A classical biographical report preserves an account attributed directly to Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani from his days as a student. During severe poverty and hunger, he said that he heard the voice of an unseen speaker telling him to borrow for his need. He obtained food on credit from a grocer, and later, according to the same account, was directed to a place where he found a large piece of gold and used it to repay the debt.
A striking account from the student days of Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani is preserved in classical biographical sources. What makes the report especially noteworthy is the way it is transmitted. Ibn al-Najjar relates it through Abd Allah ibn Abi al-Hasan al-Jubba‘i, who states that Abd al-Qadir himself told him the story directly.
At the time, Abd al-Qadir was devoted to seeking knowledge but was living in severe poverty. There were days when even food was difficult to obtain, and hunger became a real hardship. In this condition, according to his own reported account, he heard the voice of a speaker whom he could not see. The voice told him to borrow what he needed.
Acting on this instruction, Abd al-Qadir went to a grocer and obtained food on credit. His immediate hunger was relieved, but the debt remained upon him, and it still had to be repaid.
The account then takes an extraordinary turn. Later, Abd al-Qadir said that he was directed toward a particular place. When he reached it, he found a large piece of gold. What had begun as a moment of helplessness and hunger now became a means of relief. He took the gold and, from it, repaid the grocer from whom he had borrowed.
The sequence of the report is simple but powerful: a student struggling in poverty, an unseen voice telling him to borrow for his need, food obtained on credit, guidance toward a particular place, the discovery of gold, and finally the repayment of the debt. The story does not end merely with the removal of hunger; it ends with the obligation created in that difficult moment being fulfilled.
Al-Dhahabi preserves the wording of this account in Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala, and a parallel report is also found in Tarikh al-Islam. In the form in which it has reached us, it is presented as Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani’s own account of an unusual spiritual experience during the hardships of his student life.
Thus, the classical report presents an episode in which extreme need was followed first by an unseen instruction and then by an unexpected means of provision, through which Abd al-Qadir was able to discharge the debt he had taken in his time of need.
At the time, Abd al-Qadir was devoted to seeking knowledge but was living in severe poverty. There were days when even food was difficult to obtain, and hunger became a real hardship. In this condition, according to his own reported account, he heard the voice of a speaker whom he could not see. The voice told him to borrow what he needed.
Acting on this instruction, Abd al-Qadir went to a grocer and obtained food on credit. His immediate hunger was relieved, but the debt remained upon him, and it still had to be repaid.
The account then takes an extraordinary turn. Later, Abd al-Qadir said that he was directed toward a particular place. When he reached it, he found a large piece of gold. What had begun as a moment of helplessness and hunger now became a means of relief. He took the gold and, from it, repaid the grocer from whom he had borrowed.
The sequence of the report is simple but powerful: a student struggling in poverty, an unseen voice telling him to borrow for his need, food obtained on credit, guidance toward a particular place, the discovery of gold, and finally the repayment of the debt. The story does not end merely with the removal of hunger; it ends with the obligation created in that difficult moment being fulfilled.
Al-Dhahabi preserves the wording of this account in Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala, and a parallel report is also found in Tarikh al-Islam. In the form in which it has reached us, it is presented as Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani’s own account of an unusual spiritual experience during the hardships of his student life.
Thus, the classical report presents an episode in which extreme need was followed first by an unseen instruction and then by an unexpected means of provision, through which Abd al-Qadir was able to discharge the debt he had taken in his time of need.
Conclusion
The report may be included as a classically preserved account attributed directly to Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani concerning an unseen voice, relief during severe poverty, the discovery of gold, and repayment of his debt.
Sources
Siyar al-A‘lam al-Nubala 20:445–446: Ibn al-Najjar says al-Jubba‘i wrote to him that Abd al-Qadir told him of an unseen voice instructing him to borrow, followed later by direction to a large piece of gold used to repay the grocer.
Tarikh al-Islam, vol. 39, independently preserves Abd al-Qadir’s self-report of an unseen speaker instructing him to borrow and his later finding a large piece of gold used to repay the grocer.
Al-Dhahabi states in the same biography that many karamat attributed to Abd al-Qadir are not sound and some attributed claims are impossible.