THE BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE
Being a Translation
with notes
of
Kitab al-‘Ilm
of
Al-Ghazzali’s
Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din
by
NABIH AMIN FARIS
SH. MUHAMMAD ASHRAF
LAHORE, PAKISTAN
SECTION V
The
formal proprieties and duties of the student are many but may be classified
under ten headings:
The first duty of the student is to purify his soul
from impure traits and blameworthy characteristics because knowledge is the
worship of man’s heart as well as the prayer of his inmost self (sirr)
and the oblation of his inward being before Allah. Just as prayer, which is
the duty of the physical senses, is not fulfilled unless the physical body has
been purified from excrements and impurities, so is the worship of the inward
being as well as the reformation of the heart: they, are not fulfilled through
knowledge unless they first be cleansed from impurities and uncleanliness. Thus
the Prophet said, “Religion has been built on cleanliness.” This is true
physically and spiritually. Allah said, “Verily the polytheists are
unclean...”1 as a reminder to the mind that purity and
uncleanliness are not confined to the externals which are perceived by the
senses. Thus the polytheist may be physically clean and immaculately dressed yet
he is inwardly unclean, i.e., his inward being reeks with impurities.
Uncleanliness is a word which represents that which is avoided and from which
people desire to stay away. It is more important to avoid the impurities of the
heart than to avoid physical impurities because, besides their abomination in
this world, the impurities of the heart are fatal in the world to come. For this
reason the Prophet said, “The angels do not enter into a house where there are
dogs or images”2 The heart is the house of the angels, the place on
which they descend and
1.
Surah IX: 28.
2.
Al-Tirmidhi, Adab, 44: al-Darimi,
lsti,dhan, 34.
119
in which
they abide, while bad traits like anger, lust, rancour, envy, pride, conceit and
the like are barking dogs. How then could the angels enter the heart when it is
crowded with dogs? Besides, the light of knowledge is not made to shine upon the
heart of man except through the instrumentality of the angels, and it is not
possible for any man to have any communication with Allah except through
revelation or through a veil or through a messenger whom Allah sends and
instructs to declare His will. Similarly whatever knowledge is sent by the grace
of Allah to the human heart is transmitted by the angels who have been entrusted
(muwaooolun)1
with this responsibility. They are the angels who have been made holy, pure,
and free from all blameworthy traits. They attend to no one but the good, and
with what they possess of the mercy of Allah they reform no one but the pure.
I do not say that, in the above quoted tradition, the word house itself means heart and the word dog, anger as well as other blameworthy traits; but I do say that it is a suggestion. Thus there is a difference between ignoring the literal meaning of words in favour of an esoteric interpretation on the one hand and incidentally pointing out an esoteric significance while affirming the literal meaning on the other hand. This subtle point is exactly what distinguishes the Batinites from the true believers. This is the method of suggestion, which is the way of the learned and the righteous. For suggestion means that what has already been mentioned should also represent something else and consequently attention should be paid to both. Thus the wise man may witness a calamity befall someone besides himself and the calamity would serve as a warning to him, in that it would wake him up to the fact that he too is subject to calamities and that time is full of vicissitudes. Thus to turn one’s attention from the examination of the affairs of others to those of his own and from those of his own to the examination of the nature of the things for the sake of learning is a praiseworthy practice. Proceed, therefore, from the consideration of the house built by Allah and from the consideration of the dog which has been pronounced blameworthy, not for its physical appearance
1.
See
Al-Qazwini ‘Aja-ib, pp. 62-3.
120
but for its inherent beastly
characteristics and uncleanliness, to that of the animal spirit which is
bestiality.
You should know, too, that he whose heart is saturated
with anger, greed, indulgence, and readiness to slander people is actually a
beast although he appears in the form of a human being. He who has keen insight
regards the real meaning of things and not their form. In this world forms
obscure the realities which lie within them, but in the hereafter forms will
conform to realities and the latter will prevail. For this reason every
individual will be resurrected according to his own spiritual reality; the
slanderer will be resurrected in the form of a vicious dog; the greedy, a wild
wolf, the haughty, a tiger, and the ambitious, a lion. Traditions have attested
to this and the men of insight and discerning have testified to it.
You
might say that many students of bad character have sought and acquired the
knowledge of the sciences. That may be so, but how far they are from real
knowledge which is useful in the hereafter and which insures happiness!
Characteristic of that true knowledge is that even a rudimentary grasp of it
would show that sin is a fatal and destructive poison. And have you ever seen
anyone take anything which he knew to be fatally poisonous? As to what you hear
from the sophists it is nothing but [spurious] traditions which they fabricate
and repeat - it is no science at all. Ibn-Mas‘ud said, “Knowledge is not the
prolific retention of traditions but a light which floods the heart.”1
Others, having in mind the words of Allah, “Such only of His servants as are
possessed of knowledge fear Allah.”2 hold that knowledge is the
fear of Allah. This verse evidently alludes to the choicest fruit of knowledge;
and for that reason one of the scholars said that the meaning of the words,
“We sought knowledge for other purposes than the glory of Allah but failed to
grasp it and it remained the attribute of Allah alone,” is that knowledge has
resisted our efforts to grasp it and consequently its truth was not revealed to
us; all we acquired was its words and terms.
1.
Cf.
Hayat al-Awliya’, Vol. I, p 131.
2.
Surah XXXV: 25.
121
Should you say that several well-learned men and
jurisprudents, while characterised by blameworthy traits from which they never
purified themselves, have excelled in the principles of law and applied
jurisprudence and have been considered authorities thereon, my answer would be
that if you had known the relative ranks of the sciences as well as the value of
the science of the hereafter, you would have realized that the sciences to which
they have addressed themselves are of little avail as knowledge but are of use
merely as works provided they are sought as means with which to draw near to
Allah. This last point has already
been mentioned and will again be discussed.
