One who, while in a certain ḥāl (spiritual state) that would warrant punishment, believes himself to be secure and does not fear the punishment that will later befall him. If such states are observed in one who is said to possess a karāma (a saintly wonder), it is evidence that the state manifested by that person is not a karāma but rather an istidrāj (preternatural event granted to misguiders). (Nebhāni, I, 13)
There is no doubt that karāmāt (karāmas) are contingent acts (ḥādith, i.e., created after the beginning of time). For nothing eternal (qadīm) is exclusive to anyone. A karāma is extraordinary, occurs at the time of religious obligation, and manifests as a distinction and virtue in the servant's hand. Sometimes it occurs at the will and supplication (dua) of the walī (friend of God), and sometimes it does not. Sometimes it occurs without the walī's desire, at a time he does not wish. The walī is not addressed with the command to call people to himself. It is permissible for such a thing to manifest from one who is qualified for it. (Nebhāni, I, 17)
Karāmāt (karāmas) are of many types, including: First, reviving the dead. This has been witnessed through the stories of certain awliyāʾ (friends of God). Abū ʿUbayd Busri, during battle, supplicated to Allah to revive his animal, and Allah revived it. Mufarrij Dimāmini told a roasted chick to "Fly!" and it flew. Shaykh Ahdal called a dead cat, and the cat rose and came to him. ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī, after eating a chicken, told its crushed bones, "Rise by Allah's permission," and it rose. Shaykh Abū Yūsuf Dahmānī went to a dead person and said, "Rise by Allah's permission," and the dead person rose and lived for a long time thereafter. Subkī reported that he heard from Shāfiʿī Zayn al-Dīn Fārūqī, a teacher in Shām, that his son, the walī Shaykh Fath al-Dīn Yaḥyā, supplicated to Allah for a child who had fallen from the ceiling of his father's house and died, and the child was revived.
Subkī stated that there are many such stories and that it is unnecessary to prolong the discussion, adding: "I also believe in these, but I do not know of any case where a person long dead, whose bones have decayed, was revived by a walī and then lived for a long time. Such a case has not reached us. Nor do I think it possible for any walī. However, there is no doubt that such events occurred for previous prophets (peace be upon them). In that case, it is a muʿjiza (miracle), not a karāma. Thus, before prophethood is completed, it is permissible for a prophet to revive a community that lived centuries before him as a miracle, and for them to live and continue their lives for a long time. At present, I do not believe that a walī could revive Imām al-Shāfiʿī or Imām Abū Ḥanīfa for us, and that they would live as before their deaths, or even mingle with the living for a short time."
The second karāma is speaking with the dead. This has occurred more frequently than the previous karāma. Similar stories have been narrated by Taqī al-Dīn Subkī and other shaykhs, from Abū Saʿīd Harrāz, then from Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir (al-Jīlānī), and from other shaykhs who were imams.
The third is splitting the sea, the sea drying up, and walking on water. Such karāmāt are numerous. Such karāmāt were seen in Shaykh al-Islām and the master of the later scholars, Taqī al-Dīn Daqīq al-ʿId.
The fourth is transforming one substance into another. It is narrated that someone, mocking Shaykh ʿĪsā Ḥattār al-Yamanī, sent him two full vessels containing wine. The shaykh recited the basmala and said, "Eat." When those present began to eat, they found that the contents had turned into an unprecedented type of oil in color and smell. Many similar stories are told.
The fifth is the folding and shortening of the earth for them. It is narrated that one of the awliyāʾ, while in the mosque of Tarsus, longed for the Kaʿba. He put his head into his collar, and when he took it out, he found himself at the Kaʿba. Such stories are so numerous as to reach the level of tawātur (mass transmission), and only the bewildered deny them.
The sixth is speaking with inanimate objects and animals. There is no doubt about the occurrence of such karāmāt, and they are quite numerous. It is narrated that a pomegranate called to Ibrāhīm Adham to eat it, and he did; that he could reach a pomegranate tree despite being too short, that the pomegranate became sweet though it was sour, and that it bore fruit twice a year.
The seventh is healing the sick. Sarī al-Saqaṭī narrated that he met a man on a mountain who healed the crippled, blind, and sick. It is also narrated that when Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī told a paralyzed, blind, and leprous child to rise by Allah's permission, the child rose healthy.
The eighth is the obedience of animals to the awliyāʾ. Such stories are narrated about Abū Saʿīd Abī Khayr al-Yamanī and, before him, Ibrāhīm Ḥawwās. It is also narrated that inanimate objects obeyed them. The story of Shaykh al-Islām ʿIzz al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Salām and the incident during the Crusades, when he said, "O wind, seize them," is an example of this.
The ninth is tayy al-zamān (passing into a different dimension of time). The tenth is the expansion of time. It is difficult to explain these last two in a way comprehensible to the intellect. It is more fitting to leave them to those qualified in the Islamic religion. Many stories are told about them.
karāma/karāmāt
The eleventh is the acceptance of supplication (dua). This has occurred many times, and we ourselves have witnessed it in many people.
The twelfth is binding and loosening the tongue. The thirteenth is the attraction of the heart to a gathering one greatly dislikes.
The fourteenth is informing about some events of the unseen and unveiling (kashf). These are too numerous to recount.
The fifteenth is abstaining from food and drink for long periods.
