Al-Qushayri preserves a report about Ibrahim ibn Adham, may Allah have mercy on him, during a journey toward Bayt al-Maqdis. While resting beneath a pomegranate tree, Ibrahim and his companion heard a voice from the base of the tree inviting him to eat. After the invitation was repeated, Ibrahim took two pomegranates; on the return journey the same tree was described as taller and its fruit sweet. The report also says that the tree later bore fruit twice a year and became known as Rumman al-Abidin.
Al-Qushayri preserves this account in al-Risala al-Qushayriyya as a karamah connected with Ibrahim ibn Adham, may Allah have mercy on him. Muhammad ibn al-Mubarak al-Suri relates that he was travelling with Ibrahim toward Bayt al-Maqdis. Around midday they stopped to rest beneath a pomegranate tree, turning an ordinary pause in the journey into the setting for the remarkable event that followed.
According to the report, a voice suddenly came from the base of the tree. It addressed Ibrahim by his kunyah and invited him to eat from the tree. The invitation was repeated three times, while Ibrahim did not immediately take anything. The voice then addressed Muhammad ibn al-Mubarak and asked him to intercede so that Ibrahim would accept some of the fruit. The scene therefore moves from the unexpected voice to a direct request that Ibrahim partake of what was on the tree.
Ibrahim then took two pomegranates. He ate one himself and gave the other to Muhammad. Muhammad relates that the pomegranate given to him was sour. The travellers then continued on their way toward Bayt al-Maqdis. At this point the story leaves the tree behind, but only temporarily, because the same place becomes important again when they pass it on their return journey.
When they returned by the same route, they came once more to the pomegranate tree. The report says that its appearance had changed: the tree, which had earlier been short, was now tall, and the pomegranates that grew on it were sweet. The change was therefore not limited to what had happened during their first stop. Their later encounter with the same tree completed the central sequence of the story: the voice, the invitation, the two fruits, and then the altered tree and sweet fruit on their return.
Al-Qushayri's report adds that the tree later came to bear fruit twice each year and became known as “Rumman al-Abidin,” the Pomegranate of the Worshippers. In the public story, these details remain part of the same transmitted account rather than separate incidents. The narrative thus closes with the tree remembered for the unusual events associated with Ibrahim ibn Adham and for the name by which it was said to have become known.
According to the report, a voice suddenly came from the base of the tree. It addressed Ibrahim by his kunyah and invited him to eat from the tree. The invitation was repeated three times, while Ibrahim did not immediately take anything. The voice then addressed Muhammad ibn al-Mubarak and asked him to intercede so that Ibrahim would accept some of the fruit. The scene therefore moves from the unexpected voice to a direct request that Ibrahim partake of what was on the tree.
Ibrahim then took two pomegranates. He ate one himself and gave the other to Muhammad. Muhammad relates that the pomegranate given to him was sour. The travellers then continued on their way toward Bayt al-Maqdis. At this point the story leaves the tree behind, but only temporarily, because the same place becomes important again when they pass it on their return journey.
When they returned by the same route, they came once more to the pomegranate tree. The report says that its appearance had changed: the tree, which had earlier been short, was now tall, and the pomegranates that grew on it were sweet. The change was therefore not limited to what had happened during their first stop. Their later encounter with the same tree completed the central sequence of the story: the voice, the invitation, the two fruits, and then the altered tree and sweet fruit on their return.
Al-Qushayri's report adds that the tree later came to bear fruit twice each year and became known as “Rumman al-Abidin,” the Pomegranate of the Worshippers. In the public story, these details remain part of the same transmitted account rather than separate incidents. The narrative thus closes with the tree remembered for the unusual events associated with Ibrahim ibn Adham and for the name by which it was said to have become known.
Conclusion
The report remembers the journey through the voice from the pomegranate tree, Ibrahim's taking of its fruit, and the later change in the tree and its sweetness, ending with its reported name, Rumman al-Abidin.
Sources
al-Qushayri, al-Risala al-Qushayriyya, Bab Karamat al-Awliya
al-Qushayri, same report: voice from the base of the pomegranate
al-Qushayri, same report: invitation repeated and Muhammad addressed
al-Qushayri, same report: two pomegranates and sour fruit
al-Qushayri, same report: changed tree and sweet fruit on return
al-Qushayri, same report: twice-yearly fruit and Rumman al-Abidin name
al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-Kamal, entry Muhammad ibn al-Mubarak al-Suri
al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-Kamal: Ibn Hibban dates Muhammad al-Suri's birth 153 AH
al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-Kamal, entry Ibrahim ibn Adham: death reports 161, 162 or 163 AH
CAND-0181 Task 1 evidence synthesis