The second duty of the student is to reduce to a
minimum his ties with the affairs of the world and leave his kin and country
because such ties occupy one’s time and divert one’s attention. Furthermore
Allah has not given man two hearts and the more the mind divides its attention
among several things the less able it is to comprehend the truth. For this
reason it has been said, “Knowledge will surrender nothing to man unless man
surrenders his all to it.” Even when you devote yourself completely to it, you
cannot be sure that you will attain any of it. This mind which divides its attention among different things is like a
stream the water of which flows in several directions only to be absorbed in
part by the earth and in part by the air with the result that nothing is left
for irrigation of planted lands.
The third duty of the student is that he should neither
scorn knowledge nor exalt himself over the teacher, but rather entrust to him
the conduct of his affairs and submit to his advice just as the simple patient
would submit to a sympathetic and clever physician. He should humble himself
before his teacher and through his service seek reward and honour. It was
related by al-Sha‘bi1 that once upon a time as Zayd ibn-Thabit2
was leaving a funeral service at which he had just officiated, his mule was
brought to him and as he was about
l. Abu-‘Amr ‘Amir ibn-Sharahil
(between A.H. 103 and 105 A.D. 721 and 724). See ibn-Khallikan, Vol. I, pp.
436-8.
2.
The scribe of the Prophet (ca. A.H. 54/A.D. 674). See Tahdhib al-Asma’, pp. 259-60.
122
to mount it ibn-‘Abbas rushed and held the stirrup
for him. Thereupon Zayd said, “Oh! No! Bother not thyself O cousin of the
Apostle of Allah.” lbn-‘Abbas replied, “Thus have we been charged to treat
the learned and the illustrious.” To which Zayd, bending over and kissing
ibn-‘Abbas’ hand, replied, “Thus have we been charged to venerate the
household of our Prophet.” The Prophet also said, “It is not the habit of
the believer to flatter anyone except when he is seeking knowledge.” Therefore
the seeker after knowledge should not lord it over his teacher. One
manifestation of such a pride is the pupil’s reluctance to heed the advice of
anyone except the popular and well-known teachers.
This is foolishness itself because knowledge is the way
to salvation and happiness. Besides anyone who is seeking an escape from the
claws of a threatening wild lion does not mind, as long as he is saved, whether
he is led to safety by a well-known celebrity or by an obscure person. The
tortures which the flames of hell fire inflict upon those who are ignorant of
Allah are greater than any which the lions of the jungle are capable of
inflicting. Wisdom, therefore, is the aim of every believer; he siezes it
wherever he finds it, and is under obligation to anyone who imparts it to him,
no matter who the person may be. For this reason it has been said:
“Knowledge humbleth the haughty youth,
As the flood washeth away the hill.”
Thus
knowledge is not attained except through humility and harkening. Allah said,
“Lo! Herein is warning for him who hath a heart or harkeneth with his ear
while he himself is an eye-witness.”1 By “him who hath a heart”
is meant the person who is prepared and capable of understanding knowledge but
would fail to do so unless he would open his ears and heart and would
attentively, humbly, thankfully, gladly, and gratefully receive whatever he is
told. Let, therefore, the pupil be to his teacher like the soft soil which has
received heavy rains and completely absorbed them. Whatever the teacher should
recommend to the pupil the latter should follow, putting aside his own opinion
since his teacher’s faults are more
1.
Surah L: 36.
123
useful to him than his own right judgment because
experience would reveal details which might be strange but are nevertheless very
useful. Often a physician may treat a patient suffering from fever with warm
applications and drinks in order to increase his resistance to withstand the
shock which results from the administration of the medicine. Because of his
ignorance1 the uninformed would be amazed by this treatment. Allah
pointed out the possibility of such a thing through the story of al-Khidr2
and Moses where al-Khidr, addressing Moses, said, “Verily thou canst not have
patience with me, how canst thou be patient in matters the meaning of which thou
comprehendest not?” He then allowed Moses to follow him on condition that the
latter would maintain silence and ask no questions, and said, “If you follow
me, ask me not of aught until I have given thee an account thereof”3.
Nevertheless Moses did not wait and persisted to query al-Khidr with the result
that they had to part company. In short, be sure that every pupil, who would
hold fast to his own opinion and choice in defiance to those of his teacher, is
doomed to disappointment and failure.
Should you also come forth with the assertion that,
whereas Allah said, “Ask ye the people who are warned by Scriptures if ye know
not,”4 asking questions was ordained by Allah, you should remember
that this is only so in whatever the teacher allows. On the other hand to ask
about things which you are not yet competent to understand is blameworthy, and
it was for this reason that al-Khidr had forbidden Moses to ask any questions.
In other words do not ask questions out of the proper time and season; the
teacher is better informed than you are as to things you are capable of
understanding and as to the appropriate time for making them known. Similarly
1.
Also
al-Khidr, see Surah XVIII:-59-81;
al-Tha alibi, Qisas al-Anbiya’ (
2.
Surah XVIII: 67-7.
3.
Ibid., 69.
4.
Surah XVI: 45; XXI. 7.
124
unless, in anyone of the successive planes, the
appropriate time of revelation is come, the time for its expectation does not
arrive.1
‘Ali said, “Among the obligations which you owe the learned man are: not to pester him with too many questions nor expect him to reply to all your inquiries; not to be importunate when he seems lazy nor attempt to detain him when he starts to go away; and finally not to divulge his secrets nor to tell tales about other people in his presence. Furthermore do not seek to trap him; whenever he commits a mistake be ready to excuse him. In obedience to Allah it is your duty to respect and honour him as long as he himself continues to obey Allah. Remain standing in his presence and whenever he needs something be the first to wait on him.”
The
fourth duty is that the student should at first pay no attention to the numerous
differences of opinion which exist among people, whether in the secular sciences
or in the sciences of the hereafter, because they would confuse and perplex his
mind, cool his enthusiasm and cause him to despair of ever comprehending or
learning anything. Rather he should first master the one and only praiseworthy
way which is satisfactory to his teacher and then attend to the other schools of
thought and questionable ideas. He should be on the look out to see if his
teacher is not capable of reaching independent opinions but is in the habit of
repeating the opinions of the different schools and the comments which have been
made concerning them, because the influence of such a teacher is more misleading
than it is helpful. One blind is not fit to lead the blind and guide them.2
Anyone of his description is still in the darkness of perplexity and the
wilderness of ignorance. Furthermore isolating the novice against questionable
ideas is like segregating the newly converted Muslim from the unbelievers; while
selecting the
1.
