Imam Ghazzali on the 4 imams Part 2

Bismillahirahmaniraheem
The second Imam that Imam Ghazzali writes about is Imam Shafeyi.

In The Words of Imam Ghazzali

Imam Shafeyi, He was a devout worshipper. He divided the night into three parts-one part for study, one part for prayer and one part for sleep. The narrator said that Imam Shafeyi used to finish the Quran 60 times in the month of Ramadan and every time he finished it in prayer. Hasan Qarabasi reported: I spent many nights with the great Imam. He used to spend one-third of the night in prayer and yet I have not seen him reciting more than fifty to one hundred verses. At the end of each verse, he would beseech God's mercy upon himself and upon all Muslims. The Imam said: I used not to take food with satisfaction for the last 16 years as a full stomach makes the body heavy, makes the heart hard, increases sleep and renders a man lazy for worship. He also said: Never have I taken oath by God whether true or false. He said: He who claims that the love of the world and love of God are united in him, is a liar. Humaidi said: Imam Shafeyi once went to Yemen with some men and returned to Mecca with 10,000 dirhams. A tent was fixed for him in the outskirts of Mecca and people began to come to him. He did not move from that place till he distributed all dirhams among the people. Generosity of the Iman was great and the root of asceticism is generosity. Whoever loves a thing keeps it with him and everything is insignificant to one to whom the world is insignificant. This is asceticism which leads to God-fear. Once Sufiyan-b-Aynabat fell in swoon before the Imam. He was told that he had expired. He said: if he has died, the best man of his time has died. Umar-b-Nabatah said: I have not found more God-fearing man than Imam Shafeyi. 1, he and Haris-b-Labeed went one day to the valley of Safa. Harts had a student with him and he was a Qari or reader of the Quran. He had a sweet voice and began to read: This is a day on which they will not speak and they will not be given permission to make excuses (77 : 35). 1 saw that the colour of the face of the Imam changed and he was trembling vehemently and then fell in swoon. When he recovered, he began to say: 0 God, I seek refuge to Thee from the place of the liars and the scoffing of the heedless. 0 God, the hearts of agnostics have submitted and the necks of those who yearn for Thee bowed. 0 worshipped, bestow Thy bounty upon me and cover me with thy mercy. Forgive my faults through the grace of Thy countenance. Then he along with us left the place. When I reached Baghdad, he was then in Iraq. I was making ablution on the bank of the river for prayer. A man then was passing by me and said: 0 young man, make ablution well, God will then treat good with you both in this world and in the next, I followed him. He looked at me and said: Have you got any necessity? I said: Teach me something of what God has taught you. He said: Know that he who knows God as true Generosity of the Iman was great and the root of asceticism is generosity. Whoever loves a thing keeps it with him and everything is insignificant to one to whom the world is insignificant. This is asceticism which leads to God-fear. Once Sufiyan-b. Aynabat fell in swoon before the Imam. He was told that he had expired. He said: if he has died, the best man of his time has died. Umar-b-Nabatah said: I have not found more God-fearing man than imam Shafeyi. 1, he and Haris-b-Labeed went one day to the valley of Safa. Harts had a student with him and he was a Qari or reader of the Quran. He had a sweet voice and began to read: This is a day on which they will not speak and they will not be given permission to make excuses (77 : 35). I saw that the colour of the face of the Imam changed and he was trembling vehemently and then fell in swoon. When he recovered, he began to say: 0 God, I seek refuge to Thee from the place of the liars and the scoffing of the heedless. 0 God, the hearts of agnostics have submitted and the necks of those who yearn for Thee bowed. 0 worshipped, bestow Thy bounty upon me and cover me with Thy mercy. Forgive my faults through the grace of Thy countenance. Then he along with us left the place. When I reached Baghdad, he was then in Iraq. I was making ablution on the bank of the river for prayer. A man then was passing by me and said: 0 young man, make ablution well, God will then treat good with you both in this world and in the next, I followed him. He looked at me and said: Have you got any necessity? I said: Teach me something of what God has taught you. He said: Know that he who knows God as true gets salvation and he who fears his religion, remains safe from destruction. He who remains indifferent from the world, will be cool at seeing the rewards which God will give him tomorrow. Shall I give you more advice? I said: Yes. He said: The faith of one who has got three characteristics is perfect—(1) to enjoin good and to act according to it, (2) to prohibit evil and to desist from it, and (3) to guard the limits of God. Shall I give you more advice? I said: Yes. He said: Adopt asceticism in the world, entertain hopes for the next world and believe God in all your affairs, you will then be among those who will get salvation. Then he went away. I asked: Who is he? They said: Imam Shafeyi. Such fear and asceticism are the result of nothing but for his knowledge of God and not for his knowledge of legal questions like advance payment, loan, wages etc. as are embodied in Fiqh.

Imam Shafeyi said: The knowledge of one who does not make himself perfect will come of no use to him. He also said: Whosoever confesses his obedience to God through the help of his knowledge, his heart becomes illumined. He also said: Every one has got some persons who love him and some who hate him. If it be so, be among those who obey God.

Abdul Qader-Abdul Aziz was a God-fearing man. He once asked Imam Shafeyi: Which of these virtues is better-patience, trial, and peace of mind (Tamkin)? The Imam replied: Peace of mind is the rank of the Prophets and it is not attained except by trial, and patience comes after trial. Don't you see that God examined Abraham and then He gave him peace of mind? He examined Solomon and then gave him peace of mind and kingdom. He did the same to Moses, Job, Joseph and others. This reveals the deep knowledge of Imam Shafeyi about the Quran. Sufyan Saori said: I or anybody has not seen like Shafeyi.