The king who became a sufi

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Sadia Dehlvi [1]

One of my favourite early Sufis is the eighth century mystic Ibrahim ibn Adham. He was the king of Balkh in Central Asia; whose life often finds comparison with Gautam Buddha, for both renounced their throne in pursuit of inner enlightenment. Ibrahim had an entire state under his command where 40 gold maces were carried before and after him. Numerous stories describe his awakening and spiritual achievements. One tale recounts how Gabriel was instructed to inscribe Ibrahim’s name on top of the scroll containing the names of Allah’s friends.
One night Ibrahim lay asleep on the luxurious bed in his palace. He heard some noises that seemed to come from the roof. On inquiring about the commotion, Ibrahim heard a voice saying, “I am looking for a camel”. The king replied that looking for a camel on the palace rooftop was foolish. The voice retorted, “O ignorant one, it is just as foolish to seek God in the palace wearing silken clothes and sleeping on a golden couch”.
Visions followed by day, with visitations at night, increasing Ibrahim’s confusion and anguish until he could no longer bear it. He decided to go hunting, in order to banish these tormenting pursuers; but while doing so he was separated from his retinue. Four times he heard a voice crying, “Awake!” but he steadfastly ignored it. At the fourth cry he spied a deer and prepared to give chase. However, the deer turned around and spoke to him, “You cannot hunt me; I have been sent to hunt you. Was it for this that you were created, and is this what you have been commanded?”
On hearing the deer, Ibrahim let out a loud cry and turned to God in sincere repentance. Mystic fire alighted in the king’s heart and he headed for the jungles, leaving both wealth and family. The heavens were opened to him, and the angels exclaimed, “What a kingdom has come to Ibrahim bin Adham for he has cast away the filthy garments of this world and donned the glorious robes of poverty”.
Ibrahim left for Nishapur and lived in a cave for nine years. Every Friday, he collected a bundle of firewood and sold it in the market. With the earnings, he bought some bread, giving half of it to a beggar and using the left over to break his fasts in the evenings. Ibrahim’s fame spread inexorably, and he decided to leave for the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca where he became a disciple of Khwaja Fuzail bin Ayaz and worked as a humble cleaner of the Kaaba.
Once Ibrahim sat by the Tigris River stitching his robe. Someone came up to him and asked what he had achieved by giving up a kingdom. Ibrahim threw his needle into the water and then asked the river for the needle. A thousand fishes popped up in the river, each carrying a needle of gold in their mouths. Ibrahim admonished them saying, “I want my own needle”. A feeble little fish ducked into the water and gave the mystic back his needle. Ibrahim explained the miracle as a small demonstration of Allah’s grace on him saying, “This is the least I have gotten by abandoning my kingdom, the rest you know nothing of”.
Ibrahim became the first Sufi to classify the stages of piety; teaching that a man could achieve the ranks of righteousness by following a journey of six steps. He must close the door of bounty and open the door of hardships; close the door of dignity and open the door of humility; close the door of repose and open the door of striving; close the door of sleep and open the door of vigilance; close the door of wealth and open the door of poverty; and finally close the door of worldly expectations and open the door of preparation for the next world. Ibrahim bin Adham died in 790 AD and lies buried in Syria.

— Sadia Dehlvi is a Delhi-based writer and
author of Sufism: The Heart of Islam. She can
be contacted at sadiafeedback@gmail.com [2]