Hadhrat Bayazeed Bustami

Sultan Ul A‘arifeen, Qutb Ul A‘ashiqeen Hadhrat Khwaja Bayazeed Bustami (May Allah be well pleased with him) passed away on 15th Sha‘abaan in 261 Hijri.

 

He received his spiritual education from Hadhrat Imam Ja‘afar Sadiq (May Allah be well pleased with him).  Once, he saw Allah Ta'ala in a dream and asked the Lord:  O Lord of all worlds!  What is the way to reach you?

 

He was told:  You meet Us the moment you leave your Nafs (self).

 

Once he said:  People run away from reckoning (Hisaab in Urdu) in Qiyamah.  I supplicate that my reckoning should be performed.  People asked him:  Why so?  He said:  What a pleasure it would be!  During the course of reckoning, Allah Ta'ala will say, “O My slave” and I will say, “At your service, my Lord”.

 

Ask about this pleasure from that lover whose beloved calls him to his presence and asks, and he answers.

 

Hadhrat Bayazeed Bustami (May Allah be well pleased with him) defined love in this manner:  The lover should consider what all he did, no matter how great it is, to be less and whatever the beloved did, no matter how less it is, to be more.

 

Somebody saw him in a dream after his death and asked him how he had fared in the hereafter.

 

He said:  After being buried, I was asked:  You old man!  What have you brought to us?  I said:  When a pauper comes to the palace of the Emperor, he is not asked what have you brought to us, but yes, we have heard it being said that O empty-handed pauper!  What do you want?

 

After his death, some of his acquaintances saw him in Jannah, flying in the gardens and he is performing Tasbeeh of Allah Ta'ala.  They asked:  How did you achieve this status?  He said: By treating the parents nicely and being patient on their tribulations.

 

Excerpted from:  Gulzar e Auliya