3.2.5 - All Seeing and Remote Observation

In addition to what we have already mentioned in Chapter II about some charismata and other extraordinary actions the Sufis often do, for example in sections

ef(telepathy,

ef(fatihah and

ef(abdulmajid, some of the extraordinary qualities of Shaykh Abu Madyan was his being “all seeing”. This rare station, achieved only by those saints close to God, has its origin in the famous Holy Tradition: Hadith Qudsi, narrated by Abu Huraira, that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: that Allah Almighty says:

Whosoever shows enmity to a saint of Mine, I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask Me, I would surely give him, and were he to seek refuge in Me, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about seizing the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him.

[Kanz: 21323].

Therefore, if God Almighty is the sight of the believer, and his hearing him and his hand and foot, he has become so close to God Almighty that would be able to see in what he hears or strikes or walks, so he would be “all seeing”, because he becomes light, and he will attain the wholeness always sought by alchemists as we discussed in Chapter VII of the Duality of Time.

In this regard, the Greatest Shaykh narrates that Shaykh Abu Madyan was described by this state and he even had a son who was able to see remote objects through simply by looking at his father. He gives an example in the following miraculous story:

Shaykh Abu Madyan had a young boy from a negro, and at the age of seven he often says that he sees some ships in certain remote regions in the see, and he describes what was happening on them. Then after some days those ships come to Bugia, the city of this boy, and there it was the matters of what the boy said. Then when he was asked: how do you see? He says, “With my own eyes”, then he says, “No, but I see that with my heart”, and then he says, “No, but I see that with my father, if he is present or when I look at him, but if he is away I see nothing of that.

[Futuhat: I.221].

We will also mention shortly in section

ef(facenoback how Shaykh Muhyiddin first experienced a similar situation in Fez when he started to see from all directions.