In What will Certainty Consist?

In what will certainty consist? There was, in the time of Imām Hasan al Bașrī (21-110 AH / 642-728 AD), the Imām of the Tābi‘īn (Successors), a man named Habīb al-‘Ajamī (“the non-Arab”), one of the major people of Allah ﷻ. Habīb al-‘Ajamī was studying with with Hasan al Bașrī because he was weak in Arabic, but Allah ﷻ opened up for him the strength of belief in his heart together with the strength of certainty. One day, Imām Hasan al Bașrī came to visit Habīb al-‘Ajamī where he lived. Habīb brought him two loaves of bread which he disposed in front of him for him to eat. At that very time someone knocked on the door. It was a beggar asking for something for the sake of Allah ﷻ. Habīb al-‘Ajamī took back the two loaves from in front of the Imām and gave them to the beggar. Seeing this, Imām Hasan al Bașrī said to him, “If you had a little bit of knowledge you would have taken one loaf and given it to the beggar, and you would have left one load for the guest.” Habīb al-‘Ajamī did not reply anything. A few moments later someone knocked at the door again. Lo and behold, a slave was standing there, holding a large tray on which were all sorts of delicious dishes, and in the centre a pouch full of gold. Habīb al-‘Ajamī placed the food in front of Hasan al Bașrī and said to him, “You are an Imām and this food is suitable for you, and if you had a little bit of certainty you would have know that whatever expenditure you spend then He shall replace it (Saba’ 34:29), because my nurturing Lord is watching and He does not abandon His servant.” This is the meaning of yaqīn.

Another day Habīb al-‘Ajamī passed by Dilja (Tigris) river and found Imām Hasan al Bașrī sitting there. He asked, “Why are you sitting?” He replied, “I am waiting for a boat to cross the river.” Habīb al-‘Ajamī said, “Such as you is in need of a skiff?” Get up with me and let us walk on top of the water, bismi-l-Lāhi-r-Rahmāni-r-Rahĩm,” whereupon he crossed the river from one bank to the other. Seeing this, the Imām wept. This is yaqīn, for in the basmala there is such a power, but our own conviction has not reached that level so that we might say it and walk on top of the water.

Translated from the Arabic by Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad ﵀