With reference to his noble lineage, it is: ‘Ali ibn ‘ Abd Allah ibn ‘ Abd al- Jabbar ibn Tamim ibn Hurmuz ibn Hatim ibn Qusay ibn Yusuf ibn Yusha ‘ ibn Ward ibn Battal ibn Idris ibn Muhammad ibn ‘lsa ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn ‘ Ali ibn Abi Talib.

His birthplace was in Ghumara} He entered the city of Tunis when a young lad, turned toward the East, performed many pilgrimages, and went into lraq.

He related,
When I came to lraq, I met the Shaykh Abu al-Fath al-Wasiti, the like of whom I have not seen in Iraq. My quest was for the qutb. One of the saints said to me, “Are you searching for the qutb in lraq while he is in your country? Return to your land and you will find him.

So, he returned to the Maghrib where he met his teacher, who is my master the shaykh, the saint, the gnostic, the trustworthy, the qutb, the ghawth, Abu Muhammad ‘ Abd al-Salam ibn Mashish al-Sharif al-Hasani.

He related,
When I drew near him, while he was living in Ghumara in a lodge on the top of a mountain, I bathed at a spring by the base of that mountain, forsook all dependence on my own knowledge and works, and went up toward him as one in need. Just then he was coming down toward me, wearing a patched cloak, and on his head a cap of palm leaves. “Welcome to ‘ Ali ibn ‘ Abd Allah ibn ‘ Abd al-Jabbar:’ he said to me, and repeated my lineage down to the Apostle of God. Then he said to me, “O , Ali, you have come up to us destitute of your knowledge and works, so you will receive from us the riches of this world and the next:’

He (al-Shadhili) continued,
Awe of him seized me. so I remained with him for some days until God awakened my perception, and I saw that he possessed many supernatural powers (kharq al-‘adat). For example, one day as I sat before him while a young son of his played with him on his lap, it came into my mind to question him concerning the greatest name of God. The child came to me, threw his arms about my neck, and shook me, saying, “O Abu al-Hasan, you desired to question the master concerning the greatest name of God. It is not a matter of importance that you should ask about the greatest name of God. The important thing is that you should be the greatest name of God, that is to say, that the secret (sirr) of God should be lodged in your heart:’ When he had finished speaking, the shaykh (Ibn Mashish) smiled and said to me, ‘Such a one has answered you for me:

He was, then, the Qutb of that time.
Then he said to me, “O ‘Ali, depart to the Province Ifriqiya and dwell there in a place called Shadhila, for God will name you al-Shadhili. After that you will move to the city of Tunis where charges will be brought against you before the authorities. Then you will move to the East where you will inherit the rank of qutb:’

I said to him, “O my master, give me your spiritual bequest:’ So he replied, “0 ‘ Ali, God is God and men are men. Keep your tongue from the mention of them, and your heart from inclining before them, and be careful to guard the members (jawarih) and to fulfill the divine ordinances; thus the friendship (wilaya) of God is perfected in you. Have no remembrance of them except under obligation that duty to God imposes on you; thus your scrupulousness is perfected. Then say: 0 God, relieve me from remembrance of them and spare me disturbances from them. Save me from their evils, enable me to dispense with their good through Thy good, and as a special favour assume Thou care of me among them. Verily, Thou art mighty over all things:’

Meeting with al-Khidr (s)

He related,
When I entered the city of Tunis as a young man, I found there a great famine, and I came upon men dying in the market places. I said to myself, “Had I wherewith to buy bread for these hungry people, I would surely do it:’ Then I was instructed inwardly: “Take what is in your pocket:’ So I shook my pocket and, lo, there was silver money in it. So I went to a baker at Bab al-Manara and said to him, “Count up your loaves of bread:’ He counted them for me. Then I offered them to the people who took them greedily. I drew out the pieces of money and handed them to the baker. He found them to be spurious and said, “These are Moroccan, and you Moroccans practice alchemy:’ So I gave him my burus and small bag as a pawn on the price of the bread, and turned toward the gate. Right there by the gate stood a man who said to me, “O ‘ Ali, where are the pieces of money?” So I gave them to him, and he shook them in his hand, then returned them to me, saying, “Pay them to the baker, for they are genuine:’ So I paid them to the baker who accepted them from me, saying, “These are good:’ I took my burus and bag and then looked for the man, but did not find him.

