In Memoriam

Sidi Shaykh Buzidi 

1925-2011

Bismi 'Llahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Rahim

I returned in the early hours of this morning from the funeral, in Nador, of Sid Shaykh Buzidi Bujrafi of the Shadhili-Darqawi-Alawi tariqa. I will not attempt to give an exhaustive obituary here - that should be left to one of his murids, I feel - but I would like to try and describe some reflections on the Shaykh and his passing while they are still fresh in my mind.


Upon entering the zawiya in Nador, the first thing I was aware of was timelessness, the timelessness of the place. Though I had not been there in two years or so, it felt as though I had never left. Sidi Nabil, muqaddam of the Oujda zawiya, said the same to me later on that day. In the zawiya of Shaykh Buzidi, there was no time. It was not Monday, Tuesday, Spring, Summer, December, July; it was only dhikr Allah, remembrance of Him who is beyond time.

Yet of course there was one crucial difference this time around: the Shaykh himself was not there to greet us; and this leads me to the second noticeable presence in the zawiya that morning: grief. We were greeted by Sidi Abd al-Rahim, the Shaykh's son, whose face was an image of grief and loss such as I have never seen. It was all we could do to embrace him, and add our tears to his, without any words being needed. We had arrived just in time to offer the dawn prayer with the congregation. Sidi Abd al-Rahim beckoned to Shaykh Sa'id of Salé to lead the prayer, but the Shaykh took off his woollen cloak and threw it over the shoulders of Sidi Abd al-Rahim, and bade him lead it. After the prayer, we recited together the surat al-Waqi'a and other litanies, and then withdrew to recite our daily wird individually. In gatherings of years past, the fuqara would usually take the two hours or so after this to snatch some sleep after their journeys, and the zawiya would echo with the sound of deep breathing and gentle snores. On this day, though, there was only the sound of muffled sobs and cries.


At around half past seven, a breakfast of olives and olive oil was brought out. Usually at this time, Shaykh Buzidi would come out clapping his hands and singing the Testimony of Faith to rouse the sleeping fuqara for a day of worship; today it was his memory that roused them. After breakfast and ablutions, we began the dhikr, singing the poems of the great spiritual masters of the Order. Many of the lines sung were, of course, those composed by the Shaykh himself. People began to trickle in through the doors of the zawiya, coming from near and far, many of them sobbing, almost all of them weeping. Shaykh Sa'id gave a short talk, quoting lines that would be repeated by many throughout the day, from a poem of the Shaykh al-Alawi:

My beloved ones, if you truly follow me,
Then here is the path: walk upon it behind me.

The path of the Shaykh remains, he said, and it is for his disciples to follow it. He also said that the death of a saint is a time of rejoicing, for it is only then that he is given his true life in the realm of the spirit, free of the chains of this bodily life. He then announced that instead of praying the Friday prayer and funeral in the zawiya, as had first been planned, he had advised the fuqara to bear the Shaykh to the mosque for the prayer, and then return him to the zawiya for burial. This, he said, was so that the funeral prayer would be attended by all, those who knew the Shaykh and those who knew him not, and also so that the people could observe the funeral procession and pay their respects.


At around eleven o'clock, the Shaykh's bier was carried into the zawiya, covered in a green cloth on which verses of the Quran were embroidered. The outpourings of sadness intensified; I do not feel you can know what grief is until you have seen elderly men, normally so stoic and calm, weeping and wailing for a man they loved solely for the sake of Allah. A hadra began, the circle made around the Shaykh once more as it had been so many times in his life. All the Jalal of Allah seemed to be manifested in the room, and it was too much for some, who collapsed into grief-stricken heaps upon the floor, clinging to each other for solace. La ilaha illa Allah. Such love.


