whole night in meditation, he repented and asked God to forgive him for
having led a neglectful life. The next morning he was a transformed man.
He renounced all his possessions and became a disciple of AbdulWahid bin
Zayed, who was a disciple of Hasan Basri.
Ibrahim b. Adham attached the greatest importance to a complete
renunciation of the world. He believed that true asceticism could not be
achieved without living in a state of poverty and celibacy. A dervish told
Ibrahim one day, ‘One who takes a wife sails away in a boat, leaving the
safe, solid earth (not knowing where the troubled waters of the seas of the
world may toss him) and when a child is born, the boat sinks.’
4
This is how Ibrahim explained the Sufi devotion to God:
‘Once I purchased a slave. I asked him his name. He replied: “It is that
by which you please to call me.” I asked him what he would like to eat. He
replied, “That which you would give me.” I asked him what garments he
would put on. He replied, “The ones that you would bestow on me.’ I asked
him what work he would perform. He replied, “That which you will ask me
to do.” I asked him, “What is your desire?” He replied, “I am but a slave, how
can I have a separate will of my own?” I thought to myself, “Would that I were
a slave of the Lord and could surrender totally to Him like this slave!”’
5
And this is how he prayed to God:
“O God, you know that in my eyes Paradise weighs no more than the
wing of a gnat compared with that honour which you have shown me in
giving meYour love, or that familiarity whichYou have given to me by the
4
Fariduddin Attar, Tadhkirat ul-Auliya, tr. Bankey Behari, Lahore, 1961, p..42
5
as above, p.. 45
Th e Ea r l y De v e l opme n t 28