Consequently, I remained for some days inwardly perplexed until, on Friday, I went into the Zaytuna mosque, near the reserved section on the east side of the mosque, and performed two cycles of the greeting of the mosque and pronounced the salutation. Suddenly, I saw a man on my right. I greeted him and he smiled at me, saying, “O ‘ Ali, you say, ‘Had I wherewith to feed these hungry people, I should surely do it: You would presume to be more generous than God toward His creatures. Had He willed it, He would surely have fed them, for He is more cognizant of their welfare than you:’

Then I said to him, “O my master, by God, who are you?” He replied, “I am Ahmad al-Khidr. I was in China and I was told, ‘Go and look for my saint ‘ Ali in Tunis: So I came hurriedly to you:’ When 1 had performed the Friday worship, I looked about for him, but did not find him.

How Imam Abul Hasan al-Shadhili became the Qutb – View page scan

I journeyed together with these two [Abu ‘Ali and al-Shadhilij in the service of Abu ‘Ali and, on reaching the city of Tripoli, the Shaykh al-Shadhili said, “Let me travel along the road of the interior!’ But the Shaykh Abu ‘Ali chose the coast road. The latter saw the Apostle of God who said to him, “Abu ‘Ali, you are a saint of God and Abu al-Masan is a saint of God, and God will never arbitrate between two saints in the matter of a road to follow. Take the road which you have chosen and let him proceed along the road which he has chosen:’ So we went our separate ways until we met on the road near Alexandria.

When we had performed the morning prayers, the Shaykh Abu ‘Ali approached the tent of the Shaykh Abu al-Hasan, we being in his company. He entered into his presence, sat down before him, and behaved toward him in a way which was not customary with him. He conversed with him in speech of which we understood not a word. When he was about to depart, he said, “0, my master, extend your hand so that I may kiss it!’ So he kissed his hand and departed weeping. We were amazed at his conduct with him.

When Abu ‘Ali was well on his way, he turned toward his companions and said, “0 Yunus, Abu al-Hajjaj al-Qusuri was in the land of Egypt and he was the Qutb of his time. Last night, he died and God caused him to be succeeded by Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili.”

So I went to al-Shadhili and gave allegiance to him as one possessing the office of Qutb. When we reached Alexandria, and the people came out to meet the party of travelers, I saw Abu ‘Ali strike with his hand the forepart of the saddle and say weeping, “0 people of this region, if you knew who it is who is advancing toward you in this caravan, you would kiss the feet of his camel, which, by God, have brought you the blessing!’

Shaykh Izz al-Din and the Pilgrimage – View page scan

One in whom I have confidence related to me., In the year in which he went on pilgrimage there took place the movement of the Tararsu against Egypt. As the Sultan was occupied with operations against them, he did not prepare the military escort for the caravan of pilgrims. The shaykh sent out his tent to al-Birka (where the pilgrims make a halt outside of Cairo] and certain people followed him. So the people met with the jurist, judge, and Mufti ‘Izz al-Din ibn ‘Abd al-Salam, and questioned him regarding the journey. “The journey,” he replied, “undertaken presumptiously and lacking an escort, is not allowable!’ The people informed the shaykh of that. “Let me meet with him,” he responded. He met him in the mosque on Friday. A large crowd gathered around the two. “0 jurist,” he asked, “is it your opinion that, if a man had the whole world reduced to the size of a single step for him, he would be permitted to undertake a journey amidst dangers or not?” The judge replied, “If anyone should find himself in such a circumstance, he would be beyond the bounds of a legal pronouncement (fatwa) or anything of the sort?’ “By God, beside Whom there is no other god,” the shaykh said to him, “I am of those for whom the entire world has been made into the size of a single step. Whenever I see something that causes men to fear, I walk with them to a place of security. For you and me, there is no escape from standing before God (on the Day of Judgment] that He may question me concerning the truth of what I have told you?’ So al-Shadhili departed and many charismatic events attended him on the way. The following is one of them. Thieves would attack the caravan by night, and they would find a wall built around it, as if it were a city. At the break of dawn, they would come to him, inform him of their deeds, repent to God, and travel in the company of the shaykh on the pilgrimage to Mecca. The pilgrimage accomplished, he returned and entered Cairo the first of the people. His pilgrimage companions related to others the miracles he [Abu al-Hasan] had performed. Then the jurist ‘Izz al-Din went out to meet him at al-Birka, which is a place about six miles outside of Cairo. On entering into his presence, al-Shadihili said to him, “0 jurist, by God, were it not for the training that I have received with my ancestor the Apostle of God, I would have taken the caravan on the Day of ‘Arafa and I would have stepped over with it to ‘Arafat.” “I am resigned to God:’ the mufti exclaimed. Thereupon the shaykh added, “Look at the reality of that.” So everyone present looked at the Ka’ ba. The people cried out and the jurist lowered his head between his hands and said, “You are my shaykh from this very hour.” “Rather:’ the shaykh replied, “you are my brother, if God wills:’

