8/12/2019 Zuhhad by Ibn al Arabi

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Among them, God be pleased with them, arethe ascetics (zuhh!d) .They are the ones who relinquish this world

fromapositionofmeans.Our friendsdisagree

aboutthepersonwhodoesnothaveinhishands

anythingofthisworldwhilehehasthemeansofpursuingandamassingworldlythings;excepthe

doesntdosoandhegivesupthepursuit.Hashe

joined the ascetics or not? Among our friends

there is a proponent who argues that he has

joined the ascetics, and among them someone

argues that there is no abstaining except with

regardtowhathasbeenacquired,becauseitmay

bethatifhehadacquiredsome[wealth]ofthis

world,hewouldnothaveabstained.

AmongtheirleadersisIbr"h#mbinAdham,and

stories about him are well$known. One of my

maternaluncleswasamongthem.Hehadbeenamalik [king, big landowner] in the city of

Tlemcen (tilmas!n), calledYa%y" binYugh"n.

Inhisday therewasaman,a legal scholar,an

unmatched devotee, someone of Tunis called

Ab& 'Abd$All"hal$T&nis# who lived inaplace

outside of Tlemcen called al"#ubb!d.1 He had

removed himself to a mosque to worshipGod

therein;hisgraveisfamousoftenvisited.2

Whilethisintegratedpersonwaswalkingtoward

thecityofTlemcen,between the two townsof

Ag"d#r and theMad#nat al$Wus(", suddenly hemetmyuncleYa%y" binYugh"n, themalikof

thecity,amidsthis servantsanddomestics.He

was told,ThisisAb& 'Abd$All"hal$T&nis#, the

devotee of his age. He pulled the reins of his

horseandgreetedtheshaykh,andhepeacebe

uponhimreturnedthegreeting.Themalikhad

ostentatious clothes on, so he asked him, O

shaykh,TheseclotheswhichIamwearing,isthe

prayer permitted to me in them? The shaykh

burstoutlaughing.Themaliksaidtohim,Why

are you laughing? He replied, Because of the

weaknessofyourintellectandyourignoranceofyourselfandyoursituation.Tomeyoujustlike

adogwhowallowsinthegoreofacarcassand

12kmsoutheastofTlemcen,homeofthetombof

Ab& Madyan.2Thefeminineh!ofbi"h! yuz!rreferstotheimplicit

ziy!ratormaqbarat.

itsdiseasedparts3 and filth.Butwhenhepees,

he lifts his leg so that the urine doesnt hit it.

Youareacontainerfulloftheunlawful;andyou

askabout theclothingonyou,while the things

wrongfully appropriated from the creatures

[yourpeople]arearoundyourneck!

Hesaid,Themalikcriedandgotdownfromhis

ride and deserted his kingdom at that moment

and took up the service of the shaykh. The

shaykhkepthimforthreedaysandthenbrought

upthecovenant[ofhospitality]andsaidtohim,

O malik, the [three] days of hospitality have

finished;getupandcollectfirewood.

Heusedtocomewith thefirewoodonhishead

and enter the market with it, and the people

would lookathimandcry.Hewouldbarter to

acquirehisnourishmentandgiveaway the rest

incharity.Hestayed[295] in that landuntilhepassed.Hewasburiedoutsidetheground(tomb)

oftheshaykhandhisgraveisvisitedtothisday.

Theshaykhusedtosay,whenpeoplesoughthim

outtoprayforthem,Takeyourprayer(du#!h)

[instead] to Ya%y" bin Yugh"n, because he

owned [as a king does] then he abstained. If I

were tested with what he was tested with of

kingly riches, perhaps I would not have

abstained.

One of the kings said about the state of his

soulhehadbecomeanasceticandcuthimselfofftobealonewithGod,exaltedisHe:

Iaminthestatewhichyoumayseeifyoucontemplatethestateofthefinestofpeople.MymansioniswhereverIwish,inanyrestingplaceontheEarth,fedcoolwaterfromanacequia.IhavenoparentandnochildIsee,andIdontseemyselfhavinganydependents.Itaketheright-handmantobemypillowycushion,andifIturnover,thereismyleft.Iwasdelightedforalongtimewiththings;ifIhadfinallythoughtaboutthemclearly,theywouldhavebeenasadream.

3Thecarcasssaklistheparteatenaway,asfrom

disease.