Part 4

Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir meets al-Khidr, though without knowing who he is, and then spends several years amid the ancient ruins of 'Iraq, intensely engaged in the struggle with his lower self [nafs].

It was Abu 's-Sa'ud al-Huraimi who said: "I once heard our master, Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir (may Allah be well pleased with him), say:

"'I stayed in the deserts and ruined areas of 'Iraq for twenty-five years, as a solitary wanderer. I did not get to know my fellow creatures, and they did not get to know me. My only visitors were groups of the men belonging to invisible realm [ghaib], as well as some of the jinn. I used to show them the way to Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He).

"'I was also escorted by al-Khidr (peace be upon him), when I entered 'Iraq for the very first time, though I did not then know who he was, and he stipulated that I must never contradict him. When we reached a certain spot, he said to me: "Sit down and stay here," so I sat down and stayed where he told me to stay, for three whole years. He would come to see me once each year, and he would tell me: "Stay here in your place, until I come to you again! " "'The charms of this world, its ornaments, and its desires kept coming to me, in all their shapes and forms, but Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) would always shield me from being influenced by their attraction. The devils [shayatin] would also come to me in various disturbing guises, and they would engage me in combat, but Allah would always strengthen me against them. My own lower self [nafs] would adopt a certain attitude toward me: at one time it would humbly beseech me to let it have what it wanted, then at another time it would engage in a fight with me, but Allah would always help me to keep it under control. I took my lower self sternly to task, and whenever a particular method [tariq] of spiritual discipline proved effective for this purpose, at an early stage, I would embrace it, grasp it firmly with both my hands, and continue to apply it on a regular basis.

"'I stayed for a long period of time in the ruined areas of the big cities, taking my lower self sternly to task by applying the method [tariq] of spiritual discipline. Thus I spent one year eating food from the dumps, without drinking any water, and one year drinking water. Then I spent a whole year drinking water, but without eating food from the dumps, and another year without eating, drinking, or sleeping. I did fall asleep once, in the Great Porch of Chosroes [Iwan Kisra], on a bitterly cold night. I experienced a seminal emission in my sleep, so I got up and went to the bank of the river, where I performed a major ritual ablution. In the course of that night, I experienced forty seminal emissions, and I performed the major ritual ablution forty times on the bank of the river. Then I climbed back up to the Porch, afraid of falling asleep yet again. I also stayed for two years in the ruins of al-Karkh [an ancient suburb of Baghdad], where my only source of nourishment was the papyrus plant [bardi]. At the beginning of each year, a man would come to me with a jubba made of wool.

"'I entered into a thousand different states of being [alf fann], in order to obtain relief from this world of yours, and my condition could only be diagnosed as dumbness [takharus], craziness [balam] and insanity [junun]. I used to walk barefoot amid the thorns and other hazards. If anything scared me, I would venture straight into it. Never did my lower [nafs] prevail upon me, in the effort to get what it wanted, nor did anything ever seduce me with its worldly charm.'

"May Allah be well pleased with him!"

Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir covers an enormous distance, quite unaware that he is running at high speed.

Shaikh 'Umar said: "I once heard our master, Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir (may Allah be well pleased with him), say: 'Spiritual states [ahwal] used to come upon me unexpectedly, in the early stage of my wandering, so I would adapt to them, take possession of them, and disappear into them, away from my ordinary existence. I would run at high speed, though quite unaware that I was doing so, and then, when the unusual condition left me, I would find myself in a place far removed from the place where I had been at the outset.

"'On one such occasion, the spiritual state [hal] came upon me while I was in the ruined area of Baghdad. I ran for the space of an hour, quite unaware that I was running. When I recovered my normal consciousness, I found myself in the region of Shashtar, where the distance between me and Baghdad was that of a twelve-day journey. As I stood there, reflecting on my situation, a woman came up to me and said: "Does this really strike you as something surprising, when you are none other than Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir?"' "May Allah be well pleased with him!"