Bio: The Wafa’i Masters | السادات الوفائئية

Bio: The Wafa’i Masters | السادات الوفائئية

The Wafa'i Masters

السادات الوفائئية

Lineage

English

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

– Sayyidi Sh. Muhammad Wafa (d. 765 H.)
– Sayyidi Muhammad al-Najm
– Sayyidi Muhammad al-Awsat
– Sayyidi ´Ali Wafa (d. 807 H.)
– Sayyidi Shihab al-Din Ahmad b. Wafa (D. 814 H.)
– Idrisi descent → Bio Mawlay Idris II, the founder of Fas
– The Mosque of the Wafa’i Masters → Cairo: The Wafa’i Zawiya



Sayyiduna Muhammad Wafa
الشيخ بحر الصفا محمد وفا (d. 765/1363)

The majestic household of the Wafa’i Masters traces back to Sayyidund Muhammad Wafa.150 Qutb al-Sha’rani writes in al-Tabaqat [al-Kubra]:

Our master Muhammad Wafa was among the foremost knowers of Allah. He informed his son Sayyidi ‘Ali that he was the seal of saints and had been endowed with a lofty rank.

He was unlettered, and his expressions on mysticism are peculiar [gharib]. He has many writings, some of which he composed at the age of seven (or ten). His use of allusions in poetry and prose appear cryptic even in our age. To our knowledge, in fact, no one has unlocked their meanings. He was named Wafa after the waters of the Nile had failed to rise during its annual inundation (wafa). The inhabitants of Cairo resolved to make a migration but the shaykh went to the river and said, ‘Release (your waters), by the permission of Allah Most High.’ On that very day, it rose by seventeen cubits and inundated the lands, so people called him Wafa.

His numerous works include Kitab al-Arush and al-Sha’air[al-Irfan fi Alwah al-Kitman], as well as a great anthology of poetry.

He was born in Alexandria, in AH 702. He grew up there and treaded the spiritual path of Shaykh Abu’l-Hasan al-Shadhili under the guide, Sidi Dawud b. Makhila.151 He then relocated to Akhmim,152 where he married and established a large zawiya. Throngs of people paid him visits. He later moved to Rawda153 in Cairo where he devoted himself to worship and the remembrance of Allah Most High. His fame spread and reached distrant corners in both the East and West.

He died on Tuesday, 11 Rabi’I, AH 765. He was buried in the Qarafa neocropolis between the mausoleums of Sidi Abu al-Su’ud b. Abu al-‘Asha’ir and Sidi Taj al-Din Ibn ‘Ata’illah, may Allah be pleased with both of them. This was hinted at by him in the verse, ‘Bury me between Sa`d and ‘Ata’.’

Sayyidi Muhammad al-Najm

The first Wafa’i master to move from the Maghrib to the frontier post of Alexandria was Muhammad Wafa’s grandfather, Sidi Muhammad al-Najm.

He possessed splendid mystical states and worked patent miracles, and whose biography has been written by more than one author. He kept the company of the qutb, Sidi Ibrahim al-Dusuqi— may Allah show him mercy — and the two of them learnt from one another.

Sidi Muhammad al-Najm was born in Sfax, Tunis, from whence the Wafa’i masters originally hail. He settled in Alexandria, becoming a pleasant abode and where he was blessed with a son, Muhammad al-Awsat, the father of our master Muhammad Wafa.

Sayyidi Muhammad al-Awsat

Our master Muhammad al-Awsat was renowned for being a Friend of Allah and a man of knowledge and virtue.

He died — may Allah have mercy on him — while still a young man, and was survived by his son Muhammad Wafa. He was buried in the family’s sufi lodge called the Najmiyya Zawiya. It was named after his own father, Muhammad al-Najm, who is also buried there in the frontier post of Alexandria.

When our master Muhammad Wafa passed away, he was survived by his two sons, our master ‘Ali Wafa and our master Shihab al-Din Ahmad.


Sayyidi ´Ali Wafa
الشيخ علي بن محمد وفا (d. 807/1404)

Our mater ‘Ali 154 was young [when his father died]. Alongside his brother, he was brought up under the tutelage of Shaykh Muhammad al-Zayla’i. When he turned seventeen, he took up his father’s place and began delivering regular lessons. His fame spread all over and the number of his followers and disciples multiplied. He resided for the most part in Cairo’s Rawda.

He wrote a number of works that include a collection of invocations, litanies, admonitions, and poetry.

He passed away in his house in Rawda on Tuesday, 2 Dhu’l-Hijja AH 807. By way of sons, he had Abu’l-Abbas Ahmad, Abu al-Tayyib, Abu al-Tahir and Abu’l-Qasim. His biography has been penned by more than one scholar.

Qutb al-Sha’rani writes:
Our master `Ali Wafa reached the pinnacle of virtue, perfection, grace and beauty. There was no one more perfect and more beautiful in Cairo than him. He penned well-known poems and fine postclassical stanzas [muwashshahat] in which thread together secrets of the folks of the path. He was gifted the language of separation [farq] particularization [tafsil], and gatheredness [jam’]. Few saints are given this.

