The Law of Repentance

Qanun al-Tawba
from Qawanin Hikm al-Ishraq ila kafat al-Sufiyya bi-Jami’ al-Afaq

by
Shaykh Abu al-Mawahib al-Tunisi al-Shadhili
(d. 881/1477)

Translation by Tarek Ghanem

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The Law of Repentance
A translation by Tarek Ghanem
11 June, 2019
http://masud.co.uk/the-law-of-repentance/

Introduction

Many neighborhoods traditionally used to be named after one of their

residents, in recognition of their piety and influence on their community.
The neighbourhood of al-Tunisi (literally the Tunisian) in old Cairo is
named after the shaykh, educator and author of the new translation of the
text below, titled ‘the Law of Repentance’. Al-Shaykh Abu al-Mawahib al-
Tunisi (d. 881/1477) is author the Qawanin Hikm al-Ishraq (The Laws of
Wisdoms of Illumination), the book to which our Law of Repentance
belongs. In his biographical dictionary, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, Imam al-
Sha’rani (d. 973/1565) describes the Shaykh Abu al-Mawahib and his book
by asserting, “He has al-Qanun on the science of the [Sufi] Folks which is
a splendid, unmatched book. It testifies to his complete sapiential
experience in the spiritual path.” [i]

Shaykh Abu al-Mawahib Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Ahmad bin Dawud bin
Salamah al-Tunisi, known as Ibn Zaghdan, was born in Tunisia in
820/1417. He died in Cairo in 881/1477 and is buried in a mosque that
bears his name to this day. He memorized the Qur’an and studied Arabic,
theology, and Maliki fiqh from a young age in Tunisia before moving in
Cairo. After settling in Cairo, he resided near al-Azhar Mosque and his
spiritual retreat was no other than the very minaret of that famous mosque
and honored educational institution. In Cairo he studied Hadith with the
erudite master Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d. 885/1449) and Sufism with Yahya
ibn Abi al-Wafa’. He came to be associated with the Shadhili Sufi order and
the Wafa’iyya branch, which was started by Shaykh Ali al-Wafa (d.
807/1405) and then continued to become a vibrant zawiya under his sons
in the Mamluk era. Currently the Mosque of Wafa’iyya is separated from
the Mosque of al-Tunisi by a highway. From Cairo, Shaykh Abu al-
Mawahib went to perform pilgrimage and stayed there for a while.

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Imam al-Manawi describes Shaykh Abu al-Mawahib as “His words are
well-regarded. Talk about his stature testify to his elevated rank. He is the
imam of piety, the of chief the ascetics, and the treasure of the Gnostics”.[ii]
Shaykh Abu al-Mawahib was known for his connection with and immense
reverence for the Prophet, Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him. His
profound admixture (mazj), or intertextual commentary, on the famous
Prayer of Ibn Mashish, titled al-Wazifa, continues to be recited to this day.
He authored few books on spiritual topics and a collection of poetry. His
Law of the Wisdom of Illumination is his most celebrated. According to its
author, the reason he wrote down these laws is, “Because they contain that
which is either as swift passing as an arrow or lofty and pristine, referring
to knowledge with the most gracious allusion… offering intimacy to the
wayfarer in the beginning, and cause him or her to reach guidance, God’s
willing, in the end.”[iii]

Repentance in Islam is not only an act of rectification and cleansing of the

heart. Al-Tawwab, meaning the Repenter or Relenter, is one of Allah’s
ninety nines Beautiful Names. Allah also inspires us to turn by affirming,
{Truly, Allah loves those who repent} (2:222). He also cautions us that,
{Those who do not repent are the wrongdoers} (49:11). Also our beloved
Prophet, Allah’s peace and blessing be upon, says, “I am the Messenger of
repentance” (narrated by Muslim), and also says about himself, “I seek
Allah’s forgiveness and repent to Him a hundred times a day” (al-Nasa’i
and Ahmad). Starting with Adam, peace be upon him, returning to Allah
the soil in which our souls are rooted. According to the Qur’an, Allah not
only accepted the repentance of Adam, peace upon him, He also inspired
him with the prayer of leading to his repentance (2:37). Repentance is a
way of being and an outlook with which the believers advance in their life
and path by constantly creating new openings and beginnings for
themselves, by way of returning to their deity, anchoring themselves in
primordial truths of their bigger reality, and achieving their maximal
potential. No wonder then that, as a spiritual and practical act, repentance
takes a centerstage in the story of our existence and the divine Trust and
ethical responsibility we have.

