HADHRAT IBRAHEEM KHAWWAAS AND THE JINN Hadhrat Ibraheem Khawwaas (rahmatullahi alayh) narrates: "Once when I was on a Hajj journey, a strong urge in my heart constrained me to break away from the caravan. I left the main road and continued the journey walking. I walked continuously for three days and nights. I neither thought of food nor water. I did not even have any other need. Ultimately, I came upon an extremely luxurious and dense forest. Everything was green. Fruit trees and fragrant flowers were in abundance. There was a small pond of clear water. I said to myself: ‘This is Jannat.’ I was indeed amazed. While I was in this state of bewilderment, I saw a group of people approaching. They were adorned in beautiful and shining garments. They came and surrounded me. All made Salaam to me. In response, I said: ‘Wa Alaikumus Salaam wa rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuhu.’ The thought of these people being jinn crossed my mind. One of the group addressing me said: ‘We have a dispute on a particular question. We are a community of jinn. We had heard the sacred Kalaam of Allah Ta`ala from Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). on the night of Uqbah we were honoured to be in his blessed presence. The blessed talk of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) has separated us from all worldly affairs. Allah Ta`ala has bestowed this abode in the forest for us.’ I asked: ‘How far is this place from my companions?’ Hearing this, they smiled. one of them said: ‘O Abu Is`haq! This place is among the wonders and mysteries of Allah Ta`ala. Besides one human being, no one has ever come here. That man was among your companions. He came here and died here. Look! That is his qabr.’ He pointed towards the qabr. The qabr was on the banks of the lake inside a beautiful garden of exotic flowers which I had never seen before. The jinn said: ‘The distance between you and your companions is so many (months or years?).’ [ The narrator of this episode could not remember the number of months or years which Ibraheem Khawwaas had mentioned]. Hadhrat Ibraheem Khawwaas asked the jinn to explain the story of the young man who lies buried in the grave. one of them said: ‘We were sitting here by the lake discussing about Divine Love when suddenly a man appeared and made Salaam to us. We responded to his Salaam and asked where he came from. He said that he came from Nishapur. When we asked him how long it took him to reach here, he said, seven days. We asked the reason for his journey. He said that he had heard the Kalaam of Allah, viz.: "Turn towards your Rabb (i.e. inaabat) and submit (Islam) to Him before there comes to you the punishment, for then you will not be aided." We asked for the meanings of inaabat, Islam and athab in the context of this Aayat. He explained: ‘Inaabat means to turn away from yourself and become obedient to Him. Tasleem is to surrender your life to Him, and to understand that Allah is more entitled to your life than you.’ When he was about to explain athab, he let out a chilling scream and died. We then buried him here. May Allah be pleased with him.’" Ibraheem Khawwaas continues: "I went to his qabr. At the head-side grew dense bushes of beautiful flowers. on a tablet was inscribed: ‘This is the qabr of Allah’s friend. Love killed him.’ On a page I found there was written the meaning of inaabat. I read and explained it to the jinn. They were very pleased and said that they now received a satisfactory answer to their question. I then became drowsy and fell into a deep sleep. When my eyes opened, I discovered that I was near to Musjid-e-Aisha (in Tan`eem). I still had petals of those flowers. They remained fragrant for a whole year. The petals thereafter disappeared mysteriously."
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