3.2.4 - The Station of Shaykh Abu Madyan and His Rank

The Grand Shaykh says that Shaykh Abu Madyan was one of the two Imams, who are the two saints of God, from the men of breaths as we described them in section

ef(hierarchy of Chapter II. At any given time there are only two Imams; one on the left of the Pole and one on his right. The Pole is always designated by his status as Abul-Allah (the Servant of Allah), while the first Imam is Abdul-Malik (the Servant of the King) and the second is Abdul-Rab (the Servant of the Lord) [Futuhat: II.6].

Ibn al-Arabi adds that one of the previous holders of this station was Muhammad Ibn Ali al-Tirmidhi al-Hakim, while the one at the time was one of our shaykhs Abu Madyan, may God have mercy on him, and he was known in the upper world as: Abu al-Naja, by this name those in the spiritual world used to call him. He also used to say: My Surah from the Quran is: ((Blessed is That in Whose Hand is the Kingdom/Reign)) [Quran: 67.1], and that’s why we say he is one of the two Imams, because this is the station of the Imam [Futuhat: I.184, see also: I.21].

Shaykh Muhyiddin also adds that Shaykh Abu Madyan has an elevated rank amongst the saints, and he was loved by everyone, although some people were trying to inflict him and make plans against him to be killed. Nonetheless, he and was famous in the upper world, as he was told by Shaykh Yusuf Ibn Yakhluf al-Kumi in 586, and perhaps this is what called Shaykh Muhyiddin to be attracted to him and to have the urging desire to visit him:

One of the greatest shaykhs we met in this Way, Shaykh Yusuf Ibn Yakhluf al-Kumi (see section

ef(al-kumi, God’s mercy be upon him, told me in 586, that he was told by Abu Mousa al-Sadarani, and he was one of the carried Substitutes (see section

ef(al-sadrani): I went one day with my companion to the mountain known as: “Qaf”,footnote(Mount Qaf is a legendary mountain in the popular Middle Eastern mythology and a legendary city in the Muslim folklore of Central and South Asia. In Arabic tradition Qaf is a mysterious mountain renowned as the “farthest point of the earth” owing to its location at the far side of the ocean encircling the earth. which is a mountain that surrounds the ocean surrounding the land, and God has created a serpent on the shore of that sea and the mountain, and her body circled the ocean sea until her head met her tale. Thus we stood there and my companion said to me: you salute her and she will respond to you. Mousa said: I greeted he and she said: peace be upon you and God’s mercy and blessings, and then she asked me: how is the state of Shaykh Abu Madyan, who was in Bugia at the time, thus I told her that I left him in wellness, but how do you know him! She wondered and said: Is there anyone on Earth who does not know and like him? I swear by God that, since God has taken him as a saint, He informed about him in ourselves and his love was secured to the ground in our hearts, so there is no stone and no soil and no tree and no animal, but they know him and love him. Then I said to her: but there are some people who want to kill him because of their ignorance and hatred. She said: “I never knew that anyone would be like this amongst those whom Allah loves.”

[Futuhat: II.683].

The Grand Shaykh also says that Shaykh Abu Madyan is one of the “men who appear by the command of Allah for the order of Allah”, and they are also amongst the men of the number, as we mentioned in section

ef(hierarchy, and their are eighteen souls, at any given time, not more nor less [Futuhat: II.11]. He also adds that Shaykh Abu Madyan, may Allah have mercy on him, had the habit that when some good food is offered to him he eats it, and also when he is offered some rough food, but if he was hungry and had been given money, he then understands that Allah had given him the choice; thus he look fo what is the most beloved to God of the food with respect to what suits the mood for worshiping, and not to any psychological purpose that fulfills the lust [Futuhat: II.233].