1.
Sheikh Abdas-Samad
was a famous Ilkhanid era Sufi of the 13th century.
After his death, a shrine was built in Natanz to honor
the Sheikh by the Sheikh's disciple, the Ilkhanid
vizier Zain al-Din Mastari. He
reportedly died in 1299 CE.
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2. Bayazid Bastami & Mohammad
ibn Jafar Sadiq : The
Bastami Complex in Bastam, Semnan Province of Iran,
contains the shrine of Mohammad ibn Jafar Sadiq, the
tomb of Bayazid, his monastery, the Iwan of ljeitü,
the tomb of Mahmud Ghazan, the Congregation Mosque,
the tower of Kashaneh, and the Shahrukhiya seminary,
bath, and Zurkhaneh, dating from before the Seljuki
era, at the earliest. Bayazid Bastami also
known as Abu Yazid Bistami or Tayfur Abu Yazid al-Bustami,
(804-874 CE) was a Persian Sufi born in Bostam (alternate
spelling: Bastam), Iran. The name Bastami means "from
the city of Bastam". Bayazid Bastami had great
influence on Sufi mysticism and is considered to be
one of the important early teachers of Sufi Islam.
Bastmi's
predecessor Zu al-Nun al-Misri (d. CE 859) had formulated
the doctrine of ma'rifa (gnosis), presenting a system
which helped the murid (initiate) and the shaykh (guide)
to communicate. Bayazid Bastami took this another
step and emphasized the importance of ecstasy, referred
to in his words as drunkenness, a means of union with
God. Before him, Sufism was mainly based on piety
and obedience and he played a major role in placing
the concept of divine love at the core of Sufism.
Bistami
was the first to speak openly of "annihilation
of the self in God" (fana fi 'Allah') and "subsistence
through God" (baqa' bi 'Allah). His paradoxical
sayings gained a wide circulation and soon exerted
a captivating influence over the minds of students
who aspired to understand the meaning of the wahdat
al-wujud, Unity of Being.
When
Bayazid died, he was over seventy years old. Before
he died, someone asked him his age. He said: I am
four years old. For seventy years I was veiled. I
got rid of my veils only four years ago.
He
died in 874CE and is buried either in the city of
Bistam in north central Iran, or in Semnan, Iran.
Bayazid lived a century before Abul Hassan Kharaqani.
Attar Neishapouri has mentioned in his book Tazkiratul
Awliya that Bayazid had spoken about the personality
and state of Shaikh Abul Hassan Kharaqani with his
disciples while passing from the village of Kharaqan,
almost 100 years before the birth of Shaikh Abul Hassan.
Very
Interesting :-
One
day Hadhrat Bayazid Bastami rahmatullah alayhi
while in meditation, saw himself in a synagogue dressed
as a Jew. At first he was confused, but when he kept
on seeing the same vision over and over again, he
decided to enact it. So, he dressed himself as a Jew
and went to their synagogue.
When the Jews and their scholars were present, their
chief Rabbi stood up to speak. But when he stood up,
his tongue became stuck and he could not talk. After
he had been standing quietly for some time, the Jews
started to complain. The Rabbi said, "In this
gathering there is a follower of the Prophet Muhammed
(sallalahu alayhi wassalam) and I cannot speak because
he has come to examine us."
On
hearing this, their anger raged like wildfire and
they asked the Rabbi to give them permission to kill
this follower of the Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu alayhi
wassalam). The Rabbi replied, "He cannot be killed
without proof, so we must talk to him peacefully and
respectfully and then we can decide."
The
Rabbi then said, "Oh follower of Muhammad (sallalahu
alayhi wassalam). For the sake of your Prophet please
stand up in your place. If you can remove our doubt
about Islam then we shall accept Islam, but if you
can't, then we shall kill you." On hearing this,
Hadhrat Bayazid rahmatullah alayhi stood up and gave
permission for them to question him.
Rabbi:
What is one and not two?
Bayazid: Allah.
Rabbi:
What is two and not three?
Bayazid: Night and day.
[Qur'aan chapter 17 verse 12:
"And we made night and day two examples."]
Rabbi:
What is three and not four?
Bayazid: The Throne, Chair, and the Pen of Allah.
Rabbi:
What is four and not five?