Mystics
hold Allah reveals Himself in five planes: (1) the plane of the Essence, (2) the
plane of the Attributes, (3) the plane of the Actions, (4) the plane of
Similitudes and Phantasy, and (5) the plane of sense and ocular vision. Each of
these is a copy of the one above it, so that whatever appears in the sensible
world is the symbol of an unseen reality.
2.
Cf. Luke VI: 39; Matt.
XV: 1,4.
125
experienced to dabble with
and examine the different conflicting opinions is like urging the man whose
faith is firmly established to mix with the unbelievers. For the same reason the
faint-hearted are not allowed to attack the lines of the unbelievers but the
task is delegated to the brave. Forgetting this subtle difference, some of the
feeble-minded have thought that it was permissible to emulate the strong-minded
in some of the lenient attitudes which they have taken towards certain
questions, failing thereby to realize that the responsibilities of the strong
differ from those of the weak. In this connexion someone said, “Whoever should
see me at the beginning of my journey would become righteous (siddiq),
but whoever should see me at the end would become unrighteous (zindiq),
because at the end the acts of worship would be performed inwardly, and the
senses would be rendered passive except in the fulfilment of the ordained
duties. Then it would seem to the observers that the travellers were indolent,
lazy, and negligent.” But how far from the truth this is because the end is
the state wherein the heart basks in the light of Presence, seeing Him face to
face, and invoking His name constanally which is forever the best form of
worship. For the feeble-minded to imitate the strong-minded in things which are
clearly wrong is like his throwing a little refuse into a pitcher of water and
justifying himself by pointing out several times more dirt is being continually
dumped into the sea which is greater than the pitcher.1 He then says
that what is permissible in the case of the sea is still the more permissible in
that of the pitcher .2 But the poor fellow does not realize that,
because of its enormity, the sea decomposes all refuse into water and
consequently every uncleanliness, through the prevalence of the waters, is made,
like the sea, clean. But a little refuse in the pitcher prevails over its
contents of water and m. He was thus permitted to have nine wives, because he
had enough vitality to enable him to deal justly with them despite their number.
Others besides him would not be able to be even partially just with their wives,
with the result that jealousy would develop among them and akes it, like itself,
unclean. For a similar reason the Prophet was allowed what was forbidden to
others
1.
John
IV: 23-3.
2.
Cf. al-Bukhari, Nikah, 4.
126
finally would drive the
men, in their efforts to please, to trespass against Allah. He who would compare
angels with blacksmiths would not succeed.
The fifth duty is that the seeker after knowledge
should not allow any branch or kind of praiseworthy knowledge to escape him
without carefully examining it in order to become familiar with its aims and
purposes, and should time permit, he should take it up in detail; otherwise he
should address himself to and master the most important, while acquainting
himself with the rest, because the different branches of knowledge are both
supplementary to one another and closely inter-related. Besides one of the
immediate benefits of such acquaintance is that the student will no longer
persist in his hostility to branches of knowledge other than his own - a
hostility born of ignorance because, ordinarily, men are the enemies of the
thing they do not know. Said Allah, “And not having submitted to guidance,
they proceed to say, ‘It is an age-long lie.’1 The poet said:
“Fresh water in the mouth of the sick seems
bitter.”2
Knowledge, whether lower or higher, either leads men to
Allah or helps them a little on their way. In this respect it is classified in
relation to its ability to draw them nearer to their goal, [namely Allah], or
how far it can send them away from that goal. Those who take up these branches
of knowledge are like the guards who patrol the frontiers and outposts - each
has his own rank, and according to that rank he has a reward in the hereafter,
provided he had thereby sought the face of Allah.
The
sixth duty is that the student should not address himself at the same time to
every branch of knowledge, but should rather observe some kind of order and
begin with the most important, especially since life is ordinarily too short to
enable a person to pursue all the branches of knowledge. It is therefore wise to
acquire
1.
Surah XLVI:10.
2.
This
verse is by al-Mutanabbi; see his Diwan,
ed, S. 1. Sadir (
127
the best of everything, satisfying oneself, so to speak, with the mere tasting of it while directing whatever power one has left, after having obtained all available knowledge, towards mastering that noblest of all sciences, the science of the hereafter including the science of practical religion, as well as the science of revelation. The goal of the science of practical religion is revelation and the goal of revelation is to know Allah. By this I do not mean the creed which the common folk receive from their parents or accept on the authority of others, nor the rules of dialectics and argumentation in defence of one’s position against the devious attacks of adversaries which is the aim of the theologians. What I mean is a form of conviction, which is the result of a light with which Allah floods the heart of a servant who, through self-mortification, has purified his soul from all impurities until he has attained to the measures of abu-Bakr’s faith which, as the Lord of creation testified, would outweigh the faith of all the world if it were ever compared with it.
I do not believe that the layman’s belief,
systematized by the theologian whose profession - because he excelled the layman
in the art of stringing words together - was called the science of words (kalam),
was beyond the ability of ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, ‘Ali, and the rest of
Companions. But abu-Bakr excelled them all by virtue of the secret which rested
in his bosom. It is, moreover, strange that a person, who had heard such sayings
from the Prophet, should despise and dismiss similar sayings claiming that they
were Sufi drivel and consequently unreasonable. You should, therefore, be
careful, otherwise you would lose your capital. Work hard to possess that secret
which is not found in the paraphernalia of the jurisprudents and theologians,
and which you cannot attain except through your diligent search.