And it was love, more than anything else, more even than grief, which was the dominant presence in the zawiya on this day. The Shaykh's bier was taken up by his sons and loved ones, and carried through the streets some distance to the mosque; the procession took perhaps half an hour. Those several hundred men who walked behind it were connected by nothing but love: love for Allah, love for His Messenger (upon whom be blessings and peace), love for those who love Him. If someone were to ask me what love is, I would attempt no definition, but simply say: Go to the zawiya of Sidi Shaykh Buzidi. If you cannot find it there, it cannot be found. The teachings of the Shaykh were simple: dhikr and mahabba. To describe his state would not take many words. What did he do? He invoked Allah. What did he embody? He embodied love for Allah and His Messenger (upon whom be blessings and peace). That is all. His poems of praise for the Prophet (upon whom be blessings and peace) were marked by a love that was pure and sincere, with no artifice or pretension. It was these poems that the fuqara sang as they bore the Shaykh back to the zawiya after the prayer, as tradesmen and their customers stood at the doors of their businesses and bowed their heads in respect. The Shaykh was interred in his zawiya as the mourners recited the Ya Sin, al-Mulk, al-Ikhlas. A few people spoke as best they could, choked by their grief; and Sidi Abd al-Rahim, who now finds the zawiya under his care, was asked to speak, but could not quell his tears long enough to utter even a word. The Shaykh was in any case not a fan of words, preferring the dhikr Allah and the poems of the righteous to fill his zawiya with sound and life; and the fuqara then set about doing just that. They are doing it still as I write this, and will continue to do it thereafter. In the zawiya of Sidi Shaykh Buzidi, after all, there is no time.

Radiya Allah 'anhu.

Mysteries of Fasting

Al-Shaykh al-Akbar Ibn Arabi:

Know - may Allah aid you - that fasting (sawm) means both 'abstention' and 'elevation': sam al-nahar means 'the day rose'; Imru' al-Qays used the verb in this way. Because fasting is elevated in rank above all other acts of worship, it is called sawm. God raised it by making it incomparable, out of all the acts of worship, as we shall see; and He took it from His servants even as they worshipped Him by it, and ascribed it to His own Self; and He rewards those who do it by His own hand from His own vessel; and He connected it to Himself by calling it incomparable.

Now fasting is not really an abstention, not an action; and the fact that it is called incomparable makes it all the more apt to be connected with Him; for He says about Himself: "There is nothing like unto Him" (42:11). With this He negates that anything could be comparable to Him; and thus He is incomparable according to both reason and revelation. Nisa'i relates that Abu Umama said: 'I went to the Messenger of God (God bless him and give him peace) and said, "Command me with something that I can take from you." He said: "You must fast, for there is nothing like it."' With this, he negated that any other act of worship God established for His servants is like it. Anyone who understands that fasting is a negative attribute - since it means to abstain from all that vitiates it - will understand for certain that there is nothing like it, for it does not have any essence that could be rationally said to exist. This is why God says 'the fast is Mine', since in reality it is neither worship nor act. To call it an action is barely tolerable, just as to say that the Real (as we understand it) 'exists' is barely tolerable - for the existence ascribed to Him whose Existence is identical with His Essence in no way resembles the existence ascribed to us, for "there is nothing like unto Him."

Consider this Divine Hadith, narrated by Muslim on the authority of Abu Hurayra: The Messenger of Allah (upon whom be blessings and peace) said: 'Allah, Almighty and Glorious, says: "Every act of the Son of Adam is his, save for fasting, which is Mine, and I reward it." Fasting is a shield; and on the day when one of you fasts, let him speak neither obscenely nor loudly; and if anyone curses him or fights him, let him say: "I am fasting." By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, the changed smell of the mouth of the one who fasts is more fragrant to God, on the Day of Resurrection, than the scent of musk. The one who fasts rejoices in two joys: when he opens his fast, he rejoices in it; and when he meets his Lord, he rejoices in his fast.'