Bayazid: The Torah, Bible, Psalms, and the Qur'aan.
Rabbi:
What is five and not six?
Bayazid: The five compulsory Prayers.
Rabbi:
What is six and not seven?
Bayazid: The six days in which the Earth, the sky,
and whatever is in between them was created.
[Qur'aan chapter 50 verse 38:
"And we created the Sky and the Earth and whatever
is between them in six days"]
Rabbi:
What is seven and not eight?
Bayazid: The seven skies.
[Qur'aan chapter 67 verse 3,
"Who created the seven skies layer upon layer!"]
Rabbi:
What is eight and not nine?
Bayazid: The bearers of the throne of Allah.
[Quraan chapter 69 verse 17:
"And they will lift their Lord's throne on themselves
on that day, eight persons. "]
Rabbi:
What is nine and not ten?
Bayazid: The villagers of Hadhrat Salih peace be upon
him in which the mischief mongers lived.
[Qur'aan chapter 27 Verse 48:
"And in that city there were nine persons who
created mischief on the Earth, and they didn't amend.
"]
Rabbi:
What is ten and not eleven?
Bayazid: The person who performs a minor pilgrimage
along with the major one and doesn't have the capacity
to sacrifice an animal, he has to keep ten fasts.
[Qur'aan chapter 2 verse 196:
"So keep the three Haj days and seven fasts when
you return".]
Rabbi:
What is eleven, twelve and thirteen things which Allah
has mentioned?
Bayazid: Hadhrat Yusuf had eleven brothers.
The twelve months in a yea.,
[Qur'aan chapter 9 verse 36:
"The number of months, with Allah , is twelve
months".]
Hadhrat Yusuf saw thirteen things prostrating to him.
[Qur'aan chapter 12 verse 4:
"I saw in a dream eleven stars, the sun and the
moon, I saw them (for my sake) prostrating (to me)".]
Rabbi:
Which is that nation which lied and went in to paradise
and which is that nation which said the truth and
entered hell?
Bayazid: Hadhrat Yusuf's brothers lied but they went
to paradise.
[Qur'aan chapter 12 verse 17:
"Oh father! We went out to run and we left Yusuf
with our belongings, then he was eaten by the wolf."]
The contradiction between the Christians and the Jews
was true but they went to hell.
[Qur'aan chapter 2 verse 113:
"And the Jews said that the Christians are not
on any path, and the Christians said that the Jews
are not on any path, even though they all read the
book."]
Rabbi:
What is the meaning of
Qur'aan chapter 51 verse 1-4:
By the ships that scatter broadcast; And those that
lift and bear away heavy weights; And those that flow
with ease and gentleness;
And those that distribute and apportion by Command?
Bayazid: The meaning of flying scattered ships is
air, the meaning of weight carrying ships is water
filled clouds, the meaning of calmly sailing ships
is boats, and the meaning of the last is the angels
which distribute the sustenance.
Rabbi:
What is that thing which has no soul nor any connection
with breathing, yet it breathes?
Bayazid: It is the dawn, for it has no soul but it
still breathes.
[Qur'aan Chapter 81 verse 18:
"And the morning, when it breathes."]
Rabbi:
What are those fourteen things to which Allah talks
with honour?
Bayazid: The seven earths and the seven skies,
[Qur'aan chapter 41 verse 11:
Then He said to it and to the Earth, come both of
you with happiness or hardly, They said we will come
happily.]
Rabbi:
Which is that grave which moves the person in it around?
Bayazid: The fish of Hadhrat Yunus alayhi salaam.
[Qur'aan chapter 37 verse 142:
"Then the fish took him as a morsel".]
Rabbi: Which is that water which neither came up from
the earth nor down from the sky?
Bayazid: The water which Hadhrat Sulaiman alayhi salaam
sent to Bilqis, Queen of Sheeba, for it was the sweat
of a horse.
Rabbi: What are those four things which had no father
nor were born from a mother's stomach?
Bayazid: The sheep of Hadhrat Ismail, the she camel
of Hadhrat Salih, Hadhrat Adam and our mother Eve
alayhi salaam.
Rabbi:
Whose blood flowed first on the Earth?
Bayazid: It was Habil's (Abel) when Qabil (Cain) killed
him.