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 We did offer the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the
mountains, but they refused to bear its burden and were afraid
of it, and man picked it up. Indeed he is unjust, unaware. The
result (of all this) is that Allah will punish the hypocrites, men
and women, and the idolaters, men and women, and will accept
the repentance of the believing men and women. Surely Allah is
Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful. (33:72-73)

The Law of Repentance is one of fourteen sections of the book of Law of

Wisdoms of Illumination. As a literary and spiritual work, it is unique in
its style and content. The below is a new translation of one of its section.
An old translation under the title Illumination in Islamic Mysticism, by
Edward Jabra Jurji, was published in 1938. Despite its fluency, a new
translation is needed. For example, even when followed by speaking about
misguided groups (as in the translation below), the translator translated
jama’a (lit. community) as “the Sufis”, instead of the obvious and correct
translation as the Sunni Orthodoxy (ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama’a). Each
section of the book, or separate law for spiritual illumination, is made of a
collection of rhyming interchangeable sets of aphorisms. For example the
First Law of Divine Oneness (tawhid), is made of two sets of aphorism. It
starts with headed as a ‘reality’ (haqiqa), followed by ‘subtlety’ (daqiqa),
and then back to ‘reality’, and so forth. In the section on repentance there
is dialectic between ‘affirmations’ (sing. taqrir) and ‘cautions’ (sing.
tahzir). Between every affirmation and caution that author ably digs for a
new understanding of how to best repent is achieved. Other laws in the
book cover sincerity, asceticism, love, vigilant self-accountability, gnosis,
and is concluded with general and special sainthood (wilaya), among
others.

I trust that the readers can benefit from the inspiring insights of this text.

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The Law of Repentance
Being a translation of Qanun al-Tawba, from Abu al-Mawahib al-
Tunisi al-Shadhili’s Qawanin Hikm al-Ishraq ila kafat al-Sufiyya bi-
Jami’ al-Afaq

The Law of Repentance (tawba): Meaning Returning (awba)

The Most Sublime says, {And turn all together to Allah, O you
believers; so that you may prosper} (24:21).

Affirmation: According to the consensus of the Community [of the

Sunni Orthodoxy], excluding the people of innovation and
deviation, the conditions for repentance are: (1) to have remorse
for contraversions that a servant committed, (2) to quit
immediately from them without slowness or looking back, (3) to
have resolve to never recommit them in the future, (4) to give back
any property that was unlawfully taken, and; (5) to seek to free
oneself from falsely falling into speaking ill of others in the honor.

Caution: Never ride the limping ride of disobedience, least it stops

midway on the winding road. Rather, race in and march uprightly
on the straight path.

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Affirmation: He only commended you to repent in order to cleanse
you from desecration, and in order to adorn you with the attributes
of satisfaction. Therefore, rid yourself from your base and
reprehensible attributes, and, instead, take on His majestic and
honorable attributes.

They have elected you to a matter, so lofty–

If only you are able to understand that.

So be sagacious not to graze with the trivial herds.

Caution: Never abandon repentance, because the sign of prosperity

is to adopt the path of the success.

Affirmation: He who has never acquired true repentance has not

cleansed himself according to the People of the Path (ashab al-
tariqah). Therefore, cleanse yourself and be among the repented so
that He adores you with His attributes.

He, Most Sublime, says, {Truly, Allah loves those who repent, and
He loves those who cleanse themselves} (2:222).

Caution: Never construct your castle of works on anything but the

foundation of repentance and seeking forgiveness; so that you are
not like he who builds on the brink of a crumbling abyss.

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Affirmation: The repentance of the common ones is from slippage.
The repentance of the elites is from habits. The repentance of the
elites of the elites is from everything other [than He], and
gravitating toward spiritual stations and lights.

Caution: Never feel safe with sincere repentance, even it brought

you the tidings of acceptance; because He, Most Sublime, is not
questioned of what He does, and they are questioned.

Affirmation: The execution of repentance neither pleases nor is

abandoning difficult. It was only made for you as a guarding
protection.

Caution: Never repent outwardly while inwardly you are insisting

on vile; so that you are like the hypocrites who are satisfied with
the contentment in the eyes of creation, while they brought on
themselves the wrath of the Lord of the Worlds.

