Early sufi, companion of al-Junayd
Contemporary of Imam Ahmadibn Hanbal

Entry in Qushayri’s Risala PDF

Abu ´Abdallah al-Harith al-Muhasibi
He was unique in his age in regard to [religious] knowledge, pious scrupulosity, acts of devotion and mystical states. He came from Basra and died in Baghdad in 243.77 It is said that he inherited from his father the sum of 70 thousand dirhams, but he did not take anything from it. It is said that this was because his father was an adherent of [the doctrine of] human free will78 and he considered that it would be unscrupulous to take anything from his legacy. A sound report from the Prophet – may God bless and greet him – says: “People of two different religions do not inherit anything from one another.”

I heard Muhammad b. al-Husayn say: al-Husayn b. Yahya said: Ja∏far b. Muhammad b. Nusayr [al-Khuldi] said: I heard Muhammad b. Masruq say: “When al-Harith b. Asad al-Muhasibi died, he had not a single dirham. His father left him land and real estate, but he did not take anything from it.” I heard that our master Abu ∏Ali al-Daqqaq – may God have mercy on him – said:
“Whenever al-Harith al-Muhasibi extended his hand to a suspicious food,79 a vein in his finger would begin to move and he would abstain from it.”

Abu ∏Abdallah b. Khafif80 said: “Follow the example of five of our masters and think well of the rest. They are: al-Harith al-Muhasibi, al-Junayd b. Muhammad, Abu Muhammad Ruwaym, Abu πl-∏Abbas b. ∏Ataπ and ∏Amr b. ∏Uthman al-Makki. They combined knowledge81 with [mystical] truths.”

I heard Abu ∏Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami – may God have mercy on him – say:
I heard ∏Abdallah b. ∏Ali al-Tusi say: I heard Ja∏far al-Khuldi say: I heard Abu Uthman al-Baladi say: al-Harith al-Muhasibi said: “He who has cleansed his inner self with self-observation and sincerity, God will embellish his external form with pious self-exertion and the following of [the Prophet’s] Sunna.”

It is related that al-Junayd said: “Once I saw al-Harith al-Muhasibi passing by. I noticed traces of hunger on his face.//46 I told him: ‘Uncle, come into the house and have something to eat.’ He agreed. I entered the house and searched for something to feed him with. At that time, there was in the house some food that was brought to me from a wedding party. So, I took this food and gave it to him. He took a morsel of the food and rolled it in his mouth [with the tongue] several times, then he stood up, threw it into the corridor, and left. When I saw him a few days later, I inquired about this. He answered: ‘I was hungry and wanted to make you happy by eating your food. However, there is between me and God a [special] sign. He does not permit me to eat any suspicious food.82 Therefore He did not allow me to swallow that food. Where did it come to you from?’ I said that it was brought to the house of a relative of mine from a wedding party. I asked him whether he would come in today. He said that he would. I gave him a piece of dry bread that we happened to have. He ate it and said: ‘If you want to give something to the poor one,83 it should be something like this [piece of bread].’ ”

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