In short the noblest and the highest of all sciences is
to know Allah. This science is like a sea the depth of which cannot be
determined. In this science the highest rank is that of the prophets, then that
of the saints and finally those that follow. It has been related that the
portraits of two of the ancient wise men were seen on the wall of a certain
mosque. In the one portrait one of the two wise men holds
128
in the hand a scroll on which is written, “When you
have done everything well, think not that you have fulfilled all until you have
come to know Allah and to know that He is the Cause of all causes and the
Creator of all things.” In the other portrait the second wise man also holds a
scroll on which is written, “Before I had known Allah I was wont to drink and
thirst again; but when I have known Him my thirst was quenched without any
drinking.”1
The
seventh2 duty is that no one should address himself to one branch of
knowledge before he has already mastered the branch which precedes it because
science is of necessity so arranged that one branch prepares for another and one
branch leads to another. Only the person who would observe this order would
succeed. Allah said, “Those to whom We have given the Book, they read it as it
ought to be read.”3 In other words they do not leave a single
branch of knowledge until they have mastered it in theory and in practice.
Furthermore, in every branch of knowledge which the student may pursue, his aim
should be the one above. Nor should he ever declare a certain science useless
because its protagonists disagree among themselves, or because of the error of
one or more among them, or because with their actions they violate the
ordinances of their own science. Thus you find some who have relinquished the
philosophical and theological sciences excusing themselves on the grounds that
if these sciences had any truth in them they would have been comprehended by
their protagonists. (These fallacies have been exposed in the Mi‘yar
al-Ilm).4 Others
believe that the medical science is false because of an error they have seen
committed by a physician. Another group believes in the authenticity of
astrology because a single prediction involving a certain person turned out
right while others disbelieve it because in another case the prediction was
faulty. All are wrong, however. Each case should be determined separately, as
not every branch of knowledge can be independently mastered by every person. For
this reason ‘Ali said, “Accept no truth
1.
Cf. John
IV: 7-14.
2.
The
seventh duty is found only in C and the margin of SM while lacking in B and the
text of SM.
3.
Surah II:115.
4.
By
the author, printed in
129
because of the men who hold it but first find the truth and thou shalt know who are its real protagonists.”
The eighth duty is to know how to ascertain the noble
nature of this or the other science. By this is meant two things; the nobility
of its fruit and the authenticity of its principles. Take for example the
science of religion and medicine. The fruit of the one is eternal life and the
fruit of the other is the physical life; consequently the science of religion is
the nobler; or again the science of arithmetic and astrology: the former is the
nobler because of the firmer and more authentic foundations of its principles.
If on the other hand arithmetic should be compared with medicine the latter
would be the nobler with respect to its fruit while with respect to its
principles arithmetic would be the nobler. The fruit, however, has the priority.
For this reason medicine, although mostly guess work, is nobler. Similarly it
becomes evident that the noblest of all sciences is the science of knowing
Allah, His angels, Books and apostles as well as that of knowing the path which
leads to these sciences. Seek, therefore, nothing else and treasure nothing
besides.
The ninth duty is that the student’s purpose should,
at the time, be the adornment and beautification of his inner self with virtue,
and at the end, nearness of Allah and ascent to the neighbourhood of the
heavenly hosts, the angels and the cherubim. His aim should not be the
attainment of authority or influence nor contention with foolish men and
boasting before his peers. But if his aim was to draw near to Allah he would
inevitably seek that which was closest to it, namely the science of the
hereafter. Nevertheless he should not look with contempt upon the other sciences
such as the sciences of jurisprudence, the sciences of syntax and grammar which
are connected with the Qur’an and the sunnah, and other sciences like those
already mentioned in connexion with the auxiliary and supplementary sciences1
discussed under those sciences the acquisition of which is fard
kifayah.
You should
not, however gather from our enthusiastic praise
1.
See
supra, p. 39.
130
of the science of the hereafter that we seek to
disparage the other sciences. On the contrary those who have undertaken to study
them are like those who have undertaken to guard the outpost of Islam where they
are encamped, or like the conquerors who are warring on behalf of Allah. Of them
some are active fighters, others are on the reserve, others are in charge of the
water supply, while others look after the mounts; but all will receive their
reward if their aim is the glory of the word of Allah rather than the possession
of spoils. Allah said, “Allah will raise those of you who believe, and those
to whom knowledge has been given, to loftier ranks.”1 And again
referring to those who have followed His good pleasure, “there are (varying)
grades with Allah.”2 Virtue is relative and our scorn for the money
changers when we compare them with royalty does not mean that they are
contemptible when compared with the street cleaners. Do not think, therefore,
that whatever falls short of the highest rank is worthless. For the highest rank
belongs to the prophets, followed by that of the saints, then that of the
learned men who are well versed in knowledge, and finally the righteous
according to their ranks. In short “whosoever shall have wrought an atom’s
weight of good shall behold it; and whosoever shall have wrought an atom’s
weight of evil shall behold it.”3 Whosoever will seek Allah through
knowledge, no matter what kind, he is sure to profit and advance.
The
tenth duty of the student is that he should know the relation of the different
sciences to the goal so that he might not attach more importance to closeby,
inconsequential matters than to remote but important things. The word important
signifies anything which is of import to you; and nothing is of any import save
your fate in this world and the next. But since, as said in the Qur’an and
attested by insight and experience, it is not possible to enjoy both the
pleasures of this world and the bliss of the next, it is more important to
concern oneself with those things which will endure forever. Then will this
world become a temporary abode, the body a vehicle, and works the power which
will ‘propel’ it to the goal. Furthermore, there is no goal
1.
Surah
LVIII: 12
2.
Surah
III: 157
3.
Surah
XCIX: 7-8
131
except meeting Allah; and,
despite the fact that very few in this world do realize its significance, in its
achievement lies all bliss.
As related to the happiness attending meeting Allah
seeing His glorious face, which the prophets understood and sought but both
laymen and theologians have failed to grasp, the sciences are of three grades.
These grades can be understood by comparison with the following illustration.