He would often conceal himself from people, as would his brother, our master Shihab al-Din Ahmad. They would only leave the house to deliver a lesson.

When our master ‘Ali died, the like of his funeral had never been witnessed before. His disciples walked in front of the coffin, invoking Allah in a way which softened the hearts of coarse people. His birth had taken place in Cairo in AH 759.

Sayyidi Shihab al-Din Ahmad b. Wafa
(d. 814/1411)

As for his brother Shihab al-Din Ahmad b. Wafa,155 he was a great gnostic and noble master. His brother, our master ‘Ali Wafa, would say about him, ‘This is the treasury of knowledge from which I expend.’ His death took place in AH 814.

Idrisi descent
Their noble lineage ultimately traces back to the Idrisids, the scions of the Prophet who settled in Morocco and nearby areas. They are specifically from the progeny of Imam al-Hasan b. ‘Ali b. Abu Talib, may Allah have mercy on both of them. The ancestor of the Wafa’i shaykhs is thus Mawlay Idris I 156 of Zarhun 157 , his burial place after his death in AH 157.

He was survived by his son, our liege and master Idris al-Azhar (the Most Radiant),158 the founder of the city of Fez, and the very reason behind its establishment…
Bio: Mawlay Idris II – The Founder of Fez… continued

The Mosque of the Wafa’i Masters
The Wafa’i masters are buried in the Mosque of the Masters (Masjid al-Sadat)…
→ Cairo: The Wafa’i Zawiya… continued


Footnotes:

150 See his biography in al-A7am (7/37-8) , Tabaqat al-Shadhillyyat al-Kubra by Muhyi al-Din al-Tu`mi (p. 217), Khutat Mubarak (51141), Yiisuf al-Nabahanr s Jamic Karamat al-Awliya’ (11142), where he is named as Muhammad b. Muhammad Wafa and is said to have died in AH 760, al-Majnizia al-Nablianiyya (by Yasuf al-Nabahani) (3/331), Dar al-Kutub (11372) and al-Kutubkhana (2/65, 112, 117 and 141; 4/237)
151 Also known as al-Bakhili.
152 It is an old town on the Nile, in Upper Egypt, surrounded in the west by a small mountain.
153 Rhoda Island located on the Nile in central Cairo.
154 For his biography, see Tabaqat al-Sha`rani (2122).
155 See his biography in Tabaqat al-Shadhiliyyat al-Kubra by Muhyi al-Din al-Tu’ini (p. 138).
156 Refer for his biography to al-A`lam (1/279) and al-Nasiri’s fi Akhbar Duwal al-Maghrib al-Aqsa (1/67).
157 It is a mountain near Fez, “inhabited by countless people”, as stated by Yaqut al-Hamawi in Warn al-Buldan (3/140).
158 He is Idris b. Idris b. `Abdullah b. al-Hasan II, Abu’l-Qasim (d. 828/1424), the second ruler of Morocco from the Adarisa Dynasty, and the founder of Fez. He was born in Walild, his father passing away while he was still a foetus. Upon his father’s death, the political affairs of the Berbers were managed by Rashid. After the latter’s death in AH 186, Idris was switched to the guardianship of Abu Khalid al-‘Abdi until he turned eleven, whereupon the Berbers swore allegiance to him in the mosque of Walila, in AH 188. He then took over his father’s throne and ruled in a praiseworthy manner. He was generous, eloquent and resolute. He was loved by his subjects and succeeded in winning over the inhabitants of Tunis, Tripoli in Lybia and Islamic Spain. Walila was crowded by outside delegations and by locals, which is why he planned the foundation of Fez in the year AH 192, as mentioned by the author in detail. After visiting Tlemcen in present-day Algeria, he returned to Fez, where he was unanimously supported by the Berber and Zanata tribal groups. The Moroccans separated themselves from Abbasid rule, from the outermost Sus region until the Shalaf Valley near Tangier. The whole of Morocco was stable under his rule, and he minted coins in his name. He passed away in Fez.
159 It is a Moroccan city near Tangiers (Mu jam al-Buldan, 5/384).
16o ‘Umayr b. Mus’ab b. Khand b. Harthama b. Yaild b. al-Mulahhab b Abu sufra al-Azdi was a wazir and political leader after whom the spring of ‘Ayn `Umayr, not far from Fez, is named. He was, together with his father, in al-Andalus when the Moroccan Caliphate fell into the hands of Idris b. Idris. ‘Umayr went to visit him with a delegation of fellow Azd tribesmen. Idris al-Azhar appointed him as close adviser ( wazir) and as head of his army, in addition to giving in marriage to him one of his daughters, named ‘Atika. When Idris al-Azhar founded the city of Fez, he sent ‘Umayr to the place in which the said spring was located, which is why it took his name. He was one of the chivalrous Arab chiefs of his times. He died in Fez. He is the ancestor of Bana al-Maljum, a clan who bequeathed some notable judges from Fez.

عربي

The Wafai Zawiya


Related Posts

StatCounter - Free Web Tracker and Counter