Ibrahim ibn Adham and the Unexpected Wild Meat on the Journey

Saintly karamahMercy or blessingHistorical outcomeLater manaqib accounts
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Abu Nu'aym preserves a journey account about Ibrahim ibn Adham, may Allah have mercy on him, travelling toward Mecca on a bitterly cold night with a man and his young son. During the journey, the father said that he wished for roasted wild-ass meat, while Ibrahim heard him and remained silent. After the travellers stopped at an Arab encampment, a wounded animal called a wa'l arrived after escaping hunters; it was slaughtered and some of its meat was sent to them. Ibrahim then told the father to cut the meat and roast it over the fire as he had wished. The source itself uses different animal terms for the father's wish and for the animal that arrived, and this wording is preserved here without merging the two.

Abu Nu'aym preserves a detailed journey account associated with Ibrahim ibn Adham, may Allah have mercy on him. Abu Hafs Umar ibn Hafs says that he was still a boy when he travelled with his father and Ibrahim toward Mecca. The night in the report was intensely cold, and the conditions had become difficult for the travellers as they continued on their way.

During the journey, the boy's father spoke to Ibrahim about something he desired that night. He said that he wished for roasted wild-ass meat cooked over the fire. Ibrahim heard the request but gave no answer. The group continued travelling until they reached an encampment of Arabs, where the cold had become severe enough for Ibrahim to suggest that they remain there until morning.

Then the unexpected part of the story unfolded. The report says that a large animal called a wa'l, which had escaped from hunters, came wounded to the people of the encampment. The hosts slaughtered the animal, cut up its meat, and sent a generous portion of it to the travellers. What had begun as an ordinary stop on a difficult cold night suddenly brought them fresh wild meat.

When the meat reached the group, Ibrahim turned to the father and asked whether he had a knife. He then told him to cut the meat and roast it over the fire, just as he had wanted to do earlier in the journey. The sequence gives the story its memorable shape: the father's wish, Ibrahim's silence, the halt at the encampment, the wounded animal's arrival, and the meat reaching the travellers.

Abu Nu'aym presents the account among reports of karamah connected with Ibrahim ibn Adham and unexpected provision. One detail is kept exactly distinct in the retelling: the father had wished for wild-ass meat, whereas the animal that arrived is called a wa'l in the Arabic report. The source does not turn those two animal terms into one, so the public story preserves both as they appear.

The account therefore closes with the travellers receiving meat on a cold journey and the father being told to roast it over the fire as he had wished. It is a compact story of unexpected provision associated with Ibrahim ibn Adham, may Allah have mercy on him, preserved by Abu Nu'aym without the need to add a spoken prayer, a different animal, or any scene beyond what the report itself narrates.

Conclusion

The report remembers an unexpected provision during Ibrahim ibn Adham's journey: a wounded wa'l arrived at the encampment, its meat reached the travellers, and the father was told to roast it as he had wished.

Sources

Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani, Hilyat al-Awliya, Ibrahim ibn Adham section, journey opening
Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani, Hilyat al-Awliya, Ibrahim ibn Adham section, wish and Ibrahim silence
Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani, Hilyat al-Awliya, Ibrahim ibn Adham section, encampment and cold
Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani, Hilyat al-Awliya, Ibrahim ibn Adham section, waʿl arrival and slaughter
Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani, Hilyat al-Awliya, Ibrahim ibn Adham section, meat sent to guests
Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani, Hilyat al-Awliya, Ibrahim ibn Adham section, Ibrahim tells him to roast it
Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani, Hilyat al-Awliya, Ibrahim ibn Adham section, himar wahsh versus waʿl wording
Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani, Hilyat al-Awliya, Ibrahim ibn Adham section, page/section heading
Narrator profile for Ishaq ibn al-Dayf: Ibn Hajar 'saduq yukhti'; Ibn Hibban included him in al-Thiqat with an error caution
Narrator profile for Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Dayf