The slave whose freedom as well as the right to hold property are dependent upon
performing the pilgrimage has been told that if he would perform the pilgrimage
he would receive both his freedom and the right to hold property; but if he had
made his preparations and actually set out, then for some unavoidable reason was
detained on the way, he would receive his freedom only, thereby escaping the
wretchedness of slavery, but would fail to enjoy the right to hold property. To
accomplish all that he has to do three things: First, the preparation of the
means of travel of buying a she-camel and a water-skin, and by packing the
provisions and fitting out the mount. Second, setting out on the journey to the
K‘abah and leaving behind home and kin. Third the fulfilment of the
ceremonials of the pilgrimage one after the other. Then after he had fulfilled
all obligations and discarded the habit of pilgrimage (hay‘at
al-ihram), having already performed the farewell circumambulation (tawaf
al-wida) of the K’abah, he would qualify for freedom and the right to hold
property. To every stage in the journey there is a corresponding rank: one for
the preparation for the journey, another for setting out on the journey and
crossing deserts, and third for performing the duties of the pilgrimage. Thus he
who has already begun to carry out the duties of the pilgrimage is closer to
happiness than either he who is still occupied in packing the provisions and
fitting out the mount or he who has just embarked on the journey.
Similarly the science are of three kinds: One
corresponds to the packing of the provisions, the fitting out of the mount, and
the purchase of the she-camel; it is science of medicine and jurisprudence and
whatever pertains to the physical welfare of the body. Another corresponds to
travelling in the desert and surmounting obstacles; it is the
purification of the inner being from impure qualities as well as
132
surmounting those enormous obstacles against which both
the ancients and the moderns have failed, and over which only those favoured by
Allah have prevailed. This is following the way the
acquisition of the knowledge of which is like the acquisition of the
knowledge of the directions of the different desert routes and the encampments
along the way. And just as the knowledge of the location of these encampments
and acquaintance with the desert routes is useless without actually crossing
them, so is the science of ethics useless without practice. Yet practice without
knowledge is not possible. A third corresponds to the pilgrimage and its duties;
it is the science of knowing Allah, His attributes, angels, and works as well as
that we have mentioned in the survey of the science of revelation. In it is
salvation and attainment of happiness. Salvation will be the lot of any follower
of the path provided his aim be the true goal which is safety. The attainment of
happiness, however, is not achieved except by the gnostics who know Allah and
are close to Him, who are given to enjoy in His neighbourhood happiness, bounty
and a garden of bliss. But to those who fall short of the full measure of
perfection, only salvation and peace are given. This is in accordance to the
words of Allah when He said, “But as to him who shall enjoy near access to
Allah, his shall be happiness, bounty and a garden of bliss. But as to him who
shall be of those of the right hand, his shall be (the greeting) –‘Peace to
thee’ - from those of the right hand.”1
Anyone who does not proceed on the path which leads to
Allah nor set out on (the journey), or anyone who does set out, not because of
obedience or devotion, but for expedience, belongs to those of the left who have
gone astray, and his shall be, “an abode of scalding water and brolling of
hell-fire.”2
You
should know, therefore, that this according to the learned, men who were
well-versed in the science of religion, is the “certain truth”3 a
truth which they have perceived inwardly through contemplation (mushahadah). This contemplation is more real and clearer than seeing with the
eye. In it they rose above the stage of
1.
Surah LVI; 87-90.
2.
Ibid:
93-94.
3.
Ibid:
95.
133
accepting
truth on authority. They are like those who having heard, believed, then having
seen for themselves were confirmed in their belief. The others are like those
who accept truth and belief without enjoying either contemplation or the
opportunity of seeing with their own eyes. Happiness lies beyond the science of
revelation which in turn comes after the science of practical religion, the last
being the following of the path of the hereafter. Overcoming the frailties of
human nature as well as doing away with its blameworthy elements is possible
only after mastering the science of human nature. The science of therapeutics
and its administration depend upon the science of hygiene. The promotion of the
conditions of health and hygiene by united action, mutual help and co-operation
through which clothing, as well as the means of livelihood and lodging are
secured, is entrusted to the magistrates, while the principles in accordance
with which it is carried out for conducting human affairs in the spirit of
justice and good government are in the domain of the jurisprudent. On the other
hand the condition of health pertains to the physician. Thus anyone who says
that science is divided into two parts - the science of the bodies (i.e.
medicine) and the science of religion and means by the latter jurisprudence, has
in mind the common exoteric sciences rather than the specialized esoteric
studies.
Should you ask why have I likened medicine and
jurisprudence to the packing of the provisions and the fitting out of the mount,
then know that that which seeks to press towards Allah in order to attain a
place in His neighbourhood is the heart and not the body. And by the heart I do
not mean the palpable matter of flesh but one of the mysteries (sing. sirr)
of Allah which the bodily senses fail to perceive; a spiritual substance (latifah)
from Allah, sometimes indicated by the word spirit (ruh) and at times by the calm soul (al-nafs al-mutma innah). In law it is referred to as the heart (al-qalb)
because it is the primary vehicle for that mystery (sirr),
and through it the whole body becomes a vehicle and an instrument for that
spiritual substance (latifah). To
remove the veil from that belongs to the science of revelation, a science
withheld from men, and its discussion is proscribed. The limit to which it is
permissible to go in its discussion is to say that it is a precious jewel and a
pearl of
134
inestimable
worth, more excellent than all material objects. It is a divine commandment as
Allah Himself explained when He said, “And they will ask thee of the Spirit.
Say: The Spirit (proceedeth) from the command of my Lord.”1 All
created things stand in relation to Allah but the relation (of the heart) is of
nobler character than that of any of the other organs. To Allah belong both
“the creation and the command,”2 but the latter is the greater.
This is the precious jewel which contains the trust of Allah and which antedates
the Heavens and the Earth and the mountains, since when it was offered to them
they refused its burden and feared to receive it3 because of the
world of dominion (‘alam al-amr) i.e.,
the attributes of Allah. This should not be taken to mean that the (spirits)
are eternal, as he who holds that the spirits are eternal is a blind fool who
does not know what he says. Because this is beyond the scope of our subject let
us desist from its discussion. What is intended here is to show that this
spiritual substance (latifah) is the driving force which presses toward Allah, because
it has proceeded from the command of the Lord. It came from Allah and to Allah
it returns.
