Prophet Muhammad In Form of Shibli

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام على اشرف الابياء والمرسلين

نبينا محمد المصطفى وعلى آله واهل بيته الطيبين الطاهرين المظلومين

والعاقبة للمتقين

Abd al-Karim al-Jili (1365-1424 CE), a revered Sufi mystic, in his magnum opus, al-Insan al-Kamil, explained the reality of shaykh Abu Bakr al-Shibli’s apparent claim to be the Apostle of Allah:

“You should know - may God protect you - that the perfect man is the pole (qutb) around which evolve the spheres of existence/being from the first to the last. He is unique from the beginning of existence until eternity. He puts on different forms and appears in many places of worship and that is why he is given a name according to his garb of the time and not corresponding to different garbs. The original name that belongs to him is Muhammad, his nickname is Abu’l-Qasim, the name showing his qualities is ‘Abdallah and his honarary title is Shamsaddin. In regard to other garbs he has other names. In every epoch, he has the garb which corresponds to his garb of the time. It is thus that I discovered him in the form of my master shaykh Sharafaddin Isma’il al-Jabarti. I did not know that he was the prophet, but I knew he was my shaykh. That is one of his forms in which he appeared and in which I saw him in Zabid [in Yemen] in the year 796/1393-4. The secret behind this matter is that Muhammad [Allah’s blessings and peace be with him] can adopt each form he likes. When the initiate sees him in the shape he had during his own life, then he calls his by means of his own name. When he is seen in another outward form and he knows he is Muhammad [Allah’s blessings and peace be with him] he calls him with the name of that outward form. The name Muhammad is only used for the reality of Muhammad. Don’t you know that when he showed himself in the shape of Shibli, Shibli said to his disciple: “Testify to the fact that I am the messenger of God!” This disciple was a man of mystical disclosures and that is why he recognised him and said: “I testify that you are the messenger of God!” (al-Insan ul-Kamil ch.60 p.210):