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الحَمْدُ لِلهِ وَالصَّلاَةُ وَالسَّلاَمُ عَلَى رَسُوْلِ اللهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَمَنْ وَالَاهُ وَبَعْدُ
Source: Risala Qushayriyyah
Among them are Abu al-Fayd Dhu al-Nun al-Misri and his name was Thawban ibn Ibrahim. It was said: al-Fudayl ibn Ibrahim and his father were Nubianis (from Nubia in Upper Egypt). He died in the year 245 AH. He was outstanding in this affair (Sufism) and unique in his time in terms of knowledge, scrupulousness (wara’), spiritual states (haal), and etiquette (adab). He was slandered [1] to al-Mutawakkil (Abbasid caliph from 232-247 AH), so he was summoned from Egypt. When [Dhu al-Nun] came to see him, he admonished him (or preached to him, IE وعظه) then [al-Mutawakkil] cried. and returned him to Egypt honorably. Then when the people of scrupulousness (wara’) were before al-Mutawakkil, he cried and said: when the people of wara’ are mentioned, then come with (IE start with) Dhu al-Nun. He was a thin man with light skin and a beard that was not white.
I heard Ahmad bin Mahmud say I heard Said ibn Uthman say I heard Dhu al-Nun say: (sufi) speech (teachings) revolve around four things: love of al-Jaleel (The Glorious, The Majestic, IE Allah), hatred of al-qaleel (the insignificant), following al-tanzil (revelation), and fear of al-tahwil (changing states (IE from a good state to a worse state)).
I heard Muhammad ibn al-Hussain (Allah have mercy on him) say I heard Said ibn Ahmad ibn Ja’far say I heard Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Sahl say I heard Said ibn Uthman say I heard Dhu al-Nun al-Misri say: From the signs of love of Allah ‘azza wa jal is the following of the Beloved of Allah (ﷺ) in his character (akhlaq), actions, commands, and sunnah.
Dhu al-Nun was asked about lowly people, he said: those who do not know the way to Allah and do not explore it.
I heard Sheikh Abu AbdurRahman al-Sulamni (Allah have mercy on him) say I heard Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Sahdhan say I heard Yusuf ibn al-Hussein say: I went to the majlis of Dhu al-Nun one day and Salim al-Maghribi came to him, then he said to him: Oh Abul Fayd! What was the cause of your repentance? He said: it’s astonishing, you can’t handle it. He said: By the One you worship, tell me. Dhu al-Nun said: I wanted to leave Egpt to go to the some of the villages, then I slept in the road on some of the deserts. Then my eye opened and I was with a blind lark who fell from its nest to the ground. Then the Earth split open and two small bowls came out. One of them was gold and the other silver. In one of them was sesame and in the other was water. Then it began to eat from this and drink from this. Then I said: this is sufficient for me! I have repented and I stayed at the door until Allah ‘azza wa jal accepted me.
I heard Muhammad ibn al-Hussein say I heard Ali ibn Umar al-Hafiz say I heard ibn Rashiq say I heard Abi Dajjanah say I heard Dhu al-Nun say: Wisdom does not reside in the stomach full of food.
Dhu al-Nun was asked about tawbah (repentance), he said: The repentance of the common folk is from sins and the repentance of the elect is from heedlessness (ghaflah).
1: He faced accusations from two groups after talking about tasawwuf and wisdom in Egypt. Abdullah bin AbdulHakim, leader of the Maliki jurists in Egypt, accused him of explaining unheard-of tasawwuf topics. The Mu’tazila accused him of saying the Qur’an is uncreated. (Source: Islam Ansiklopedisi)
وَمِنْهُم أَبُو الفيض ذو النون الْمِصْرِي واسمه ثوبان بْن إِبْرَاهِيم , وقيل: الفيض بْن إِبْرَاهِيم وأبوه كَانَ نوبيا توفى سنة خمس وأربعين ومائتين فائق هَذَا الشأن وأوحد وقته علما وورعا وحالا وأدبا سعوا بِهِ إِلَى المتوكل فاستحضره من مصر فلما دَخَلَ عَلَيْهِ وعظه فبكي المتوكل ورده إِلَى مصر مكرما، وَكَانَ المتوكل إِذَا ذكر بَيْنَ يديه أهل الورع يبكي وَيَقُول: إِذَا ذكر أهل الورع فحيهلا بذي النون، وَكَانَ رجلا نحيفا تعلوه حمرة لَيْسَ بأبيض اللحية.
سمعت أَحْمَد بْن محمود , يَقُول: سمعت سَعِيد بْن عُثْمَان , يَقُول: سمعت ذا النون , يَقُول: مدار الْكَلام عَلَى أربع: حب الجليل وبغض القليل واتباع التنزيل وخوف التحويل.
سمعت مُحَمَّد بْن الْحُسَيْن رحمه اللَّه , يَقُول: سمعت سَعِيد بْن أَحْمَد بْن جَعْفَر , يَقُول: سمعت مُحَمَّد بْن أَحْمَد بْن مُحَمَّد بْن سهل , يَقُول: سمعت سَعِيد بْن عُثْمَان , يَقُول: سمعت ذا النون الْمِصْرِي , يَقُول: من علامات المحب لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ متابعة حبيب اللَّه صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي أخلاقه وأفعاله وأوامره وسننه.
وسئل ذو النون عَنِ السفلة , فَقَالَ: من لا يعرف الطريق إِلَى اللَّه ولا يتعرفه.
سمعت الشيخ أبا عَبْد الرَّحْمَنِ السلمي رحمه اللَّه يَقُول: سمعت أبا بَكْر مُحَمَّد بْن عَبْد اللَّهِ بْن شاذان , يَقُول: سمعت يُوسُف بْن الْحُسَيْن , يَقُول: حضرت مجلس ذي النون يوما وجاءه سالم المغربي , فَقَالَ لَهُ: يا أبا الفيض , مَا كَانَ سبب توبتك؟ قَالَ: عجب لا تطيقه , قَالَ: بمعبودك إلا أخبرتني، فَقَالَ ذو النون: أردت الخروج من مصر إِلَى بَعْض القرى فنمت فِي الطريق فِي بَعْض الصحارى ففتحت عيني فَإِذَا أنا بقنبرة عمياء سقطت من وكرها عَلَى الأَرْض فانشقت الأَرْض فخرج منها سكرجتان , إحداهما ذهب , والأخرى فضة , وَفِي إحداهما سمسم , وَفِي الأخرى ماء , فجعلت تأكل من هَذَا وتشرب من هَذَا فَقُلْتُ: حسبي قَدْ تبت ولزمت الباب إِلَى أَن قبلني اللَّه عَزَّ وَجَلَّ سمعت مُحَمَّد بْن الْحُسَيْن يَقُول: سمعت عَلِي بْن عُمَر الحافظ يَقُول: سمعت ابْن رشيق يَقُول: سمعت أبا دجانة يَقُول: سمعت ذا النون يَقُول: لا تسكن الحكمة معدة ملئت طعاما.
وسئل ذو النون عَنِ التوبة فَقَالَ: توبة العوام تكون من الذنوب وتوبة الخواص تكون من الغفلة.
Halaqa 