Mawlana `Abd al-`Aziz al-Dabbagh (d. 1131 H. / 1718 CE)
From Kuhin: Tabaqat al-Shadhiliyya

He is the perfect Friend of Allah, the succour of superabounding concern, the dazzling Sufi, and the radiant star of gnosis. He is the one endowed with lofty inspirations, resplendent expressions, pure realities, Muhammadan effulgences, lordly secrets and Throne-inspired aspirations. He is the tracer of the signposts of the path after their footprints had become hidden, and the discloser of the signposts of ultimate realities after their lights had become extinguished. He is the noble descendant from the Prophetic lineage boasting laudable ancestral feats, the highborn notable, regaled with two pure lineages, a physical and a spiritual one, two agreeable progenies, in both the visible and the invisible worlds, and two noble friendships with Allah, in the realm of bodies and in the realm of souls and spirits. He is Muhammadi, ‘Alawi, and Hasani. He is the qutb of wayfarers, the carrier of the banner of gnostics, our guide, liege and master Sayyidi `Abd al-‘Aziz, son of our liege and master Mas’ud al-Dabbagh, son of our liege and master Ahmad, son of our liege and master Muhammad, son of our liege and master Muhammad, son of Mawlay Ahmad b. ‘Abd al-Rahman, son of Qasim b. Ahmad b. Muhammad, son of our liege and master Qasim b. Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Ibrahim b. ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-Rahim b. `Abd al-‘Aziz b. Harun b. Funun b. `Alush b. Mandil b. `Abd al-Rahman b. Isa b. Ahmad b. Muhammad b. ‘Isa b. Mawlay Idris al-Azhar b. Mawlay Idris I b. ‘Abdullah al-Kamil b. al-Hasan II, son of our master al-Hasan the Grandson, son of our liege and master ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with all of them. [1]

He — may Allah sanctify his secret — was born in Fez. Prior to his birth, Sayyidi Mawlay al-‘Arabi al-Fishtali had bequeathed a trust to his parents, saying to them, ”Abd al-‘Aziz will grow under your care, so give him this trust’, which consisted in a woollen skullcap and a pair of shoes. They thus guarded these items until his noble mother fell pregnant with him. After his mother conceived him and he was born, he grew up under their custody until he attained the age of discretion [sinn al-rushd]. He began fasting from that year, after which Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, inspired his mother to hand him the trust which Mawlay al-Arabi had bequeathed unto him.

He — may Allah sanctify his secret — narrated the episode thus: ‘I took possession of the trust, so I wore the skullcap and the shoes. As a result, an intense heat seized me, until I shed tears, and I realized what Sayyidi al-Arabi was hinting at, coming to understand his allusion, praise to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. Since I wore them, a spiritual illumination was granted to me, and Allah cast into my heart expectant longing for sincere slavehood. I then began an irrepressible quest for that slavehood. I heard about none whom people took as a guide but that I went to him and followed his guidance. Eventually, an illumination was perfected for me at the hands of our master al-Khidr who instructed me in the recitation of a regular litany [ wird] by the consecrated lotus tree in the mausoleum of the pious Friend of Allah, ‘Ali b. Hirzihim. I completed what he instructed me to do in three days, whereupon I gathered with the Master of Mankind, on him be the choicest prayers of blessings and peace. After that, I began to see him both awake and during sleep. Prior to this, I kept the company of Sidi ‘Abdullah al-Barnawi, may Allah sanctify his secret. He said to me after my spiritual opening: ‘O ‘Abd al-Aziz, before this day I would fear for you, but today, seeing that Allah has gathered you with His Mercy, may He be Exalted, and with the Master of Existence It, my heart feels safe and my mind is set at rest. I thus entrust you to Allah’s care, Mighty and Majestic is He. Go then to your country and leave me.’

He — may Allah sanctify his secret — said: ‘Among the guides I met was Sidi Muhammad al-Lahwaj, by his locality near Tetouan, Sidi ‘Abdullah al-Bannawi, Sidi Mansur, and Sidi ‘Umar, the caretaker of the orchard. I have inherited the secrets of all of them, praise be to Allah.
Sidi al-Dabbagh — may Allah sanctify his secret — gathered a second time with a group of Allah’s Friends. Among them was Sidi Ahmad b. ‘Abdullah, who was a member of the circle of saints and the assembly [diwan]. By virtue of keeping his company, Allah Most High made Sidi al-Dabbagh become acquainted with the secrets of the Qur’an, so much so that he unlocked its intricacies and fathomed the mysteries of its verses. He also spoke about matters of the unseen, witnessed secrets of the realm of souls and spirits [al-malakut], while its spirit roamed about the arena of the realm of His Names and Attributes [al-jabarut].

