October
2001 Feature
THE
LIFE AND MESSSAGE OF
BAYAZID BASTAMI
NINTH
CENTURY
PERSIA
from
Al-Momenon:
The Faithful
Authored by Hazrateh MahTalat Etemad-Moghadam Angha
Published by the International Association of Sufism
Available
through Amazon.com
Bayazid
Bastami, a Persian Sufi of the ninth century, was among one of
the greatest Sufis of all time. His father was a Zoroastrian and
had high position in Bastam (north eastern Persia). Bayazid was
among the shatta Sufis. Shatta Sufis are those who are enraptured
by the Divine love and are annihilated in the Truth. Bastami said:
It takes more than two hundred years until a flower such as I
grows in the garden of the universe.
Abu
Saiid, another Sufi of ninth century, said: The world is enraptured
by Bayazid, and Bayazid sees nothing except the Divine.
Someone
asked Bayazid: What is the best thing given to a human being?
He said: God given good nature. What else? Said the man. Good
health: said Bayazid. If one does not have a good nature or physical
health, then still is fortunate if s/he has ears that can hear
the divine message, then a learned heart, then eyes that can see
the divine beauty. If a person does not have anyone of these,
he better off death.
He
traveled around the world and served more than one hundred teachers
and masters, and learned from them all. It is said he took over
twelve years for his pilgrim to Mecca. He performed two prayers
in every small village and in every stop he made to the house
of God. He said: The house of God is not like a king's palace
that you can enter whenever you wish and enter fast. When he arrived
Mecca, again he performed many prayers.
Zunun
al Mesri had sent one of his students to Bayazid saying: You sleep,
you rest, be aware that caravan will pass you by. Bayazid said:
It takes someone like me who sleeps at night but arrives at the
destination, before dawn, and before the arrival of the caravan.
Upon hearing this Zunun cried saying: we are not at the same level
as Bayazid.
Bayazid
said: Whatever I was searching to find in my purification, mortification,
striving, servitude I found in serving my mother. One night my
mother woke up and asked me for a glass of water. I hurried to
bring her some water. I searched around the house and there was
no water in the container nor in the bucket. It was a cold night.
I went outside to the spring to get some water. When I came back
my mother was sleep. So I stayed beside her bed, with the glass
of water. Near dawn she woke up and upon hearing the story she
took the water, drunk, and prayed for me. In that morning, I found
whatever I was looking for.
Bayazid
said: I became like an iron master for twelve years. I put my
nafs and ego in the stove of discipline, and prepare it with the
fire of striving, mold it on the platform of remorse, hammer it
with regret until my nafs became my mirror. I was my own mirror
for five years. Until one day when I thought I was the greatest
among great learned. As soon as this thought came to my mind,
I packed up and went to Khorasan. I stayed in a shelter and promised
myself that I would not leave this place unless I receive a message
from Allah. On the fourth day I saw a camel rider coming towards
me. A thought passed my mind that I could stop that camel right
there. The rider looked at me and said: Do not make me to destroy
Bastam and Bayazid altogether. I lost my senses. When my senses
came back to me I asked him: Where are you coming from? he said:
From the side where your promise is kept. The he said: Bayazid,
keep and protect your heart; then he left. It is said after this
incident whatever passed through Bayazid ’s mind would appear
in front of him. There is no written book left from Bayazid and
we can read about him and his words in Tazkerat-al Olia by Sheikh
Fariddedin Athar.
A
prayer remained from Bayazid:
Oh, Allah, how long this “you” and “I” remain
between You and I. Take this “I” from me so all that
remains is “You”.
Oh, Allah, when I am with You I am greater than all; when I am
without You I am nothing.
Oh, Allah, my poverty took me to you and Your blessings protected
my poverty.
Every
time he had a Divine revelation, he fasten a zunar (a Sufi belt)
and he had over seventy zunar. When the time of his passing was
close, he went to the altar, put on one zunar, an old reversed
rob, backward hat and said: Oh, Allah, this is how I see myself.
I am not offering You my life's mortification, my constant prayers,
my day and night fasting, You know that nothing will take me from
You. I confess that I am shameful, I have nothing, You are the
One who has given me all this fortune. I witness that there is
no god but You. Your have accepted me. Purify me from my errors,
forgive my faults, wash away my shortcomings.
Bayazid used to repeat: Allah, Allah and when he was dying he
was repeating Allah and said: Oh, Allah, I remembered You only
as if I was an ignorant, now that I am dying, I am negligent of
worshipping You, and I do not know when I again be at Your presence.
It is said he was repeating the zikr of Allah when he died. Abu
Musa, one of his disciple, was not there when Bayazid passed away.
He said: I had a dream that I was carrying the universe on my
shoulder. I woke up and went to Bayazid to tell him my dream when
I found he passed away; and on that morning I was one of the people
carrying Bayazid body on our shoulders. I forgot that dream but
at night I saw in my dream who said: the universe that you were
carrying on your shoulder was my body.
Bayazid died in the year of 260 hijrat (881).
(from
Tazkerat-al-Olia we also read the following: Once someone asked
Bayazid, "How did you become such a great, learned Sufi?"
Bayazid replied, "One night, when I was a child, I left the
city to go to the desert. The moon was shining and the world was
at peace. Suddenly I had a vision; I saw an illuminated silhouette.
The image was so bright that the light of the sun looked like
a pale image compared to this illumination. I fell into a state
of rapture and a deep feeling of joy came over me. I whispered
to myself, 'Oh, Allah, such a beautiful gate, yet empty, such
an almighty realm, yet lonesome!' I heard a voice saying, 'The
doorstep is empty, not because no one comes, rather no one is
admitted to come. This is not the realm of the impure; not many
have the honor for admittance.' I thought, from whom in the creation
could I call upon to intercede for my admittance and I remembered
that the only one to intercede was the Prophet Mohammad, salute
to Him, and I should not call upon anyone but wait for Him to
give me permission to enter. It was then that I received a message
saying, "Because of such politeness I will raise your name
so you will be remembered as Sultan of the Sufis, Bayazid.'"
Bayazid
said: "The voice of revelation echoes in my chest saying:
my treasure box is filled with honest servitude and praiseworthy
devotion. Offer Me what I do not have. And I say: I offer You
my need, my longing and my broken heart."
Bayazid
said: "In my life of service and devotion to Allah, I ought
to have performed a prayer worthy of Him, I thought. So many mornings
and nights I performed prayers and every time I thought that this
was only worthy of Bayazid and not Allah, so one day I cried and
I begged. Oh, Allah, I have tried to worship You as You deserve
and pray a prayer worthy of You and I have failed, so there are
many among the people of the world who do not pray; take me as
one of them. translator’s note)
Abu
Turab Nakhshabi, Shaghigh Balkhi, Raee, Yaha Muab-i-Razi, were
among the accompanies of Bayazid .
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