند در بیابان غفلت.
و گفت: امام جمله عملهای علم است و امام جمله علمها عنایت.

و گفت: یقین نوریست که حق تعالی در دل بنده پدید آرد تا بدان جمله امور آخرت مشاهده کند و به قوت آن نور جمله حجاب ها که میان او و میان آخرت است بسوزد تا بدان نور مطالعه جمله کارهای آخرت می کند چنانکه گوئی او رامشاهده است.
و گفت: اخلاص آنست که چون عملی کنی دوست نداری که ترا بدان یاد کنند و ترا بزرگ دارند به سبب عمل تو و طلب نکنی ثواب عمل خویش از هیچکس مگر از خدای تعالی این خلاص عمل بود.

و گفت: عمل کن و چنان عمل کن که هیچکس نیست در زمین به جز تو و هیچکس نیست در آسمان به جز او.
و گفت: این روزی چند که مانده است این را غنیمتی بزرگ شمر و اینقدر عمر که در پیش داری در صلاح گذار تا بیامرزند آنچه از تو بگذشته است.

و گفت: دواء دل پنج چیز است همنشینی اهل صلاح و خواندن قرآن و تهی داشتن شکم و نماز شب و زاری کردن در وقت سحر.
و گفت: عدل دو قسم است عدلیست ظاهر میان تو و میان خلق و عدلی باطن میان تو و میان حق و طریق عدل طریق استقامت است و طریق فضل طریق فضیلت است.

و گفت: موافق اهل صلاحیم در اعمال جوارح و مخالف ایشانیم بهمت ها.
و گفت: خداوند می فرماید انما اموالکم و اولادکم فتنة و ما فتنه زیادت می کنیم.

نقلست که شبی سی و اندی از اصحاب او جمع شدند و سفره بنهادند نان اندک بود شیخ پاره پاره کرد و چراغ برگرفت چون چراغ باز آوردند همه نان پاره ها بر جای خود بود هیچ کس به قصد ایثار نخورده بود مریدان را چنین تربیت کرده بود رحمةالله علیه.

English translation

That leader of the chest, that grand persona, that warrior of diligence and effort, that mujahid of the covenant, that holy pure scholar, Ahmad bin Asim al-Antaki, may Allah have mercy on him, was of the ancient shaykhs, and of the great saints. He was knowledgeable in all kinds of outer and inner sciences, strove completely, lived a long life, and had met the followers of the successors. He was a disciple of al-Muhasibi, had seen Bishr and Sari, had met Fudayl, and Abu Sulayman al-Darani called him the 'Spy of the Hearts' due to the sharpness of his intuition. He has lofty sayings and subtle, innovative indications. For instance, someone asked him, 'Are you longing for God?' He said, 'No.' The person asked, 'Why?' He said, 'Because longing is for the absent, but when the absent is present, where is the longing?' They said, 'What is the recognized (ma'ruf)?' He said, 'Its stages are three: the first stage is asserting the oneness of the One, the Subduer; the second stage is severing the heart from other than Allah; and the third stage is that no one has a path to express it, and 'whomever Allah does not grant light, for him there is no light.'' They said, 'What is the sign of love?' He said, 'That his worship is few and his contemplation is constant, his seclusion is frequent, and his silence is continuous. When they look at him, he does not see, and when they call him, he does not hear. When a calamity strikes, he does not grieve, and when a good fortune comes his way, he does not rejoice, and he fears no one and hopes in no one.' And they said, 'What are fear and hope, and what is the sign of both?' He said, 'The sign of fear is fleeing, and the sign of hope is seeking. Whoever possesses hope and does not seek is a liar, and whoever possesses fear and does not flee is a fabricator.' And he said, 'The most hopeful of people of salvation I saw was the one who was most fearful for his own soul lest he should not find salvation. And the most fearful of creation of destruction I found was the one who felt most secure about his own soul. Did you not see that Jonah, peace be upon him, when he thought that the Almighty would not chide him, how punishment came upon him?' And he said, 'The least degree of certainty is that when it reaches the heart, it fills the heart with light and purifies it of any doubt, so that gratitude and fear of God Almighty emerge from the heart. Certainty is the knowledge of the greatness of God, and it can only be in proportion to the capacity and greatness of God, and the greatness of knowledge is the greatness of God.' And he said, 'When you sit with the people of truthfulness, sit with truthfulness, for they are the spies of the hearts; they enter into your hearts and come out.' And he said, 'The sign of hope is that when good comes to him, he is inspired with gratitude, or the hope of the completeness of blessing from God Almighty upon him in this world and complete forgiveness in the Hereafter.' And he said, 'The signs of asceticism are four: reliance on the Truth, detachment from creation, sincerity for God, and bearing injustice for the dignity of religion.' And he said, 'The sign of a servant's lack of knowledge of himself is from his lack of shame and lack of fear.' And he said, 'Whoever is more knowing of God is more fearful of God.' And he said, 'When you seek the reform of the heart, seek help for it by guarding the tongue.' And he said, 'The most beneficial poverty is that which you bear and with which you are well-pleased.' And he said, 'The most beneficial intellect is that which makes you cognizant so that you see God's blessings upon yourself, and helps you in showing gratitude for them, and rises against whim.' And he said, 'The most beneficial sincerity is that which distances you from hypocrisy, affectation, and self-adornment.' And he said, 'The greatest humility is that which distances pride from you and dies out anger within you.' And he said, 'The most harmful of sins is that you perform obedience out of ignorance, for its harm to you is greater than performing a sin out of ignorance.' And he said, 'Whoever deems the small as easy and takes it lightly, it will be soon that he falls into the many.' And he said, 'The elite dive in the sea of reflection, and the commoners wander lost and astray in the desert of negligence.' And he said, 'The leader of all actions is knowledge, and the leader of all knowledge is divine grace.' And he said, 'Certainty is a light that God Almighty creates in the heart of the servant, so that thereby he observes all affairs of the Hereafter, and by the strength of that light, all veils between him and the Hereafter are burned away, so that by that light he studies all deeds of the Hereafter as if he were witnessing them.' And he said, 'Sincerity is that when you perform a deed, you do not like to be remembered for it or to be magnified because of your deed, and you do not seek the reward of your deed from anyone except God Almighty; this is the sincerity of action.' And he said, 'Act, and act in such a way as if there is no one on earth except you, and no one in heaven except Him.' And he said, 'These few remaining days, count them as a great spoil, and spend the amount of life ahead of you in righteousness so that what has passed of you may be forgiven.' And he said, 'The medicine of the heart is five things: keeping company with the righteous, reciting the Qur'an, keeping the stomach empty, the night prayer, and weeping at the time of dawn.' And he said, 'Justice is of two types: an external justice between you and the creation, and an internal justice between you and the Truth. The path of justice is the path of steadfastness, and the path of grace is the path of virtue.' And he said, 'We agree with the people of righteousness in the actions of the limbs, and we differ from them in aspirations.' And he said, 'God says: 'Your wealth and your children are only a trial', and we increase the trial.' It is related that one night, thirty-odd of his companions gathered and laid out the table spread. The bread was scarce, so the Sheikh broke it into pieces and took away the lamp. When they brought back the lamp, all the pieces of bread were in their places; no one had eaten out of the intention of altruism. He had trained his disciples in this manner, may Allah have mercy on him.

Updated 2026-07-02

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