Affirmation: What has moved the resolve of the Folks to quit is

their awareness of their state of wicked habits.

Caution: Never be allured by the promises of false hopes and

procrastination, so that you are not barred from receiving closeness
in the lofty stations.

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Affirmation: He who the Real has made to witness the darkening
of sins abandons them.

Caution: Never fall in the captivity of disobedience as, otherwise,

you will take on the attributes of impurity, will perish, and your
ugliness will not be covered. People will turn away from you from
the abhorrent stench.

Affirmation: The Folks made breaking away with the friends of

disobedience a condition for repentance. Abandon them prior to
that for the sake of preserving your character, as this is more
pleasing to your Creator.

Caution: Never return to the places of abandonment and the sites

of desertion, as they might cause you to relapse instantly.

Affirmation: He who is continuously in repentance, with prudence

and determination, is the truthful, genuinely-faith one, the one
who, based on his or her wayfaring, will arrive at the objectives of
the path.

Caution: Beware of feebleness and laxity, as they are causes of

lethargy. He who keeps the company of the vile ones shall have his
wayfaring fall short from all the gains and good he or she seeks.

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Affirmation: Had repentance not have any virtue except that it
saves its possessors from their destruction, and bring them closer
to the Sovereign Lord after remoteness [that would suffice]!
Otherwise, one would be among the perishing one, because of their
remoteness from the Lord of Worlds.

Caution: Stay away from that which will cause even the hands of
an innocent person who is satisfied with kind commendation to
apologize. Goodly states are in tranquility and happiness. Are not
the types of confirmation that are often-recited enough of an
admonition for a sagacious person?

Affirmation: How greatly different is the repentance of the longing

lover from that of the one who repents out of fear and
apprehension. The first is moved by longing to behold beauty. The
second was cautioned by fear against the authority of rigor.

Caution: Be aware you noble, skillful, intelligent individual of

making your repentance a reason for your wish to be fulfilled.
Rather, making it a form our worship to your Master, so that you
become one of the elite ones, the possessors of realization and
sincerity.

Affirmation: Some used to not asking repentance, but rather for

the desire for apprentice; so that they may find the incentive for
resolve, which is more worthy of and better for achieving prudence.

Caution: Never claim that you have reached the station of

repentance, while you are still continuing with your desires,
preoccupied with your habits. Begone! Begone! Finding resolve has
signs.

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Affirmation: The station of repentance does not take it possessor
away from the beginnings. That is why he or she is preoccupied
with their striving, while in the end there awaits them the pleasure
of different kinds of beholding.

Or you may say, the beginning is getting rid of one’s habits and
purification, while the end is a possession of enlightenment.

Or you may say, the beginning rids oneself and adorns them, while
the end is preparation for the light of manifestation.

Or you may say, the beginning is staying away from heinous

attributes and fleeing from mean character traits.

Or your may say, the beginning is the filling the vessel with a better
‘I’, while the end is differentiating between ‘You’ and ‘I’.

Or you may say, the beginning is letting go of creation, and or even

adorning oneself with noble character, followed by the
manifestation of the Self-Sufficient all-Knower.

Or you may say, based on the beginning the end; is realized by way
of discernment (firāsah) without the unveiling of devotion, which
is known habitually.

Or you may say, if the foundation of the beginning is firmly based

on the proper foundations. Its possessor shall in the end find the
objectives and the benefits he or she wish for.

Caution: Beware of constructing your path on foundation other

than that of God-fearingness. Otherwise, you may become of one
of the people of misguidance and caprice. Rather, seek the most
cautionary position, so you may find wish and happiness in your
grave.

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Endnotes
[i] Abd al-Wahhab al-Sha’rani, al-Tabaqat al-kubra, edited by Ahmad al-Sayih and
Tawfiq Wahba(Cairo: Maktabat al-Thaqafa al-Diniyya, 2005), 2:135.

[ii] Muhammad al-Manawi, al-Kawakib al-Durria fi tarajim al-sada al-Sufiyya,

edited by Ahmad Farid al-Mazidi(Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyah, 2008), 2:400.

[iii] Jamal al-Din Abi al-Mawahib al-Shadhili al-Tunisi, Qawanin hikm al-Ishraq ila
kafat al-Sufiyya bi-jami’ al-afaq, edited by Muhammad Shihata Ibrahim (Cairo: al-
Maktaba al-Azharyya lil-Turath, 1999), 5.

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