Centuries back, in a town in Syria, a man lived in a simple home, where usually people with modest income would live. His Arabic was broken, he obviously was not from the area. But that was not uncommon.
He had good relations with his neighbors. After having lived there for some time, one of his neighbors who would often walk with him to the Mosque, finally asked him, where he was originally from. This is his story.
He said that he was originally from Europe. He hailed from a Noble family. He had a Castle and so many people were working for him.
As was customary in those times, Noble people were expected to participate in military efforts with money and men. On one occasion he and his men were assigned to patrol the borders between Muslim and Christian areas.
They met a Muslim border patrol, they clashed , a couple of Muslims were killed and the rest were taken prisoners. The prisoners were taken back to the castle.
It was common to keep prisoners from the other side, and then they would be exchanged with either a ransom or in a prisoner exchange agreement.
Anyway, weeks after the new prisoners came to the castle, a lieutenant noticed that a couple of prison guards were spending more money than they should be normally. He informed the Knight, and the men were brought before him to be questioned.
The Knight asked where did they get the money from? They said that one of the Arab prisoners gave them the money.
What for ? They said to temporarily take the chains off him when his Prayer time comes up.
And how did he pay them? They said, he would hit the ground with his palm and a couple of coins would spring up from the ground.
The story was quite incredible. But the Knight decided to find out for himself. He and one of his assistants dressed like prison guards and stood close to that Arab prisoner's door. And sure enough, after a while, they heard him calling from inside the Cell. The Knight approached and took a look from the small window on the door, and the Arab raised his hands showing him the chains. The Knight entered the Cell, took the chains off the man, the Arab kneeled and hit the ground and coins sprang up from absolutely nothing but solid rock.
He ordered that the Arab be released and treated well. After few days, he let the Arab go with two soldiers escorting him, to make sure that he safely reaches the Muslim borders.
After two weeks, the soldiers returned back. The Knight was surprised. Because it takes about two weeks to reach the Muslim borders and the same to get back. He asked them why did they come earlier. They said they do not know how, but it took few hours only to travel between the Castle and the Muslim borders, and then it took them two weeks to get back.
The Knight thought quite a lot. Finally, he decided to take the same journey taken by numerous personalities throughout human history: leaving fame, titles, power and wealth and intentionally select to lead an obscure and modest life. Something that might not make sense for some people, but obviously made perfect sense for those who took such decisions and never looked back.
He secretly left the Castle and headed to Muslim borders and chose to live the rest of his life as a simple person.
Notes:
* Illiteracy was common among the general public back then, but Noble families had a better situation. It appears that the Knight realized that that Arab was definitely not an ordinary man. He most likely had heard about Saints and miracles, but probably never thought he would see anything extraordinary right in front of him.
* If the Arab can "obtain" money at will, why did not he "buy" his way out of prison instead of just paying to perform prayers? Indeed, if he had an extraordinary way of dealing with things, why let himself get caught in the first place? Couldn't he have used a "way" to "effortlessly" defeat his counterparts ?
Based on what I think I understand, the following is an attempt to explain.
* Discipline is a prominent and distinguishing quality of any long-lasting and successful governance, at any level of any social group. Strict Discipline is what I have noticed about Sufis, especially at advanced levels.
I recall a story I read once about another border patrol also during the times of the crusades. This one was in the Mediterranean sea. There was a clash between a European ship and an Arab ship, using tools and equipment common at that time.
Suddenly, a huge fire erupted in the European ship and some people were caught in the fire while others jumped into the water.
An advanced Sufi was among the small ranking soldiers on the Arab ship. He immediately sensed that a low ranking Sufi on his own ship was the one starting the fire on the European ship, using some sort of a spiritual method. He had the authority to "disarm" the low ranking Sufi, and he did.
I remember that the narrator of the story said that Prophets, peace be upon them all, had always had immense powers whenever they were in earthly confrontations, but they usually always resort to common and earthly normal methods. And gave examples from the history of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.
Just because one has a certain thing that others might not have, does not mean to be arrogant or to show off or to use something against others at will. Ethics and high moral values are real, very real in a Sufi's life.
* Ibn Al-Farid (1234 ad), the Egyptian Sufi once said:
لم أدر ما غربة الأوطان وهو معي
وخاطري ، أين كنا، غير منزعج
He is not aware anymore about what Home sickness means, and asserts that his mind is never disturbed, when the Presence of God is very clear to a person, regardless of where a person might be. It is total peace and serenity, at that stage of awareness; No feeling of being in a foreign place or meeting strangers, rather probably feeling the same total confidence of being at one's own home, wherever one might be, and whomever one might meet.
It is an overwhelmingly vast Universe, from where a man might see the World, but at the same time it is only God's creation. Advancement on the Path to know God, might help one better understand things and how to best react to different situations.