One of his saintly miracles — may Allah sanctify his secret — was the impact that his words would have on the hearts of people. One day, a jurist came to him and said, ‘Sayyidi, supplicate Allah on my behalf to remove misgivings [wasawis] from my heart.’ Sidi al-Dabbagh — may Allah sanctify his secret — replied, ‘A misgiving only occurs when one is ignorant of the path. If one, in fact, were to set out for a given city while being unaware of the road leading to it, conflicting thoughts would vie for his attention. One thought would tell him “here is the road”, so he would proceed along it, while another one would push him towards another direction. Because of this, he would be confused and unable to decide where to go. As for the one who knows the road, he is at ease, and his heart is safe from that evil. The path of this world and the Next is Allah, may He be Exalted. Whoever knows that will earn the good of both this world and the Next, and Allah will gift him a pleasant life. As for the one who does not know thus, his state will be the opposite of the former.’ The jurist then said, ‘When I heard this speech, Allah had mercy on me. When, in fact, a person’s thought is directed at having his wish fulfilled from other than Him, Exalted is He, a puller from other than Him will pull him and revert him to Allah, Mighty and Majestic is He.’

His saintly miracles — may Allah sanctify his secret — are innumerable. He is in fact the overflowing sea, the scintillating secret, the talismanic treasure, the unique succour, and the luminary. Indeed, his disciple has made exhaustive mention of his saintly miracles in the Ibriz. The reader who wishes to know more can take a look at it, whereupon he will earn the Mighty King’s solicitude.
He — may Allah sanctify his secret — would say to his disciple Sayyidi Ibn al-Mubarak, ‘O son of al-Mubarak, if Ibrahim al-Dusuqi had lived from his age until our day and age, he would not catch up with your master ‘Abdu’l-Aziz from the morning till now.’

Even though Allah’s Friends have a lofty rank, they are still above what we might comprehend, especially since this knowledge of theirs is not encompassed by thinking and it does not befit the intellect to conceptualize it. Rather, this knowledge of theirs lies beyond the intellect. It has, in fact, been established by the scholars of this discipline that there are stages beyond the intellect, stages beneath which sciences and secrets — being the sciences of the elite — are folded. That being so, it is incumbent on us to surrender their knowledge to them. They have said: ‘Surrender is sanctity (wilaya)’ , meaning by this the lesser sanctity. In the same vein is the poet’s statement:

If you can’t see the crescent, submit
To people who with their eyes have sighted it.

The like of this statement subtracts no worth from the knower of Allah, Sayyidi Ibrahim ad-Dusuqi. The sciences of the like of these people are obscure to us, and which we are unable to fathom. Also, they sometimes speak with the tongue of their spiritual state. Every Friend of Allah has his own peculiar ecstatic utterances and contemplations. You only need to look at the books of the Sufis, our masters, and you will find them replete with these kind of utterances. May Allah benefit us by them and gift us surrender to their deeds and sayings, amin.

The death of our master (Abd al-‘Aziz al-Dabbagh — may Allah sanctify his secret — took place in AH 1131, when he was thirty six years old.

He — may Allah sanctify his secret — was unlettered: unable to read or write. Whoever wishes to know about his noble spiritual state, the peculiarities of his secret and his immense station, should read the Ibriz: His aforesaid student gathered his virtues and superior merits in it, though in truth it is merely a drop from the vast sea of his meritorious qualities.

The mausoleum of our master (Abd al-‘Aziz in the city of Fez, is among the most tremendous and esteemed mausoleums. His shrine in Morocco is like the shrine of the greatest mausoleum in Egypt: people travel thereto from the farthest regions, and Allah’s slaves crowd around it, hoping to reap abundant good there. Lights shine upon his mausoleum. He pays heed to his visitors and supports them with spiritual breezes.
O Allah, gather us among his party, and cause us to die with love for him and love for his followers, amin.

Footnotes:
[1] For his biography, see al-A’lam (4/28), Nashr al-Mathani li Ahl al-Qarn al-Hadi ‘Ashar wa al-Thani by Muhammad b. al-Tayyib Qadiri (2/118), Maktutat Rabat (2/217) and Tabaqat al-Shadhiliyyat al-Kubra by Muhyi al-Din al-Tu`mi (p. 157).

From: Kuhin, Tabaqat Al-Shadhiliyyah Al-Kubra, translated by Ahmad Ali al-Adani as “Biographies of Prominent Shadhilis”