Before he became a dervish, Ibrahim bin Adham was the tremendously wealthy king of Balkh. One day, while he was seated in the hall of audience, a stranger entered. Seeing the magnificent demeanour of the stranger, all the people present were terrified and none dared to enquire about his credentials, or to ask his name or the reason for his intrusion. He proceeded straight to the throne of the king, and started looking on all sides. Ibrahim enquired what he was seeking. He answered, “I am looking for a proper place to lodge in this caravanserai [i.e. a stopping place for caravans].” Ibrahim objected: “But this is no caravanserai. It is my palace.” “To whom did it belong before you?” asked the stranger. “To my father,” replied Ibrahim. “And before him?” further enquired the stranger. “To my grandfather,” replied the Sultan. “What else would you call such a place, where one stays for a short time, then departs and another occupies it?” observed the stranger, and then disappeared. The Sultan prayed to the Lord to tell him who the stranger was, and learned that it was Khidr [sometimes called the ‘Green One,’ or the ‘Verdant One;’ in Sufi traditions, the unseen initiator of those who travel the mystical path]. At once, the fear of the Lord overtook the Sultan.
* * *
They asked Ibrahim one day, “What led you to renounce your kingdom?” He answered, “One day I was seated on my couch while a mirror stood in front of me. I looked profoundly into it, and lo! I saw therein that my last refuge was the grave, and that I shall be alone and friendless on that last pilgrimage. Besides I had accumulated no fruits of good deeds that would accompany me to the next world. When I shall be presented before the just Judge on the Day of Judgement, I shall have no plea or excuse to urge before Him for my transgressions. From that moment kingship became a heavy burden on my shoulders.”
* * *
One day a dervish was quarrelling with another. Ibrahim said, “To no purpose did you go in for the line of poverty. Since you got it for no price, you do not value it.” The dervish answered jeeringly, “And did you pay a high price for being a dervish?” Ibrahim looked at him calmly and remarked, “Yes, I exchanged the kingdom of Balkh for it, and even then I consider that I purchased it cheap. Compared to the kingdom, it is a far more valuable thing, brother!”
* * *
One day a person offered a thousand dinars to Ibrahim, but he refused it, saying, ‘I do not accept the gift of a beggar.” The man replied that he was a rich man, and not a beggar. Ibrahim asked him, “Do you desire for more wealth, or are you content with your present state?” “Of course I seek more,” the man replied. “Then,” observed Ibrahim, “you are poorer than me, for I am content with my poverty and seek nothing of the sort.”
* * *
Ibrahim said, “Renounce the world and make friends with God is my advice. Untie the tied [i.e. wealth] and tie the untied [i..e. the tongue]. Observe silence, and give much in charity.”
* * *
Ibrahim also offered these precepts: when you commit a sin against God, do not partake of His food; when you desire to commit a sin, first leave His kingdom; commit sin in a place where He cannot see you.
Adapted from Fariduddin Attar’s Memoirs of Saints
as translated by Bankey Behari