His last Journey – View html

The Master Abu al-Hasan ash-Shadhdhuli had made it his custom that every other year he would travel to Mecca for the Pilgrimage. Likewise in the year 656 A.H./1258 C.E., the very year in which a few weeks earlier the Mongol ruler Hulugu Jenghiz Khan had sacked Baghdad, he made preparations to go on the Pilgrimage as usual. However, this time he asked that a pickaxe, shovel, and a shroud should be included in their baggage. As was his custom he set out on the southern route, known as the spice route, overland to Damanhur, then via Qahira, up the Nile to ‘Idfu in Upper Egypt. From there he would cross the Red Sea to Jiddah, and finally make the two-day camel ride to Mecca. At Damanhur, a young boy, who was a student of the Qur’an, begged his mother to let him go with the Shaykh and his party to make the Pilgrimage. His mother, who was a widow, earnestly requested the Shaykh for her son that he be allowed to travel with his party, to which he replied, “We will look after him as far as Humaythira.”

And so it happened. It was related that Abu al-Hasan, may Allah have mercy upon him, had said, “When I entered the land of Egypt and established my dwelling there, I prayed to Allah, the Most High, saying: Ya Rabb, have You caused me to dwell in the land of the Copts, to be buried amongst them, until my flesh becomes mingled with their flesh and my bones with theirs? A reply then came to me: No `Ali, you will be buried in a land which Allah has never oppressed.” It is also recorded that in the year of his death Abu al-Hasan ash-Shadhdhuli was heard to say, “Once when I fell ill, I said: Allah, O Allah, when will the encounter with You take place? I was told: Ya `Ali, when you reach Humaythira, then the encounter will come.” He said, may Allah have mercy upon him, “I saw as if I were buried at the base of a mountain before a well containing a little salty water, which became more abundant and sweet.” And he said to his beloveds, “This year I shall perform the Pilgrimage of substitution (hajjat an-niyaba).

“One of Abu al-Hasan’s followers recorded what happened: Soon after entering the desert of `Aydhab, both the young boy and the Shaykh fell ill, the boy dying the day before we reached the watering-place of Humaythira. The followers wanted to bury the youth where he had died, but the Shaykh said, “Carry him to Humaythira.” When we arrived at this resting-place we washed the boy, and the Shaykh prayed over him before we buried him. That evening the Shaykh, who was also very sick, called his companions around him and spoke to us, counselling us to recite his Litany of the Sea (Hizb al-Bakhr) often, and he said, “Teach it to your children for the Greatest Name of Allah (al-ismu ‘l-`azam) is in it.” Then he talked privately to Sidi Abu al-`Abbas al-Mursi, giving him his orders as his successor with his special blessing. He, may Allah have mercy upon him, said to his followers, “When I am dead, look to Abu al-`Abbas al-Mursi for he is the Caliph (Khalifa) to come after me. He will have an exalted station amongst you for he is one of the Doors (abwab) of Allah, Praised and Exalted is He.” Later that evening he called for a jar of water to be filled from the well of Humaythira. When he was told, “Ya Sidi, its water is salty and bitter, but the water we have is fresh and sweet,” he replied, “Give me some of it for my intention is not what you think.” When we brought him the well-water he drank a little of it, rinsed his mouth with it and spat into the jar. Then he said, “Pour the water into the well.

“Immediately the well-water turned sweet and fresh to taste, and it was abundant enough to refresh all the travellers who stopped to replenish themselves at this place. His followers said, “The Shaykh passed the night in holy preparation and discourse with his Beloved God, continually mentioning His Name until the dawn came when he was still.”