As to the body it is only the vehicle which that
spiritual substance occupied and through which it accomplishes its work. The
body serves the same purpose for it on the path of Allah as the she-camel does
for a man on the pilgrim route; or like the water-skin in which is stored the
water which the body needs. Thus every science the aim of which is the welfare
of the body is a contributor to the welfare of the vehicle of the spiritual
substance. It is evident that medicine is one of these sciences because it is
necessary for the preservation of health. Even if the individual were living by
himself he would be in need of the science of medicine. Jurisprudence, however,
differs from medicine in that it may be dispensed with by the individual if he
were living by himself. But man has been created in a way which makes it
impossible for him to live all alone since he is unable to secure his food and
livelihood through tilling, farming, bread-making, and cooking as well as
manufacturing clothes, building
1.
Surah XVII: 87.
2.
Surah VII: 52
3.
Cf. Surah: XXXIII: 72.
135
houses
or constructing tools for all these activities. Man was, therefore, compelled to
lead an agrarian life of co-operation. But no matter how much people mix with
one another their ambitions are aroused and consequently they compete for the
satisfaction of their desires, and contend and struggle for their fulfilment.
From their struggle would result their destruction because of the external
disharmony in the body politic just as it would result from internal
disturbances in their physical bodies whenever the harmony between the humours
is lacking. Through medicine the harmony between the opposing humours within the
body is maintained and through politics and justice the harmony between the
contending elements in the body politic is preserved. The science of how to
maintain harmony between the humours is medicine, and the science of how to
preserve harmony among men in their affairs and transactions is jurisprudence.
Both of these, whether medicine or jurisprudence, are for the preservation of
the body which is the vehicle of the spirit. The person who devotes himself to
the study of either medicine or jurisprudence, unless he mortifies his body and
reforms his heart, is like the person who purchases the she-camel and its feed
as well as the water-skin (in preparation for the pilgrimage) but never does set
out. And he who spends his life over the niceties of words which occur in the
course of the debates of jurisprudence is like him who spends his life tracing
the minute fibres of the strings with which the water-skin that the pilgrim
carries is sewn together. The relation of the former, of the followers of the
path of reforming the heart which leads to the science of revelation is like the
relation of the latter to those who go forward along the pilgrimage route or
those who perform its duties.
Think therefore of these things and then accept this
free advice from one who has accomplished these things but only achieved them
after a great struggle and a brave effort to break away from the established
tradition of men, the common folk and the elite, which tradition is based on
ambition and lust.
THE DUTIES OF THE TEACHER
Man occupies four states in relation to knowledge similar to
136
the four
states he occupies in relation to money. One state is that of the
acquisitiveness of the financial lord, in which case he would be seeking;
another is that of possession which would eliminate the necessity of asking for
help; another is that of spending his money on himself, in which case he would
be indulging in the luxuries it affords; and finally there is the state of
spending his money on others, in which case he would be a generous
philanthropist. This last state is the noblest.
So also is it with regard to knowledge. First, there is
the state of seeking knowledge in which man is acquisitive: another is that of
having knowledge in which state he would not need to inquire of others; a third
state is that of reflection wherein he would contemplate and enjoy his
achievement; and last, there is the state of teaching wherein he imparts his
knowledge to others. This last state is the noblest.
“Thus he who has knowledge and shall do and teach the
same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”1 - In this
state the teacher is like the sun, which being itself luminous, sheds light; or
like the musk which being itself fragrant, makes other objects fragrant. On the
other hand he who possesses knowledge but does not practise it is like a
notebook, which itself being unintelligent, nevertheless serves as a medium of
transmission of the knowledge that its pages contain; or like the whetstone,
which, itself being blunt, sharpens the razor; or like the needle, which while
it remains naked, serves in making clothing for others; or like the wick of a
lamp which bums itself out in giving light for others. A poet said:
“A glowing wick is he
Who gives his light and dies.”
Whoever
takes up teaching for a profession takes upon himself a great mission and a
grave responsibility. He should, therefore, observe its proprieties and fulfil
its duties. The following are these duties.
1.
See
supra, p. 21
137
The first duty of the teacher is to be sympathetic to
students and treat them as his own children. The Prophet said, “I am to you
like a father who desires to save his child from the fires of hell, which is
more important than any of the efforts of parents to save their children from
the fires of the earth.”1 For this reason the rights of the teacher
have become greater than the rights of the parents. The parents are the cause of
the children’s present existence in this mortal life, while the teacher is the
cause of their immortal life. Without him that which has been brought into
existence through the parents would be doomed to eternal destruction. Only the
teacher is of service for the eternal life in the next world. By teacher I mean
the teacher of the sciences of the hereafter or the science of this world, whose
goal, in all his work, is bliss in the hereafter and not success in this world.
Teaching with a view to achieving success in this world is destruction for both
the teacher and the student. From such destruction we seek refuge with Allah.
Just as it is the duty of the children of one father to
love one another and co-operate in achieving all their common goals so it is
also the duty of the students of one teacher to love and cherish one another.
This is not possible unless the hereafter is their goal; but if this world is
their aim, jealousy and hatred will plague them.
The learned men and the children of the hereafter are
travellers journeying to Allah, and starting from this world they follow the
path to Him. The years and the months are only stations on the path. If
friendship and love are fostered by companionship along the road among
travellers journeying to different countries, how much more should they be
fostered by companionship along the path to
Since there will be no scarcity of happiness in the
hereafter, there will be no struggle among its children; but whereas there is no
abundance of pleasures in this world, men persist in struggle and competition.
Those who seek to attain position of authority through knowledge exclude
themselves from the company of those whom Allah meant when He said, “Verily
the believers are brethren,”2 and
1.
Cf. ibn-Hanbal,
Taharah,121: abu-Dawud, Taharah, 4.
2.
Surah XLIX:10.
