BIRTH:
He was born in Samarrah in the year 247 Hijri. (Masaalik as-Saalikeen Vol. 1, Page 316)
EDUCATION:
He says as follows about himself,
"I studied & attained the knowledge of Fiqh & Hadith for thirty years. The sea of knowledge flowed in my heart. I presented my self before many of those who were known as people of great knowledge & learning. I asked them to bless me with the knowledge & learning. I asked them to bless me with the knowledge concerning the journey towards Allah & yet not one of them knew anything about what I asked. They all said, "that the sign of something will be found in something, but there is no sign of Ghaib" I heard their words & was amazed. I said, you are all in the dark & Alhamdulillah, I am the light. I then thanked Almighty Allah & then gave my wilaayat to a thief, ntil he did with me as he did."
HIS EXCELLENCE:
He was the muqalid of Hazrat Imam Maalik (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anho) & he knew the entire Muwatta of Imam Maalik (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anho) by heart. He spent most of his time in the Ibaadat of Almighty Allah. He visited all the great Masha'ikh of his era & spent time with all of them. He gained a very exalted position in spiritualism. His spiritual position had become so great, that the ordinary mind could not understand him. It is stated that for a very long time, he lived under a tree. He would walk around the tree, making the zikr of "Hoo - Hoo" People who saw him, asked him concerning his condition. He said, "There is a dove on this tree which is saying "Koo - Koo" I am thus following it's pattern & making the Zikr of Hoo Hoo. Those who saw this noticed that the dove would not remain silent until he stopped his zikr. For as long as he was in Zikr, the dove also went on cooing. (Shahrat al-Kaamileen, Page 206)
Once, Hazrat Imam Abu Bakr Shibli (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anho) was accused of being insane (as none knew the reality of his spiritual condition). He was admitted to a mental facility for treatment. Some of his disciples & well wishers heard of this & came to meet with him. He asked who they were & they said that they were amongst those who had great love for him. He then launched stones at them, which caused them to run away from him. He said, "If you are from amongst those who love me, then why do you run away from me when I launch stones at you? Those who truly love somebody will not run away from his pain."
It was for this reason, that I had no option but to say what I said, so that it may be a shield against that which you were saying, if not he would have been devastated (for he could not accept being praised, due to his humility)." (Kashf-ul-Mahjoob, Page 193)
HIS KARAAMATS:
Once Hazrat Abu Bakr Shibli (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anho) had taken very ill. Ali bin Esa informed of the Khalifa of this & the Khalifa sent a Christian doctor to treat Hazrat Abu Bakr Shibli (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anho). This doctor was the royal specialist physician. He treated Hazrat Abu Bakr Shibli (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anho), but he could not help in making him feel better. The doctor once said to Hazrat, "If I felt that your cure was in a piece of my flesh, then I would not even mind cutting of a piece of flesh." Hazrat Abu Bakr Shibli (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anho) said, "My medicine is in something else." The Doctor said, "In what is it?" Hazrat said, "In this, that you leave kufr & accept Islam." The doctor immediately read the kalima & accepted Islam. When the Khalifa heard of what had happened, he began to weep. He said, "I thought that I had sent a doctor towards one who was ill. Little did I realize that I had sent one who was ill towards a doctor."
Hazrat Ambaazi (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anho) states that once he wore a beautiful shawl & went to visit Hazrat Abu Bakr Shibli (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anho). When he reached there, he saw that Hazrat was wearing a very beautiful hat. On seeing the hat, he thought that the hat would be very well suited for him. He wished that the Sheikh would present the hat to him. He was still thinking of this, when Hazrat asked for his shawl. The Sheikh then took both the chaadar & the hat & threw them into a fire. He said, "With the exception of the Deedar of Almighty Allah, a person should not have any other desire in his heart." (Tazkirat al-Auliyah)
GEMS OF WISDOM:
- "If you come to me on a Friday after one week & you find that you thought of other than Allah during the week, then you should know that you have the desire of the world in your heart. What can the one who desires the world gather for the hereafter? Thus, for as long as you are in the world, prepare for there hereafter."
- "It has never been such, that I remained hungry for Allah & Allah had not entered the Noor of secrets into my heart."
- "A Sufi is one who is away from the people & close to Allah."
- "If a person claims to have love, yet he spends his time in other things, then, he does not desire his beloved, but he desires something else, in other words, he is making a mockery of his beloved."
- "Love means, that you should give up everything for the sake of the beloved."
- "Shariat is this, that you should follow it, Tariqat is this, that you should desire & Haqeeqat is this, that you should see."
HIS KHULAFA:
The names of only two of the Khulafa of Hazrat Abu Bakr Shibli could be found.
- Hazrat Khwaja Abdul Waahid Abul Fazl Tameemi,
- Hazrat Abul Hassan Neemalam.
After his wisaal, a pious man saw him in his dream & asked, "Huzoor! What transpired with the Angels of the grave?" He said, "When the angels came to me & asked about my Lord, I said, "It is He, who created Adam (Alaihis Salam) & commanded the Angels to prostrate before him. All of them prostrated but Iblees, who turned his face away from the command of Allah & showed pride. At that time, I was in the spine of Hazrat Adam (Alaihis Salam)." The Angels said, "He has answered on behalf of all the children of Adam (Alaihis Salam)." (Shajrat-ul-Kaamileen, Page 203)
MAZAR SHARIF:
His Mazaar Shareef is in Saamarrah, which is Baghdad Shareef (Iraq).
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