- 5 - The Letter Alif

Ibrahim Al-Buladi bin Jabir, "A Fragrance from his News." He was the esteemed Sheikh, the Imam, the Authority, the Traveler Ibrahim bin Jabir bin Awn bin Sulaym bin Ribat bin Ghulām Allāh, son of the noble Rukkābiyya. He was born in Turayj, an island in the land of the Shāqiyya. He went to Egypt and studied under Sayyidi Sheikh Muhammad Al-Būnufrī, from whom he learned jurisprudence, principles, and grammar. Then he traveled to Turayj and taught Al-Khalīl and Al-Risāla there. He was the first to teach Al-Khalīl in the land of the Fūnj. People traveled to him, and his school in Al-Khalīl completed seven recitations of the Quran, and he taught forty people there. Among them were the righteous Sheikh Abd Al-Rahmān, his brother, and it is said seven of Jabir's sons, a righteous prayer from their mother Safiyya. This happened when she had a bowl of clarified butter. They poured it on the ground and made a channel for it. Their mother came and found the butter all gone. She said, "O my children, may God make you pillars in the earth." A voice was heard in the air saying, "Amen." Their father Jabir, may God be pleased with him, and they left their wooden tablets when their channel broke and were busy gathering dirt to seal it. He said to them, "You were busy with worldly matters." So he prayed for them a sincere prayer, and God blessed them and revived religion through them. The four sons of Jabir are like the four elements. Ibrahim was the most knowledgeable, Abd Al-Rahmān the most righteous, Ismāʿīl inherited (knowledge), and Abd Al-Rahmān was the most devout. Their sister Fāṭima, mother of Sheikh Saghirūn, was their equal in knowledge and piety. The reason for his being called "Bulādān" is that a man swore to bring into his house everything God created. He acquired it by placing the Quran on his bed and citing the verse, "We have not neglected anything in the Book." His Sheikh said to him, "You are Bulād." The existing lineage is Al-Azhir, and their descendant is Ismāʿīl bin Jabir. "A Glimpse from his News." He was the esteemed Sheikh, the Imam, the pious, the ascetic, the recluse. He studied under his brother Abd Al-Rahmān and sat in his seclusion after him, and people benefited from him. He was among the ascetics of scholars and the great righteous. Those who studied under him included Sheikh Saghirūn and Sheikh Abd Al-Rahmān, son of his grandmother. They are sufficient proof of his sincerity. He went to Egypt and met Sheikh Al-Būnufrī. He performed the pilgrimage to the Holy House with his sister Fāṭima and her two sons, Sayyidi Muhammad bin Sarḥān, who was young and had not yet reached puberty. When they reached the standing at Arafat, he said, "O son of Fāṭima, you have not reached puberty." By his blessing, he reached puberty that night. His piety was such that he did not use water that came from the irrigation channels of the Sheikh. Their butcher's meat is forbidden.