Man is an enemy to that which he knows not

Back in the day (ten years ago to be precise) a book came out as a self-styled attack upon Sufism. What the book lacked in terms of typesetting, was not to be outdone by its shoddy research, incorrect translations/transliterations, and general ignorance. A while back I was reading something in the Shifā of Qāḍī ‘Iyāḍ and noticed something that brought back memories of that old anti-Sufi book. With my curiosity sparked, I went and did a little research and here it is.

This anti-Sufi book called to question a certain mountain Qāf mentioned in the works of the Sufis. So, is there such a mountain called Qāf and if so, where is it?

In the works of the Sufis

Mount Qāf is mentioned repeatedly in many works of the folk. Among them:

Ibn ‘Ajība in Iqāẓ al-Himam

Al-Shaykh al-Akbar, Ibn ‘Arabī in his al-Futuhāt al-Makkīyya

Ṣafī al-Dīn b. al-usayn b. Jamāl al-Dīn al-Anṣārī al-Khazrajī in Siyar al-Awliyā’

Abū Ṭalib al-Makkī in Qūt al-Qulūb

A good summary of what is mentioned in the books of the Sufis regarding Mount Qāf is found in this passage from Abū Ṭālib’s Qūt al-Qulūb:

Abū Yazīd [al-Bistāmī] was asked: ‘Have you ever reached Mount Qāf?’ Abū Yazīd replied: “Mount Qāf is close/similar to that of Mount Kāf, Mount ‘Ayn, and Mount Ṣād.” The questioner asked: ‘What are these?’ Abū Yazīd responded: “They are mountains that surround the lower worlds; surrounding each world there is a mountain similar to Mount Qāf which surrounds this world, and it is the smallest of them and this world is the smallest (of the worlds). Abū Muhammad had informed us that he had ascended Mount Qāf and saw the ship of Nūh spread out on top of it, and he would describe both it and the mountain to us. He said: ‘To Allah belongs a servant in Basra who is able to raise his leg while sitting and place it on top of Mount Qāf…”‘ (Qūt al-Qulūb: 2/69)

In the Qur’ānic exegesis of Imām al-Ṭabarī mentioned some of the grammatical interpretations of Qāf and then said: “…and it has been said that it is a mountain that surrounds the earth…”

In the Qur’ānic exegesis of Imām al-Qurtubī, he said in his commentary on the verse “without pillars you can see”: “…the second view is that there are pillars, however we can not see them. Ibn ‘Abbās said: “It has pillars upon Mount Qāf.” Further on in his exegesis, al-Qurtubī said: “There are different opinions regarding ‘Qāf’ and what it is. Ibn Zayd, ‘Ikrima, and al-Dahhāk said: “It is a mountain that surrounds the earth. It is made of green emeralds and it is what gives the sky its color…”

In the Shifā’ of Qāḍī ‘Iyāḍ, he mentioned the view of Ibn Atā’, then he said: “It has been said that it is a name of the Qur’ān. It has been said that it is a name of Allah, the Exalted, and it has been said that it is a mountain that surrounds the earth, and other things have been said as well…”

In the history of Imām al-Ṭabarī, he mentions the following (not my translation):

These are two cities, one in the East and one in the West. Djaboulqa is in the East and Djaboulsa in the West. These cities are of emerald and both are linked to the mountain Qaf. They have both twelve thousand parasang in length and twelve thousand parasang in width.”

The Prince of Believers ‘Ali (peace be upon him) son of Abu T’Alib was in presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when the Jews came from Khaibar, Fadak and those of Beji Qoraidha. The Jews came with Abu Jehal and W’Alid-ben-Mogaira to see that, what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said was tally with the Pentateuch and the traditions.
Hadrat ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “O Apostle of Allah, these two cities (Djaboulqa and Djaboulsa) are they in the same world we are living?”

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “The two cities are situated in darkness and contiguous to the mountain Qaf.”

‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) asked, “How many inhabitants are there in these places?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “Each of these cities has fortresses and in each fortress there is a garrison of 1000 men who keep on guard each night. The tour (of guard duty) of the men who once keep on guard does not return until the next year”.

‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) asked, “why should there be so great number of people to guard on that place?”

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “Because in these places there are an enormous quantity of gems which belongs to these people whom we call-Tharis and Taqil, they are the enemy of the Djaboulqa and Djaboulsa. They are unceasingly at war night and day. They fight with themselves. It is because of these people that there are these guards and these sentinels”.

Hadrat ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) asked, “do the inhabitants of Djaboulqa and Djaboulsa form part of the children of Adam?”

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).replied, “they do not even know Adam.”

‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) asked, “has the devil penetrated there?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “neither do they know it (the devil).”

‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) asked “do the sun and the moon shine on them?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “They know not that Allah has created the sun and the moon.”

Hadrat ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) asked, “But how they see?” Muhammad(peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “light come to them from the mountain Qaf, and their walls, their stones, and their dusts are all shining as lights.”

‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) “O Apostle of Allah, what do they eat?”

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “the herbs that grow on the earth.” ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) asked, “what do they wear?”

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “they have no need to cover their bodies with garments.”

‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) added, “so, they are angels.”

Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “No, but their obedience to Allah is similar to the angels.”

‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) asked, “do they have kids?”

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “they desire not to have for they are all males and they have no females.”

‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) replied, “are they among the Elects or of the damned?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “they are among the Elects, because they follow the religion and the laws. And they have professed Islam. In the night of Mi’raj when Jibrail took me to heaven, he took me thence to these people. I offered them Islam, they believed in me and in Allah. I appointed a C’Aliph among them from among their own nation and I taught them Islam. Jibrail then took me to Tharis and Taqil and towards Yajuj and Majuj; they were infidels and did not accept Islam.”

Then ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) asked, “O, Apostle of Allah, can any man reach that place?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “No man has the power to reach these people because one has to walk four months in darkness! Meanwhile at the time of Prophet Hud, three men among the Adites³ who became Muslim and who believed in the Prophet Hud, fled their people, and reached these cities.

Conclusion

In all likelihood, the reports regarding Mount Qāf are not authentic in view of their chains of narration and Allah knows best. We see that in the works of exegesis, they say: “It has been said”, which indicates that it is not a strong view. On the other hand, we can understand the words of the Sufis in different ways:

We can understand their words to be symbolic in meaning, indicating higher realities that they have experienced.

It is also possible that there does exist an actual mountain called Mount Qāf in another world. It is not inconceivable that the Awliyā’ were shown such wondrous things in the physical world.

It is also possible that Mount Qāf and other such mountains exist in the ‘Alam al-Mithāl (world of idea-images) which is a real world, outside of the realm of imagination.

The lesson one can learn from all of this is that it is unwise to act with haste and jump to conclusions in denial of anything that does not automatically make sense to us or agree with what we have registered in our rational minds. It is only a sign of our arrogance to deny something reported by upright friends of Allah, simply because we have not seen it with our own senses.