The sixteenth is the station of disposal (tasarruf maqām). Much has been narrated about this regarding some Sufis. It is said that rain followed some of them. It is narrated that Shaykh Abū al-ʿAbbās Shāṭir, one of the later shaykhs, sold rain by the dirham. So many stories are told about him in this regard that it is no longer possible to deny them rationally.
The seventeenth is possessing the ability to consume large amounts of food.
The eighteenth is the ability to protect oneself from eating the unlawful. It is narrated that Ḥāris al-Muḥāsibī could smell unlawful food and, recognizing it by its smell, would not eat it. It is also said that he would sweat when about to eat unlawful food. A similar story is told about Shaykh Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Mursī.
The nineteenth is seeing a distant place from behind a veil. It is narrated that Shaykh Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī saw the Kaʿba from Baghdad.
The twentieth is the awe (hayba) granted to some. It is narrated from Abū Yazīd al-Bisṭāmī that some died merely by seeing the walī, or turned to coal before him, or confessed something they had hidden from him. Many such stories exist.
The twenty-first is Allah protecting them from the harm of those who wish them evil and turning evil into good, as in the incident between Imām al-Shāfiʿī and Hārūn al-Rashīd.
The twenty-second is the ability to imagine various states. The Sufis call this the world of mithāl (imaginal realm), considering it an intermediate realm between the world of bodies and the world of spirits (arwāḥ). They say this realm is subtler than the world of bodies but denser than the world of spirits, and that spirits become embodied and appear in various forms in the imaginal realm. They have taken into account the verse: "So he (Gabriel) appeared to her (Mary) as a well-proportioned man" (al-Maryam 19:17).
One such karāma is as follows: When someone accused Kāzib al-Bān al-Mawṣilī, one of the Abdāl, of not praying because he did not see him praying, Mawṣilī immediately appeared in various forms and asked him in which of these forms he had seen him not praying. There are many such stories about the Abdāl. Another story is as follows: One of the later shaykhs, upon seeing a poor old man performing ablution without observing the proper order in the Suyūfiyya madrasa in Cairo, asked him why he did not observe the order. The old man replied: "I did not perform ablution in order, but if you saw what I see, you would do the same," and, taking him by the hand, showed him the Kaʿba and then took him to Mecca. That person found himself in Mecca and, according to the lengthy story, stayed there for years.
The twenty-third is Allah informing them of the treasures of the earth. Regarding this, it is narrated that when Abū Turāb (al-Naḥshabī) struck his foot on the ground, sweet water gushed forth. Ibn Subkī said: "Regarding this karāma, I say: Allah created water where it should not have been, and the earth obeyed the one who struck it with his foot." (Nebhāni, I, 31)
Muʿjiza (miracle): It is necessary for the prophet to challenge with his miracle and to manifest it openly. For the walī, except in cases of necessity, permission, a state that overcomes him without his will, or to strengthen the certainty of some murīds (disciples), it is obligatory to conceal and cover his karāma. There must be an exception that the walī must conceal his karāma absolutely and not manifest it openly. (Nebhāni, I, 74)
Magic (siḥr) only appears at the hands of disbelievers (kāfir), heretics (zindīq), and sinners (fāsiq). Karāma does not occur with them. Imām al-Ḥaramayn said: This is not a rational necessity, but knowledge acquired by the consensus of the scholars. (Nebhāni, I, 77)
Karāma, for the walī who possesses karāmāt, is the extraordinary act that occurs as a sign of his uprightness (istiqāma) due to the worship performed during his spiritual journey (sulūk) in the tariqa (Sufi path) he follows. (Qawānīn, 94)
Karāmāt (karāmas)... Allah's custom regarding His creation is to support His prophets with extraordinary acts called muʿjiza (miracle), which others cannot imitate. Through those miracles, Allah strengthens the faith of those who are in doubt and confusion regarding the fundamentals brought by the prophets. Among the people whose insight Allah has illuminated with the light of wisdom (ḥikma) and maʿrifa (gnosis), those endowed with intellect have no need for anything to strengthen their faith or conviction. For they witness the manifestation of the Truth (al-Ḥaqq) in every word, action, and deed that proceeds from these prophets. The same applies to Allah's awliyāʾ (friends of God) and aṣfiyāʾ (the pure ones). For Allah, the Exalted, supports them in their actions and movements with wonders and karāmāt. Through those karāmāt, those in confusion submit to the power of the Truth, and the faith of the people of witnessing increases. Although karāmāt are not muʿjiza, they resemble and are of the same kind, for the awliyāʾ follow in the footsteps of the prophets. (Nafahāt, 31)
kerem (generosity): Kerem is between a luxurious life and extravagance. Kerem is a joy of heart that arises from spending on noble and greatly beneficial deeds. This is also called ḥurriyyet (spiritual freedom). (Mizān, 72)
If one asks, "What is the key to kerem?" the answer is: It is the asking of those who ask from us and from Him, and those who ask through us and through Him. Asking from us and through us is an essential request. It is impossible to be separated from Him. The form of the key to such kerem is to be aware that it is at this level. Another like you is unaware of it, does not know it, so he cannot describe your state or fulfill what your essence deserves and cannot be separated from, so as to show you generosity.
As for kerem that is from Him and through Him: the asking of the asker occurs by means of something that appears after Allah creates that request in him. This is because kerem is the locus of manifestation of the Truth (al-Ḥaqq), and its right is to be the locus of manifestation of His right, so that it manifests itself in the outward tongue.