The Chishti Nizami Habibi Soofie
Sufi Order
Pietermaritzburg
Kwa Zulu Natal
South Africa
The Great Saint Ibrahim Ibn Ad'ham Weeps.
Ibrahim ibn Ad'ham (Rahmatullah-alai) tried to enter the public bath one day.
"Hey dervish," said the bath-keeper, "you need money to get into
the bath. There is no free entry. Where's your cash?" The venerable saint
bowed his head, saying: "I have no money."
The bath-keeper was adamant, "Those without money cannot enter the bath."
Ibrahim ibn Ad'ham gave a great cry and wept so bitterly that people gathered round to comfort him: "Hey dervish," they said, "is it worth destroying yourself because they would not let you into the bath? Come on, do not cry, we shall give you the money to get in."
Ibrahim ibn Ad'ham replied: "It is not because I cannot get into the
bath that I'm weeping. My sighing and sobbing is due to a very different cause.
The bath-keeper's insistence on the admission fee reminded me of something and
that is why I am weeping. If we are not allowed to enter the bath in this world
here below, unless we pay the fee, I have no hope of being fit to enter Paradise
in the Hereafter. How will it be for me there if they say, 'What good deed have
you brought? Show us so that we may let you into Paradise.' Just as they keep
you out of the worldly bath if you cannot pay, they will certainly not let you
into Paradise in the Hereafter if you have no good deeds to your credit. Who has
more reason than I to weep and moan?"
These words made the bystanders ponder deeply and brought tears to their eyes.