2.8 - Touring in the Coast and Meeting with al-Rondi (Sidonia, 589/1193)

In 589/1193, Shaykh Muhyiddin began a journey to the coast south-west of Andalusia, with the aim of meeting with the men of God who usually walk in these mountainous areas. There, he met a famous man of God named Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Ashraf al-Rondi, one of the Substitutes who entered on Abdul Majid Ibn Salamah in his retreat, as we mentioned in section [ref:abdulmajid] above.

In the Holy Spirit, Shaykh Muhyiddin tells the story of his meeting with Shaykh Ibn Ashraf, saying that he once came out of the city of Sidonia heading south for the coast, and he was followed by a young man who wanted to accompany him, and so it was. On the way, he found two people in front of him, one was a long negro called Abdul-Salam the tourist, because he was always touring the land and no one does recognize his place, as we shall talk about him in section 2.9.26 below, and with him another man called Mohammed Ibn al-Hajj, and the couple were walking very fast. Nevertheless, Shaykh Muhyiddin followed them but there was between them several miles. Then he sheltered to a mosque in the village of Rueda for Friday prayer, so when Shaykh Muhyiddin joined the group in the mosque, kneeling for prayer, and soon after he finished came Abu Abdullah Ibn Ashraf Al-Rondi, accompanied with that tourist Abdul-Salam, and they came to him and saluted. At that time, Shaykh Muhyiddin was lying in the unruly while hitting his hand on his chest and singing some verses:

Displaying (teeth like) pearls, Revealing the fullness of Moon.

Time could not hold Him, But my heart enclosed Him.

Then Shaykh al-Rondi came to him and said: Are you trying to conceal who you are? Ibn al-Arabi said to him: So do you?

After that, the village headman came and invited the Shaykh Muhyiddin to break fasting with him and bring anyone else he wished; but the Shaykh Ibn Ashraf said to him, Don’t eat that sort of food; rather follow the brethren. When they eat, come and break your fast with me, and so he did.

Shaykh Muhyiddin said that he stayed with him for three days and promised to meet him in Seville. We will return to the story of his promise to meet in Seville at the beginning of the third chapter, but let’s mention here some of the qualities of Shaykh al-Rondi as mentioned by Shaykh Muhyiddin in the Holy:

He was one of the seven Substitutes. He kept to the mountains and coasts and avoided the inhabited areas for nearly thirty years. He was profound in his spiritual insight, given to weeping, prayer and fasting. often, while engrossed in contemplation, he would write with his finger in the dust and then raise his head and breathe deeply which produced a droning noise in his chest. His ecstasy was intense and his tears copious.

Shaykh Muhyiddin adds: I used to associate with him and keep company with him which used to cheer him and cause him happiness. He came from a rich and noble family. One of the things for which he was well known was his practice of sitting on a high mountain near Moron. One night a man was on the mountain and saw a shimmering pillar of light so bright he could not look at it. When he approached it he found that it was al-Rondi standing in prayer. The man went away and told people what he had seen. He earned his living as a gatherer of camomile in the mountains which he sold in the city.

He adds further: I myself witnessed many wonders performed by him. Some brigands once came upon him sitting by a spring and threatened him with death unless he stripped off his clothes. At this he wept and said, I cannot bring myself to assist you in disobeying God, so if you want this you must do it yourselves. Then he was seized by an intense fervor and looked at them with his well-known look and they fled from him!

One day, while we were walking together by the sea, he asked me a question concerning Gods saying, I require no provision from them, nor do I need them to feed Me. I did not answer him, but left him. Four years later I met him and told him that I had the answer to his question. He said, Let me have your answer, for after four years the time is ripe for it. I then gave him my answer and marveled that he had remembered the verse.

It had long been my wish to introduce my companion al-Habashi to him, so when we came to Andalusia we stayed at Ronda. While we were there we attended a funeral service, during the course of which I noticed that al-Rondi was standing in front of me. Then I introduced my companion to him and we all went back to the place where I was staying. Al-Habashi expressed a wish to see some evidence of al-Rondi’s miraculous powers. Later, when we had performed the sunset prayer, the owner of the house was late in lighting the lamp and my friend called for light. Al-Rondi said that he would oblige him. Thereupon he took a handful of grass which was lying about in the house and as we watched, struck it with his forefinger saying This is fire! Immediately the grass burst into flames and we lit the lamp. He would sometimes take some fire from the stove with his hand for some purpose or other and, although some of it would stick to him, it caused him no pain or harm.

He was an illiterate man. One day I asked him about his weeping, to which he replied that he had sworn never again to invoke Gods curse against any man; he had done so once and the man had perished, which he had deeply regretted ever since. He was a mercy to the world. More than this I cannot tell at the present time.

Then in al-Durrah al-Fakhirah he says:

We were once praying with him outside Marchena when some dispute arose as to the direction of Mecca. He then pointed out the correct direction with his finger saying, There is the Kaabah! Then we prayed and I saw the sacred House and the people performing their circumambulation round it ; indeed I even saw someone of my acquaintances among those close to the Kaabah. We prayed then in certainty. When we had finished the prayer the Kaabah vanished.

He once have me three dirhams wrapped in a long lock of hair. I kept it very safely, for I was traveling by night with it in my pocket. As I was walking along the road I heard the sound of men. The place was a perilous one. When I went towards them I found a group of men, one of whom was afflicted with a violent pain. They begged me in the name of God to use some spell to cure him of the pain. I then remembered one of our leading Shaykhs saying that if a genuine dirham were placed on the place of the pain, relief would soon follow. I therefore took out one of the dirhams and told his companions to place it on the spot where the pain was felt. As soon as they had done so the pain ceased and the man got up and walked off with his companions. Before they left they asked me to let them have the dirham. I agreed to this and set off again on my journey. When I arrived at my house in Seville, Muhammad al-Khayyat and his brother Al)mad, whom I have already mentioned, came to see me. They said to me, We saw that you had arrived last night, but we have nothing with which to provide you with hospitality; so give us the two remaining dirhams to buy the evening meal with. There are many other things I could relate about this Shaykh.