138
include
themselves among those of whom Allah said, “Friends on that day shall become
foes to one another, except the Allah-fearing”1
The
second duty of the teacher is to follow the example of the Law-giver: he should
seek no remuneration for his services on behalf of knowledge and accept neither
reward nor thanks. Rather he should impart his knowledge free for the glory of
Allah and for the sake of drawing near to Him. He should not feel that his
students are under any obligation to Him although the feeling of obligation is
incumbent upon them. He should give them credit for disciplining their hearts
with knowledge in order to draw near to Allah. Thus, when someone lends you a
lot of land so that you can exploit it for yourself by planting it. The benefits
you reap are greater than those of the owner of the land. Would you then feel
that he was under any obligation to you? Similarly, in teaching, your
compensation is greater than that of the student, and without him you would not
have attained it. Therefore, look for no reward except from Allah Who said in
His Book, “Oh my people, I ask you not for riches: my reward is of Allah
alone.”2 Riches as well as everything in the world are servants of
the body while the body is the vehicle of the soul which, in turn, is in the
service of knowledge with which it is honoured. Therefore anyone who would seek
riches through knowledge is like the person who, in order to clean the soles of
his shoes, would wipe them against his face, reducing thereby the master into a
servant, and making of the slave, a lord. This is what is meant by falling
headlong and is exactly like the fate of the criminals on the day of judgment
when they “shall droop their heads before their Lord.”3 In short,
to the teacher belong the honour and the credit. Nevertheless see how the
affairs of religion have fallen into the hands of men who claim that their sole
aim, in pursuing the sciences of jurisprudence and theology and in teaching
these two and other sciences besides, is to draw near unto Allah, yet they
sacrifice their riches and rank, and suffer great humiliations in the service of
rulers in order to gain their favours. Were these men
1.
Surah XLIII: 67
2.
Surah XI: 31; B and
text of SM have Surah XLII: 22
instead.
3.
Cf Surah XXXII:12.
139
to turn away from such practices
they would be ignored and no one would turn to them for advice.
Furthermore the teacher often expects the student to
follow him in everything, and to back his supporters, fight his adversaries,
rise publicly to perform his demands, and to wait upon him in all his needs. If
the student fails to fulfil all these expectations the teacher will turn against
him and become one of his most virulent enemies. How despicable is the learned
man who is not only content with such a position but is also proud of it, and is
not ashamed to say that his aim in taking up teaching is to spread knowledge for
the sake of drawing near unto Allah and for defending His religion! But you have
only to look at the record in order to see the hypocrisy and the deception of it
all.
The third duty of the teacher is that he should not
withhold from the student any advice, or allow him to attempt the work of any
grade unless he is qualified for it, or permit him to address himself to
abstruse sciences before he has mastered those which are clear. He should also
point out to him that the purpose of acquiring knowledge is to draw near unto
Allah rather than power, boasting, and competition, and should, in the strongest
possible way, condemn any such things in his students.
The harm which the unrighteous learned man
does is greater than the good. If the teacher notices that the student is
seeking knowledge only for the sake of worldly advantages, he should examine
what sciences the student is pursuing. If he finds that these sciences are those
of disputation in jurisprudence, argument in theology, and handing down opinions
in controversies and legal disputes, then he should dissuade him from them
because they do not belong either to the sciences of the hereafter or to those
which have already been described as sciences which we learn for a purpose other
than the service of Allah but turn out to be for that same purpose, the most
useful. These include the sciences of interpretation and tradition as well as
those branches of knowledge to which the ancients
140
addressed
themselves in connexion with the science of the hereafter and the science of the
characteristics of the soul together with the manner of their reform. If the
student had learnt these things with the intention of seeking the world with his
learning he had better be let alone because, although he had addressed himself
to them in the hope of becoming a preacher and gaining a following, he would, in
the course of his work, wake up to the fact that in them lie those sciences
which are conducive to the fear of Allah and which belittle the world and
glorify the hereafter. This may finally lead the student to the right path and
he would then observe what he preaches to others. The desire to be popular and
influential are to man like the grains which are scattered around the trap in
order to snare catch the birds. The same thing has been done by Allah in
connexion with man: He created sexual desire in order to ensure procreation and
the survival of the race. He also created ambition as a means for perpetuating
knowledge, a thing highly desirable in these sciences. But to devote one’s
life to sheer controversies, theological argumentations, and unusual details
while ignoring other studies promotes, in all except those to whom Allah has
shown mercy or those who have taken up other religious sciences as well, nothing
but hardening in the heart, negligence toward Allah, excess in iniquity, and
inordinance in striving for power. There is no better proof for this than
personal experience and observation. Therefore look, learn, and think so that
you might witness the realization of this fact by men all over the world. Truly
Allah is the source of our help.
It has been related that Sufyan al-Thawri was once seen
in a sad mood and was, therefore, asked, ‘Why are you sad?’ To which he
replied. “We have become a traffic for the children of this world. One after
another would attach himself to us until he had acquired a measure of learning;
whereupon he would be appointed a judge, or a governor, or a mayor of the place
(qahraman).”
The fourth duty which is one of the finer points of the
profession of teaching is that the teacher, in dissuading the student from his
evil ways, should do so by suggestion rather than openly,
141
and with
sympathy rather than with odious upbraiding. Open dissuasion destroys the veil
of awe, invites defiance, and encourages stubbornness. The Prophet, who is the
guide of every teacher, said in this connexion, “If men had been forbidden to
make porridge of camels’ dung, they would have done it, saying that they would
not have been forbidden to do it unless there had been some good in it.” The
same principle is brought out in the story of Adam and Eve and the prohibition
imposed upon them.1 This stony has not been related as a night
entertainment but as an example and a reminder. Such allusions and suggestions
invite men of noble souls and discerning minds to attempt to elicit their
import, and the pleasure of grasping their meaning results in a greater desire
on the part of man for learning in order to show that such things are not beyond
the capacity of his intellect.
The fifth duty is that the person who is teaching a certain science should not belittle or disparage the value of other sciences before his students. Thus it is customary for the teacher of language to disparage jurisprudence and the teacher of jurisprudence to slight the sciences of tradition and interpretation saying that they are nothing but stories and narratives similar to those of old women and that there is no room in them for intellect or reason. The teacher of theology is in the habit of avoiding jurisprudence and saying that it is nothing but hair-splitting and disputations and menstruation and, therefore, should not be compared with theology - the study of the attributes of Allah.