Know that since, as the hadith of Nisa'i has established, God declared fasting to be incomparable, and the Real is incomparable, the one who fasts meets his Lord in the attribute of "there is nothing like unto Him"; thus he sees Him by it, and He is both the Seer and the Seen. This is why the Prophet said 'he rejoices in his fast', not 'he rejoices in the meeting with his Lord'; for joy does not cause joy in and of itself, but rather is the conduit of joy felt in something else. If the Real is one's sight when he sees and witnesses, then he sees himself only through His sight. The one who fasts rejoices in attaining unto the rank of incomparability. He rejoices in breaking the fast in this world because of the satiation of the animal self which innately desires nourishment for itself; and when the gnostic sees the need that his animal and vegetative self has for nourishment, and sees His largess in providing the nourishment he gives it, thereby fulfilling its right (haqq), as God obliged him to, he thereby acts with the attribute of truth (haqq). Thus he gives with the hand of God, just as when he meets the Real he sees It with the eye of God. Therefore he rejoices in breaking the fast just as will he rejoice in his fast when he meets his Lord.

(Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, Chapter 71)

The Inner Fast

Concerning God’s words

The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for mankind, and clear proofs of guidance, and the Criterion. And whosoever of you is present, let him fast the month, and whosoever of you is sick or on a journey, (let him fast the same) number of other days. Allah desireth for you ease; He desireth not hardship for you; and (He desireth) that ye should complete the period, and that ye should magnify Allah for having guided you, and that ye might give thanks. (2:185)

Kashani says:

The month of Ramadan, the burning of the soul in the light of the Real, in which, that is, at which time, was revealed the Qur’an, the universal unitive knowledge which is called the ‘Qur’anic intellect’ and leads to the station of union: a guidance for mankind, guiding them to Unity in the form of union, and clear proofs of guidance and the Criterion (Furqan); that is, signs which form a connection between union (jam’) and separation (farq) – meaning the detailed knowledge that is called the ‘Furqanic intellect’.

And whosoever of you is present in this time, having reached the station of direct witnessing of the Essence,  let him fast; that is, let him abstain from any word, deed or motion bereft of the presence of the Real.

And whosoever of you is sick, his heart afflicted with the malady of psychological veils which prevent this witnessing, or on a journey, still travelling towards the vision of the Essence but not yet having reached it: (let him fast the same) number of other days; he has other stages to traverse before he arrives at that station.

Allah desireth for you ease in arriving to the station of Divine Oneness (tawhid) and drawing strength from the Divine Strength; He desireth not hardship for you, meaning the overburdening of the weak and feeble soul with deeds;  and (He desireth) that ye should complete the period to complete those stages and stations which lead to this one, and that ye should magnify Allah and know His magnificence and His might for having guided you to the station of union, and that ye might give thanks to Him for making you firm therein.

(Tafsir Ibn ‘Arabi)

The Tariqa in a Few Words

Sidi Ali al-Jamal:

All existence is like a single man, and you are like a single finger of this man. If you gain power over this finger (which is your soul), you will gain mastery over all of existence, conquering and overpowering it whether it likes it or not. You will then be able to act in existence however you please, and nothing will happen therein unless you please.

If you are overpowered by this finger (which is your soul), however, then all of existence will overpower you, dominating and conquering you whether you like it or not. All of existence will do with you whatever it pleases, however it pleases.

If you gain mastery over your soul, all of existence becomes your slave; if your soul gains mastery over you, you become the slave of existence. Now mastery over the soul can only be achieved by gaining knowledge of ‘those who know through God’ (al-‘arifin bi-Llah), and by keeping their company constantly.

The Veil of Light

Imam al-Shādhilī (Allah have mercy on him) said: ‘I heard related to me the words of the Messenger of Allah (upon whom be blessings and peace), “Indeed my heart becomes veiled, and I ask forgiveness of my Lord seventy times a day”, and could not understand what it meant. Then I had a vision of the Messenger of Allah (upon whom be blessings and peace), and he said to me: “O blessed one! That is the veil of light, not the veil of contingent things!”’

يا مبارك ذاك غين الانوار لا غين الاغيار

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والحمد لله وحده