Hayat Al-Qulub, Vol. 1, Stories of the Prophets

An account of Jirjis

Ibn Babawayh and al-Qutb al-Rawandi have with documentation, narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that Allah appointed Jirjis as his Messenger and sent him to the king of Syria called Kooraazaanaa and who was worshipping an idol. Jirjis told him: O king! Accept my counsel. It is unbecoming for us to worship anything or anyone except only one Allah and to ask any of our needs from others except Almighty Allah.

The king asked: Where are you from? He replied, “I am from Rome (Byzantine) and live in Palestine. Then the king retorted: You are under arrest. He had his holy body scorched with an iron comb so much so that his entire flesh was torn out, then vinegar was poured on his body and his body was rubbed with a harsh cloth. Then the king ordered that his body should be burnt (stamped) with red hot iron bars. When the Prophet still remained alive despite all this torture, large iron nails were prepared and hammered in his holy head so that his brain drained out. Thereafter molten lead was poured on him. There was an iron pillar in his prison which required eighteen men to shift from one place to another. That pillar was put on the belly of that holy person.

When night fell and everyone went away to their homes, the people of the prison saw an angel come to Jirjis and say: O Jirjis! Your Lord asks you to be patient and happy and not to fear as He is with you and will surely relieve you from the clutches of the king. They will kill you four times but I will remove your pains. The next day that oppressor took him from the prison to have him lashed. He was hit innumerable times on his belly and back. Then he was sent back to jail. The oppressor king then ordered his court men to collect all the magicians living in their cities. One of them was an expert sorcerer but none of his works affected the Prophet. Finally, the oppressor king fed Jirjis with a deadly poison. When the Prophet prayed: ‘Bismillah............’ the poison failed to have any effect on him.

Magician said, “Had I given this poison to all those living on earth everyone would have definitely become blind and worthless in every way. It would have totally altered their physique and all their joints would have been disbanded. So, O Jirjis! You surely are the light of Divine Guidance and a lamp in the dark world of ignorance. I testify that your Allah is the only True Allah and all others are false deities. I believe in your Allah and treat all of His Prophets as truth tellers and I repent for all of my past sins.” The king had the magician killed. Then he sent Jirjis back to prison and continued to torture him in various ways. His body was cut into pieces and thrown into a well. Then the king engaged in feasting and drinking. Allah ordered the air to raise up a black cloud. Lightning began to flash. Earth and mountains began to tremble and the people were frightened that they would die.

Allah ordered Mika’il to go to that well. At the well, the angel called out Jirjis to get up by the order of Allah. The angel then took him out of the well and asked him to be patient and gave him good tidings of Allah’s pleasure. Jirjis again went to the king and told him that Allah had sent him to conclude His evidence through him. Hearing this, the commander-in-chief of the royal army spoke up saying: I put faith in your Lord Who raised you alive after you were dead and I bear witness that He is True and all deities besides Him are false Gods. Along with him another four thousand men also became Muslims (believers) who testified to the Prophethood of Jirjis. The king became furious and killed all of them. He made a huge plate of copper, turned it red hot, laid Jirjis on it and threw molten lead in his mouth. He dug big steel nails in the eyes and head of Jirjis, took them out and filled the gaps with molten lead. Jirjis did not die even after all this.

Then he ordered that fire should be ignited on his body and his body turned into ashes, then he blew that ash into the air. Again, by the order of Allah, Mika’il called out to Jirjis to get up and he became alive and again approached the king. He preached Islam to the king in the assembly of his court men. One of the king’s misguided companions rose up and said, We have fourteen pulpits and a big tray of wood made from various kinds of trees. Some of the trees bear fruit and some do not. He asked Jirjis to pray to his Allah so that He may turn that wood into original trees with branches and leaves and fruits to make him believe in him. Hearing this Jirjis sat up on his knees and prayed to Almighty Allah. Instantly the wood turned into trees bearing branches, leaves and fruits. Seeing all this the angered king sandwiched Jirjis between two wooden planks and cut him vertically with a saw, brought a big cooking pot, filled it with oil, sulphur and molten lead, flung the body of Jirjis in that boiling pot and fanned the fire beneath it.

The holy body melted completely and mixed with other elements in the pot. The earth became totally dark due to this dark black deed of the king. Allah sent Israfil who raised a terrific shriek between them and all fell down faced. Israfil turned the pot upside down and said, O Jirjis! Get up by the order of thy Lord. He arose hale and healthy and again went to the misguided king and tried to give him guidance. The people were extremely surprised. a woman approached Jirjis and said, O dear slave of Allah! I had a cow. We were being maintained by her milk. Now she has died and I request you to make her alive.

Jirjis gave her his staff and asked her to put it on the corpse of that cow and to say: O cow! Jirjis asks you to arise by the order of Allah. The woman did so and the cow became alive. That woman became Muslim. The cursed king then said, If I let this magician go away alive he will surely destroy my kingdom. His people agreed with him and decided to kill Jirjis once again. The king told them to take Jirjis out of the city and decapitate him. When they took him out Jirjis prayed to Allah: My Lord! If you have decided to destroy this community, then pray make me and my memory a cause and means of patience and tolerance for those who want to please you in every hardship. In short, they decapitated Jirjis. When they came back to the city, they were hit by Divine chastisement and got killed en masse.