Such traits are blameworthy and reprehensible in
teachers, and should be avoided. In fact the teacher of one science should
prepare the student for the study of other subjects, and whenever he is
responsible for the teaching of more than one subject, he should observe the
rules of gradual progress in promoting his students from one grade to another.
The
sixty duty, of the teacher is that he should limit the student to what the
latter is able to understand and should not require of him
1.
Cf. Surah, II: 33; VII:
18-9-, Gen. 2:16-7.
142
anything
which his mind cannot grasp for fear that he would develop a feeling of dislike
for the subject, and his mind would become confused. In this the teacher should
follow the example of the lord of men who said, “We prophets have been
commanded to give every man his rightful place and to communicate with everyone
according to his own ability to understand.”1 Therefore let the
teacher impart the truth to his student if he is sure that the latter is able to
understand it. The Prophet said, “No one ever relates a tradition to a people
which is beyond their minds to understand without being the cause of perplexity
to some of them.”2 ‘Ali, pointing to his breast, said, “Herein
lies much knowledge. Would that there were some to comprehend and transmit
it?” He was right in his assertion because the hearts of the righteous are the
vaults of divine mysteries. Therefore the learned man should not divulge all his
knowledge to any one indiscriminately, especially when the student, who may be
able to understand that knowledge, is not capable of making use of it, and still
less when the student does not understand it.
Jesus said, ‘Do not hang pearls around the neck of a
swine.’3 But wisdom is better than pearls and he who abhors it is
worse than a swine. For this reason it has been said, “In order to be safe
from his hand and useful to him deal with every person with the measure of his
own intellect and mete out into him with the scale of his own mind. Otherwise,
because of the disparity between the measure and the mind, your efforts will
result in failure.”
A
certain learned man was once asked about something but he gave no answer. Then
his questioner said to him, “Have you not heard that the Apostle of Allah
said, ‘Whoever will conceal any useful knowledge will, on the day of
resurrection, be bridled with a bit of fire’.” The learned man replied,
“You may leave the bit here and go. Then if anyone who understands comes and I
still conceal that useful knowledge from him, let Allah bridle me with that bit
of fire.” Did not Allah say, “Do not give to the fools your substance,” 4
as a warning
1.
For
first part of tradition cf. Muslim,
Intro.; second part unidentified.
2.
Cf. Muslim, Intro.
3.
Cf. Matt.
7:6.
4.
Surah, IV: 4.
143
that the safeguarding of knowledge from those who might
corrupt it is more important than imparting it. Similarly to give to those who
are not in need is not a lesser offence than withholding help from those who are
in need.
Shall
pearls be giv’n to herders of the sheep,
Shall wealth be trusted to their rustic keep?
They
would not comprehend nor know its worth,
To give them would be adorning beasts.
But Allah is kind if by His grace He sends
One worthy of my knowledge, of my wit,
To him my goods I’ll give and gain his love;
Until such time I will withhold my gifts –
One’s learning would be wasted upon fools;
And he
doth sin who from the worthy keeps.
The seventh duty is that the teacher should give his
backward students only such things as are clear and suitable to their limited
understanding and should not mention to them anything about the details that are
apt to follow but which he deems fitting for the present to withhold. Such a
course would discourage the students and make their interest even in easy
subjects, lukewarm, perplex them in their minds and make them think that the
real reason for the teacher’s reluctance to impart to them those details is
his illiberality, especially because everyone usually, believes himself capable
of mastering every science no matter how complex. Thus there is no one who is
not satisfied with Allah for the perfect mind He gave him. Even the most foolish
and most feeble minded among men is usually the most pleased with the perfection
of his mind. For this reason any one of the common folk who is law-abiding and
in whose heart the articles of faith, which have come down to him from his
forbears, and unequivocally and unqualifiedly established, and his conduct is
good but his mind is not capable of anything beyond that, such a person should
not be confused in his belief. On the contrary he should be let alone because if
he were confronted with the esoteric interpretations of externals he would
relinquish his standing as a layman without attaining the status of an educated
man. Then will the obstacles which
144
have hitherto deterred him from evil crumble and he
will be transformed into a rebellious devil who will destroy both himself and
others. In fact laymen should not be bothered with discussion on the realities
which underlie complex sciences but rather should be confined to instruction in
the acts of worship (‘ibadat) and
honesty in carrying out their respective professions. Their hearts should be
filled with yearning for
The eighth duty is that the teacher do what he teaches
and not allow his works to give the lie to his words, because knowledge is
comprehended through the mind while works through the eyes. But those who see
with their eyes are more than those who perceive with their minds and therefore
when practice contradicts theory righteousness is frustrated. And again whenever
a person partakes of something and warns others not to touch it because it is a
deadly poison, he makes himself a laughing stock to men and lays himself open to
their accusations and, what is still worse, he makes them more anxious to try
what they have been forbidden to do, saying that had it not been the sweetest
and the most delicious of all things, he would not have kept it exclusively for
himself. The relation of the guide to those who seek his guidance is like the
relation of the stamp to the clay and like that of the shadow of the cane to the
cane itself. How then could the clay be stamped with a stamp that bears no
character and how could the shadow of the cane be straight if the cane itself
were crooked? The following verse conveys the same meaning:
If thou condemn a sin and then commit
The same
transgression, shame upon thy head.
Allah also said, “Will ye enjoin what is
right upon others, and forget yourselves?”1
For this
reason the learned man’s responsibility for his sins is greater than that of
the ignorant especially because many will follow the learned man’s example and
will be misled through his faults. And whoever establishes an evil precedent
shoulders responsibility for that precedent and for the sins of those who might
follow its example. ‘Ali said, “Two men have broken my back [with the weight
of their sins]: a debauched learned man and an ascetical ignorant one. The
former misleads men through his debauchery and the latter through his
asceticism.”
1. Surah, II:
41
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