On Weeping, Ecstasy, Grief and Swooning

باب فی البکاء والوجد والحزن والصعق

بَابٌ فِی الْبُكَاءِ وَالْوَجْدِ وَالْحُزْنِ وَالصَّعْقِ

On ecstasy (wajd), grief, and crying out [falling unconscious].

وَقَالَ اللهُ تَعَالٰى : فَلَمَّا تَجَلّٰى رَبُّهٗ لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهٗ دَكًّا وَّخَرَّ مُوْسٰى صَعِقًا ـ

(al-Aʿrāf 7:143.)

Vocabulary: fa-lammā tajallā — so when He manifested His tajallī [self-disclosure], appeared; rabbuhū — his Lord; li-l-jabal — to the mountain, to Mount Ṭūr; jaʿalahū dakkan — He made it crumble into pieces, shattered it, reduced it to dust; wa-kharra Mūsā ṣaʿiqan — and Mūsā [Moses] fell down crying out.

Translation: Allah Most High says: When his Lord (Allah) manifested Himself to Mount Ṭūr, He reduced it to dust, and Mūsā (peace be upon him) fell down crying out.

وَقَالَ اللهُ تَعَالٰى : اِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ الَّذِيْنَ اِذَا ذُكِرَ اللهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوْبُهُمْ ـ

(al-Anfāl 8:2.)

Vocabulary: innamā al-muʾminūn — the Muslims are only those; alladhīna — who; idhā dhukira Allāh — when Allah is mentioned (before them); wajilat qulūbuhum — their hearts are alarmed, they feel fear, they tremble.

Translation: Allah Most High says: The believers are only those who, when God is mentioned before them, their hearts are alarmed (they feel a fear).

وَقَالَ اللهُ تَعَالٰى : تَقْشَعِرُّ مِنْهُ جُلُوْدُ الَّذِيْنَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُمْ ثُمَّ تَلِيْنُ جُلُوْدُهُمْ وَقُلُوْبُهُمْ اِلٰى ذِكْرِ اللهِ ـ ذٰلِكَ هُدَى اللهِ يَهْدِیْ بِهٖ مَنْ يَّشَآءُ ـ

(al-Zumar 39:23.)

Vocabulary: taqshaʿirru minhu — they tremble at it, the hair stands on end; julūdu alladhīna yakhshawna rabbahum — the skins of those people who fear their Lord; thumma talīnu julūduhum wa-qulūbuhum — then their skins and their hearts become soft; ilā dhikri Allāh — towards the remembrance of God; dhālika hudā Allāh — this is the guidance of Allah; yahdī bihī man yashāʾ — He guides by it whomever He wills.

Translation: Allah Most High says: From it (the Qurʾān) the hair of those who fear God stands on end; then their skins

and hearts become soft and are moved by the remembrance of God. This is the guidance of God; by it He guides whomever He wishes.

وَقَالَ اللهُ تَعَالٰى : وَيَخِرُّوْنَ لِلْاَذْقَانِ يَبْكُوْنَ وَيَزِيْدُهُمْ خُشُوْعًا ۩

(Banī Isrāʾīl [al-Isrāʾ] 17:109; a verse of prostration [al-Sajda].)

Translation: And Allah Most High says: And they fall down upon their chins, weeping, and their khushūʿ [humble awe] increases — and it increases their humility and lowliness.

عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رضى الله عنها قَالَتْ مَارَاَيْتُ رَسُوْلَ اللهِ صلّى الله عليه وسلّم مُسْتَجْمِعًا قَطُّ ضَاحِكًا حَتّٰى اَرٰى لَهَوَاتِهٖ اِنَّمَا كَانَ يَتَبَسَّمُ ـ

(Narrated by the Five except al-Nasāʾī; Taysīr [al-Wuṣūl].)

Vocabulary: lahawāt — the uvula; ḍāḥikan — laughing, smiling.

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Bībī ʿĀʾisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: I never saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ laughing heartily, such that I could see his lahawāt (uvula); he would only smile. (The Five recorded it, except al-Nasāʾī; Taysīr.)