Rabbi:
What is that thing which Allah created and then bought?
Bayazid: A believers soul.
[Qur'aan chapter 9 verse 11:
"Allah bought from the Muslim's their souls."]
Rabbi:
What is that voice which Allah created and then spoke
ill of?
Bayazid: The donkey's voice.
[Qur'aan chapter 31 verse 19:
"Without doubt the worse voice is of a donkey."]
Rabbi:
What is that creation that Allah created and from
it's greatness created fear?
Bayazid: Women's scheming.
[Qur'aan chapter 12 verse 28:
"Truly, mighty is your scheming."
Rabbi:
What is that thing that Allah created and then asked
about?
Bayazid: The staff of Hadhrat Musa.
[Qur'aan Chapter 20 verse 17:
"And what is that in your right hand, Oh Musa?
He said "This is my staff."]
Rabbi:
Who are the most pious of the women and what are the
blessed rivers?
Bayazid: The most pious women are Hadhrat Eve, Hadhrat
Khadija, Hazart Aisha and Hadhrat Fatima.
The most blessed rivers are the Oxus, Simwon, Tigris,
Euphrates and Nile.
Rabbi:
Which is the most blessed mountain and the most blessed
animal?
Bayazid: Mount Toor in Makkah and the horse.
Rabbi:
Which is the best of all months and the best of all
nights?
Bayazid: The month of Ramdhan and the Night of Power.
[Qur'aan Chapter 2 verse 185:
"The month of Ramdhan in which the Qur'aan was
revealed."
Qur'aan chapter 97 verse 3:
"The night of power is better than a thousand
months."]
Rabbi:
There is a tree which has twelve twigs, each twig
has thirty leaves, and each leaf has five fruits,
two in the sun and three in the shade. What is the
meaning of this tree?
Bayazid: The tree means one year, the twigs mean the
twelve months, the leaves represent the thirty days,
and the fruits are the daily prayers, two of which
are prayed in the day and the remaining three which
are prayed at dawn, at dusk, and in the night time.
Rabbi:
What is that thing that circled around the Ka'abah
in Makkah even though it had no soul?
Bayazid: The boat of Hadhrat Nuh alayhi salaam. In
the time of the flood it arrived in Arabia and circled
around the Ka'abah.
Rabbi:
How many prophets did Allah send as Messengers?
Bayazid: Only Allah knows, but in narrations it is
said that Allah created 126,000 prophets from which
313 were Messengers.
Rabbi:
What are those four things whose roots are one but
their colours and tastes are different?
Bayazid: Eyes, ears, mouth and nose.
The wetness of the eye are sour, the wetness of the
ears is acid, that of the noses is also acid and the
wetness of the mouth is sweet.
Rabbi:
What is the voice of the donkey called?
Bayazid: It is the curse on the tax takers.
Rabbi:
What is the voice of the dog called?
Bayazid: Doom on the dwellers of Hell by the anger
of Allah.
Rabbi:
What is the remembrance of the ox?
Bayazid: SubhanAllah wa bihamdihi, subhanAllah il
adheem.
Rabbi:
What is the remembrance of the camel?
Bayazid: HasbunAllahu wa ni'mal wakeel.
Rabbi:
What is the remembrance of the peacock?
Bayazid: Huwal wadud, dhul 'arsh il-adheem.
Rabbi:
What is the beautiful recitation of the nightingale?
Bayazid: So remember the pure Allah when it is morning
and evening.
Rabbi:
What is that thing which Allah sent revelation on,
but it was not human, Jinn or Angel?
Bayazid: The honey bee.
[Qur'aan chapter 16 verse 68:
"And your lord gave order to the honey bee."]
After this the Rabbi couldn't ask any more questions
and became quiet. Hadhrat Bayazid rahmatullah alayhi
said, "Now you give me the answer to my one question.
What is the key to paradise?" The Rabbi replied,
"If I give the answer to this question, this
gathering will kill me."
The
gathering shouted in one voice "We shall not
do anything. Now tell us the true answer!"
The
Rabbi then said, "Listen! the key to paradise
is:
There
is no God worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad
peace be upon him is His Messenger!"
On
hearing this the whole gathering accepted Islam and
Hadhrat Bayazid rahmatullah alayhi returned giving
thanks to Allah.