Sultan of the Throne of Guidance, the Favored of the Almighty God, Sheikh Abu Ali Roodbari. His respectable name Ahmad son of Mohammad bin Abul-Qasem. He was originally from Roodbar[1] in the province of Isfahan, grew up in Baghdad and was son of a minister. In the Nafahat ul Uns[2] His Holiness is known from the rank of the fourth[3]. His Holiness was a pupil of Taghlib in literature and in narration was pupil of Ibrahim al Jaree and in religious jurisprudence was pupil of Abu Al Abbas Bin Sareej and in Sufism (Tariqah) was disciple and devotee of His Holiness Junaid Baghdadi and was spiritual guide of Sheikh Abu Ali Katib.

It is said, one day His Holiness Junaid was preaching in a majlis (Sufi assembly) Abu Ali’s way crossed Junaid’s majlis, at that time, Junaid was saying to a man: O! you listen Abu Ali thought that he was addressing him, stood to listen. Junaid’s words set in his heart and impressed necessary effects, at that very time abandoned whatever was within his heart and approached towards tarighah.

His Holiness conversed with many Sheikhs, among them were Sheikh Abu Al Hassan Noori and Abu Hamzeh Khorasani and Abu Hojreh Mohammad bin Ibrahim Baghdadi and Abubakr Qatifee and Abu Amr Dameshqi. He obtained total training and spiritual perfection from the sacred breath of His Holiness Junaid and finally attained to be the vicegerent and successor of His Holiness and after him was established on the throne of guidance. For some time in Baghdad was occupied in the duty of guiding worshippers and towards the end of his life went to Egypt and in that country between the years 320 to 323 Hijri (932 to 935 AD) passed away. His Holiness’ age has not been cited, as his date of birth has not been recorded in Tazkira books (biographies). The period of his authority on the throne of guidance was approximately for twenty four years. His vicegerent and successor is Sheikh Abu Ali Katib.

 

Contemporaries of His Holiness from Sheikhs and Mystics:

1) Sheikh Abol Hassan Nouri

2) Abu Hamzeh Khorasani

3) Sheikh Abol Qasem Nasrabadi

4) Abu Bakr Qatifee

5) Abol Hassan Siyouti

 

From the four delegates (deputies):

1) Abu Jaffer Mohammad Bin Osman

2) Abol Qasem Hossein Bin Ruh

 

From Religious authorities and jurists:

1) Taqlab Nahvi

2) Abu Al Abbas Bin Sareej

 

From Caliphs:

1) Al Moktafee Billah

2) Mohammad Bin Motazid

3) Al Moqtader Billah Abbasi

 

From Amirs:

1) Ahmad Bin Amir Ismael Samani

2) Nasr Bin Ahmad Bin Ismael Samani

 

Some brief sayings of His Holiness

The most sever prisons is to associate with a opposite persons. And also said: Excessive speech over deeds is a deficiency and excess of deeds over speech is generosity. And also said: The sign of God turning away from his servant is to leave the servant to be engaged with something which is not beneficial to him. And said: If a disciple whines from five days of hunger, he should be sent to the marketplace to beg. And said: Sufism is the attribute of proximity after the gloom of remoteness. And said: Fear and hope are two wings of bird, and when the bird stands, wings also stand and since if one wing is deficient the other wing will also be impaired. And when man does not have the both, he is in the rank of polytheism. And said: the truth of fear is that besides God the Almighty, not to fear another except Him. And said: The Almighty God loves those who are endowed with magnanimity and those endowed with magnanimity love Him.

And said that just as the Almighty God on the Prophets has made it a religious duty to manifest miracles; for the Saints made it a duty to conceal positions and conditions so that the eyes of strangers not to fall on them and no one sees and knows them. Said: when the heart becomes empty from the loves of this world and headship in him wisdom manifests and the self restrains servitude and contemplation from the spirit and after these three, a thing is manifested: see His creatures and know His throne and acting His delicateness. And said: A servant is not empty of four egos, either blessings which bring about gratitude, or calamity which brings about His remembrance, or hardships which brings about benefits, or wrongdoings which brings about forgiveness. And said for everything there is a moralizer and the moralizer of the heart is humility.

During death, Sheikh’s head was in the lap of his sister. Opened his eyes and said: they opened doors of paradise and ornamented the heavens, so to manifest on me. The angels proclaim, we will take you to a position that has not ever passed in your thinking, but the heart says, I swear by your truth that, I shall not glance at anyone else besides you. We have been waiting since lifelong time, and don’t have the means to return back and will by small donation.

 

Brief account of His Holiness’s generosities:

Said when a dervish was supplicating and died, we were burying him when I wanted to put the shroud aside from his face and lay his face on the ground so that the Almighty God may have mercy on his loneliness, opened his eyes and said: Do you see me humble in front of Him who made me dear? I said: O' son of man, after death are you alive? Said: Yes, I am alive and the friends of God are alive and I shall O’ Roodbari help you.

One time was at the seaside and with obsession used to make ablution, the wind blew and hands and legs chapped and blood started oozing. He became unable and said: God exempt me. Proclaimed that, blessings is in knowledge (of Shariah) and affliction of the hands and feet being chapped was because of obsession that has not been commanded in Shariah. That very moment went to the public bath house, in the clothes room his eyes fell on a patched cloth, thought that from the dervishes who is in the bath house, when entered, saw a dervish standing at the service of a rich young Amir. Said nothing, since the young man stood up, the dervish poured water on him and washed him and since he performed ablution, brought a dry towel to dry him. The young man went out of the bath area, and dervish also went after him, Sheikh thus was being a spectator. The dervish put on the clothes of the young man, sprinkled rose water on him and burned incense. Took a fan and started fanning him, brought him mirror, whatever services he performed, the young man surely did not pay any heed, got up to go out. The dervish patience reached the end, said: O young man what should I do you so pay attention to me. Said: die and relieve yourself so I will look at you. The dervish fell down and died and the young man went out. Abu Ali said: the dervish was taken to the Khaneghah and was shrouded and buried. After sometime Sheikh went to Hajj saw that young man is in the desert while wearing patched clothes. Said: Are you not the same young man who killed the dervish? Said: I am. O' Sheikh, that was a mistake I did. Sheikh said: How did you come here? Said: that night when I went to sleep, saw the dervish in my dream who said: you asked me to die and did not pay heed to me. I woke up and repented and went on his grave, shaved my head and wore patched clothes.