عَنْ اَبِیْ ذَرٍّ رضى الله عنه قال قال رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وسلّم اِنِّیْ اَرٰى مَا لَا تَرَوْنَ وَاَسْمَعُ مَا لَا تَسْمَعُوْنَ اَطَّتِ السَّمَاءُ وَحُقَّ لَهَا اَنْ تَئِطَّ مَافِيْهَا مَوْضِعُ اَرْبَعِ اَصَابِعَ اِلَّا وَفِيْهِ مَلَكٌ وَاضِعٌ جَبْهَتَهٗ لِلّٰهِ تَعَالٰى سَاجِدًا لِلّٰهِ وَاللهِ لَوْتَعْلَمُوْنَ مَا اَعْلَمُ لَضَحِكْتُمْ قَلِيْلًا وَلَبَكَيْتُمْ كَثِيْرًا وَلَمَا تَلَذَّذْتُمْ بِالنِّسَاءِ عَلَى الْفُرُشِ وَلَخَرَجْتُمْ اِلَى الصُّعُدَاتِ تَجْاَرُوْنَ اِلَى اللهِ تَعَالٰى لَوَدِدْتُ اَنِّیْ شَجَرَةٌ تُعْضَدُ (مُدْرَجٌ فِی الْحَدِيْثِ مِنْ قَوْلِ اَبِیْ ذَرٍّ) ـ

Vocabulary: aṭṭat al-samāʾ — the heaven creaked; wa-ḥuqqa lahā — and it is its due, it befits it; wāḍiʿun jabhatahū — placing his forehead, lying in prostration.

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Abū Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him): the Prophet ﷺ said: "I see what you do not see, and I hear what you do not hear. The heaven is creaking, and it is fitting that it should creak, for there is not even a few fingers' space in it but that some angel or other is placing his forehead [on it] for Allah (is in prostration to Allah). By God, if you knew what I know, you would laugh little and weep much, you would not take pleasure in women upon your beds, and you would go out to the mountains [reading uncertain] to be under Allah's protection [seeking refuge with Allah]. I wish I were a tree that is cut down." (And these words are an addition from Abū Dharr [mudraj — inserted into the ḥadīth from the words of Abū Dharr].)

عَنِ ابْنِ عَمْرٍو رضى الله عنه اَنَّ رسول الله صلّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ سَمِعَ قَارِئًا يَقْرَاُ اِنَّ لَدَيْنَا اَنْكَالًا وَّجَحِيْمًا ـ فَصَعِقَ ـ

(Ibn al-Najjār.)

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Ibn ʿAmr (may Allah be pleased with him): the Messenger of Allah ﷺ heard a reciter reciting: "With Us

are severe punishments" — whereupon he "fell unconscious, or cried out."

عَنْ اَسْمَاءَ قَالَتْ مَاكَانَ اَحَدٌ مِنَ السَّلَفِ يُغْشٰى عَلَيْهِ وَلَا يَصْعَقُ عِنْدَ تِلَاوَةِ الْقُرْاٰنِ وَاِنَّمَا كَانُوْا يَبْكُوْنَ وَيَقْشَعِرُّوْنَ ثُمَّ تَلِيْنُ جُلُوْدُهُمْ وَقُلُوْبُهُمْ اِلٰى ذِكْرِ اللهِ ـ

(Narrated by Razīn; Taysīr.)

Vocabulary: yabkūna wa-yaqshaʿirrūn — weeping and having the hair stand on end; talīnu julūduhum wa-qulūbuhum — their skins and hearts would become soft.

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Asmāʾ (may Allah be pleased with her) said: among the people of the past [the salaf] there was no one upon whom swooning would come over, or who would cry out or faint, at the time of reciting the Qurʾān. They would only weep, and the hair on their bodies would stand on end; then their skins and their hearts would soften towards the remembrance of Allah. (Razīn recorded it; Taysīr.)

عَنِ الْحَارِثِ بْنِ سُوَيْدٍ رضى الله عنه قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللهِ بْنُ مَسْعُوْدٍ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وسلم يَقُوْلُ لَلّٰهُ اَفْرَحُ بِتَوْبَةِ عَبْدِهِ الْمُؤْمِنِ مِنْ رَجُلٍ نَزَلَ فِیْ اَرْضٍ دَوِيَّةٍ اِلٰى قَوْلِهٖ ثُمَّ قَالَ اَللّٰهُمَّ اَنْتَ عَبْدِیْ وَاَنَا رَبُّكَ اَخْطَاَ مِنْ شِدَّةِ الْفَرَحِ ـ

(Reported by al-Tirmidhī; Taysīr.)

Vocabulary: afraḥu bi-tawbati ʿabdih — He is more pleased with the repentance (tawba) of His servant; akhṭaʾa min shiddati al-faraḥ — he made a mistake out of joy.

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Ḥārith ibn Suwayd: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying: "Without doubt Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant than that man who halted in a desert . . ." until he said: "He said: 'O Allah, You are my servant and I am Your Lord.' He made a mistake out of extreme joy."