SubHanAllah, I was reading this and it was very contemplative in regards to the present situation in Baghdad al-Shareef. We call it Shareef, but Sayyiduna Bishr al-Hafi :ra: did not want to be there. Yet it is the place where Imam al-'AZam is resting Ghawth al-'AZam is resting, what can I say? I am confused. Hulegu destroyed Baghdad, even burned down the mausoleum of Sayyiduna Imam Musa al-KaZim :ra: and this was a time when there were virtually no rafiDis in Baghdad. Now, Baghdad is still a place of blood bath.
"The masters of Futuwwah are told to give advice incessantly to their dervishes, but while they are preaching to them, they must never lose sight of the fact that many of the things that they ask of the dervishes are also missing in themselves. Badr al-Maghazili says that he asked Bishr al-Hafi, "what do you think about living in Baghdad?" and Bishr answered, "If you wish to die as a Muslim, do not stay here." "Then why are you staying here?" Badr asked. "If a servant ceases to follow Allah's commands, Allah throws him into a destructive and evil place," Bishr replied. "I must have stopped following Allah's commands, for He has thrown me here." From "The Way of Sufi Chivalry" by Sayyiduna Abu 'Abd ar-RaHman ibn al-Husayn al-Sulami al-Neyshapouri :ra: translated by Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi
