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" During the time when I was engaged in the study of Islamic jurisprudence [fiqh], attending the classes held by the shayukh, I would go out into the desert, instead of lodging in Baghdad. I would sit in the wasteland by night and by day. I used to wear a jubba made of wool [suf]
To cover my body, and on my head I wore a cap like a miniature patched cloak [khuraiqa]. I used to stroll barefoot among the thorns and other hazards. For nourishment, I used to eat carob beans, plucked from the thornbushes, as well as vegetable waste and lettuce leaves,
collected from the side of the stream and the bank of the river. If anything scared me at all, I would venture into it. I would subject my lower self [nafs] to strict discipline, until an unseen visitor [tariq] came from Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) to visit me,
and I would experience such visitations by night and by day. I would go into the desert, utter loud screams, and feel a glowing sensation on my face. My condition could only be diagnosed as a form of dumbness [takharus] and insanity [junun].
I was carried off to the hospital [bimaristan], where I experienced strange states of being, until I died. Then they came to me with the shroud and the ritual washer of corpses, and set me on the washing bench to give me my final ablution. Then the visitation went away & left me
- Qala'd jawahir - life of sultan ul rijal shaykh abdul qadir jilani
'On one such occasion, the spiritual state [hal] came upon me while I was in the ruined area of Baghdad. I ran for the space of an hour, quite unaware that I was running.
When I recovered my normal consciousness, I found myself in the region of Shashtar, where the distance between me and Baghdad was that of a twelve-day journey. As I stood there, reflecting on my situation, a woman came up to me and said:
"Does this really strike you as something surprising, when you are none other than Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir?"' "May Allah be well pleased with him!"
On one occasion, I was approached by figure whose appearance was utterly repugnant, and who had a disgusting stench about him. "I am Iblis," said he, "and I have come to you in order to act as your servant, for you have thwarted all my efforts,
and you have thwarted all the efforts of my followers." I said to him: "Go away, for I do not trust you." At that very moment, a hand came down from above him and struck him on the skull, with such force that he plunged right into the ground.
"'Then he came to me a second time, holding in his hand a dart of fire, with which he attacked me. Just in the nick of time, a man wearing a veil rode up to me on a gray mare, and handed me a sword. Iblis immediately beat a quick retreat.
Next, I was made witness to the disclosure of my own inner content [batin], and I saw that my heart was dependent on many attachments. "What are these?" I enquired, and I was told: "These are your self-will [irada] and your personal preferences [ikhtiyarat]."
I therefore devoted another year to tackling the problems posed by those factors, until I had found solutions to them all, and my heart was safely delivered from them