Living in a Castle or in a simple home, or being a peasant or a soldier in a border patrol, or a governor or a prisoner of war, do not change the structure of existence (nature of things as they are), or the top priority of a religious person: Advancement on the Path to Know God, which is the essence of religion.
* A Sufi might be one who would try his best not to be known at all. But paying for getting chains off for praying is bound to get someone's attention. So, why do such an obviously unnatural thing?
If I understand correctly, advanced Sufis do not do something of importance without a clear permission or a clear guidance to do so, even if the end goal is not very clear.
The story's end is about someone seeing the Light and becoming closer to God. Maybe the whole purpose of the Sufi getting caught and brought to a man's home, and then getting that man to think and ponder, in the safety of his own secure home, and eventually realizing the way to tread, was the ultimate Divine plan.
In Sufi stories, I read about how there can be some human beings whom God selects to bring very close to Him, and advance faster on the Path to know Him, than normal religious people, in ways that might sound unusual or extraordinary. They appear to be rare incidents, but can be heard about every now and then.
* It is not about being superior or inferior in some social structure. It is not about being richer or poorer. It is not about strength or weakness according to commonly and worldly viewed measures. Such opposites are equally, unrelated and inconsequential, as far as the Path to know God is concerned.
It is about treading the Path. It is about Purity of Heart. It is about reaching a level of closeness to the Presence of God, that renders appearances in the world of far lesser significance, if any at all in some cases. It is about precious advancement on the Path to know God, that is so eagerly sought and so keenly maintained.
That is the highest priority for a person focused on the Path to know God.
Many incidents in history probably can be clearly misunderstood, and it might even be a mistake if that aspect of a deeply religious person's life is disregarded or not given appropriate attention.
However, at the same time, it is not about a total detachment from the World. Or not having any interest in trying to understand various rules of the universe, or not appreciating order of things, beautiful things, and fine meanings, or generally on average being in anyway less competent than the next person in handling or dealing with worldly affairs. That perception would be another mistake.
There is a fine Balance. It might sound like a riddle. But, that's what I have understood about Sufis and Sufism.
* A Sufi student once asked his teacher about the highest ranking Sufi in their area. The teacher told him to go with him next day to the bazar and he should be able to see the highest ranking Sufi. Next day they went to the local bazar and there were noises of people gathering and talking. They were waiting for the governor and his companions to pass through the bazaar. And they did come and people were busy looking at the personalities and the fine horses and the expensive clothes, etc.. After the procession had disappeared, everyone went to his business, and the teacher said, "there you are, the highest ranking Sufi just passed in front of you". The student said "But, which one was he?" The teacher said "The man who was telling the crowd to step back and making way for the procession." The most important spiritual person in the bazar that day, was probably the only person in the procession that nobody paid attention to.
There is a Hadith about a category of highly pious people, describes them as those who if present nobody notices them and if not present nobody misses them. How can anyone even try to guess how many of them are around at any point of time and space?
* I recall Ibn Arabi, in Al-Futuhat (second volume, of the old four large volumes book, published in Egypt in the late 19th century), saying that it is very rare for the highest ranking Sufi (called Qutb: literally Pole, or the the Pole Star, around which stars appear to be revolving, from a typical earthly vantage point) to be the highest ranking worldly leader at the same time.
He gives examples of the first five Caliphs: Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman, Ali, and Al-Hassan, may God be pleased with them. Then he mentions two caliphs from the Umayyad dynasty : Muawiah bin Yazeed and Omar bin Abdul-Aziz. And then he mentions a single caliph from the Abbasid dynasty : Al-Mutawakkil.
The first five caliphs and Omar bin Abdul-Aziz are well known, but maybe the sixth and the eighth caliphs in the list are not mentioned often.
It is noticeable to include Muawiah bin Yazeed, whose father Yazeed was the caliph during the terrible incidents of Karbala. According to some history books, the son was different from the father.
I am not sure how Al-Mutwakkil made it to Ibn Arabi's list of top Worldly/Spiritual leaders in Islamic history. What I can note is that before Al-Mutawakkil became the caliph, Al-Mutazilah's school of theology was the one favored by the State. When he became the caliph several things changed, including officially adopting the Shafi'i Mazhab and discharging Mutazilah scholars from official posts and releasing many Sunni scholars who were prisoned, major among them was Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal. And it is also notable that about a generation later from that incident, the crystallization of the major Sunni theological school of Al-Ashari started to take shape.
* The Hierarchy of Sufis is an interesting topic. None of the Prophets and Messengers of God peace be upon them all, selected to be a Prophet. They found themselves 'Chosen' to take that important job in the history of humanity. Similarly, none of the Sufis in the whole hierarchy selects to be in a certain position. They are 'Chosen' to be there. No creature can nominate himself or anyone else for a position, no one can even select to be or not to be in a position.
There are stories of Sufis who found themselves in certain spiritual positions in the hierarchy, even at times when they were not ready and prepared for it.
