As promised, Thread on Personal Encounters with Shaykh Nur Al-Din 'Itr رحمه الله تعالى
The scholars used to say إن لم تكن عارفاً فكن في قلب عارف (If you are not a knower, be in the heart of knower). These hearts should be selected carefully. Shaykh 'Itr was one of those I chose.

Since I left Syria, Shaykh 'Itr didn't leave me. He visited me regularly in my dreams correcting me, teaching, rejoicing, grieving, and celebrating. I received these dreams as a real lesson in my journey.

Dr. 'Itr was my supervisor during the PhD. In its foreword, Dr. 'Itr writes “I believe that this book will be a cause of counting its author among the great scholars of the modern period, God willing.”

The thesis is about reshaping the discipline and responding to books written in the field including his book "Manhaj al-Naqd", I was so afraid when I told him about the idea. yet he said this type of writings should be an ongoing process. https://as.vanderbilt.edu/religiousstudies/ediobook.php

After defensing the thesis, Dr. 'Itr started to use a different title when he introduced me: صاحب السفر النفيس (the author of the precious book), and he said to me: my house is your house. Come whenever you want. This was the greatest support I received in my whole life.

Writing a PhD under Dr. 'Itr is a challenging and honoring path. Seeing him regularly during the writing (4 years) gave me a closed look at his personal life, etiquette, thought, knowledge, wisdom, and his scholarly encounters with many contemporary scholars in our world.

Every piece in the thesis I submitted he read at least three times checking and commenting. I just thought the PhD will not be finished. But his methodology is beyond the requirements of time and university standards.

He believes that knowledge should be reproduced. Even the edited manuscripts can be reproduced if the editors don't provide a descent and critical edition. Among his advices, he recommends not to use يّة (ism) suffixes in writings if the writer doesn't mean it since it is فذلكة

The people in the field know that working with a scholar such as 'Itr is a way for success. (but also it is risky as I will share later). In addition to the supervision, getting an ijaza is a certificate means that the mujaz is a real seeker of knowledge. He honored me with that.

When Dr. 'Itr declines to give an ijaza or writing a foreword to any book that means he doesn't approve the thought, behavior or path. He has an inner vision(firasa) made him aware of his audience. I witnessed a couple of cases when he declined to do that for very famous people.

Once I finished my PhD, I was appointed as as lectures at Damascus University. The surprising moment when I knew that Dr. 'Itr approved to give me the honor of teaching the same classes he used to teach for decades.

He refused to use any suspicious platform to talk about religion, among them are the channel news such as aljazeera. he believes the religious knowledge should be shared with true seekers of knowledge.

He used to be very strict with two types of people: the people who use religion as a strategy specially reformists (tajdidi), and the non-traditionalists. He believes in the tradition and sees it as a cure for the society generating a real happiness.

His personal advices is another great aspect of his teachings. One time I bended in front of him to tie my shoes, he said get rid of these shoes and buy a new laceless shoes, do not bend in front of anyone. He believes that knowledge requires dignity.

His small and humble house is about five minutes walking from Shaykh AbdulRahman al-Shaghuri's house on the mountain of Qasiyun. The most beautiful and blessed moment in my whole life was when I accompanied him and Dr. Mahmoud Misri to make personal visits to shaykh al-Shaghouri.

I witnessed there a high adab of shaykh 'Itr when he kissed Shaykh Shaghuri's hand. I conceived that moment as the sciences of Shari'a surrender to the sciences of haqiqa. علوم الشريعة تابعة لعلوم الحقيقة

The last time I visited him 2011, and after I mentioned to him the struggle I faced, he gave me a personal advice: it would be better to leave Syria. He told me that the situation will be getting worse and burn everything. https://vanderbiltpoliticalreview.com/5064/world/ema/doomed-to-hope-a-professors-journey-from-damascus-to-vanderbilt/

All people internationally and nationally, including the pro-Syrian regime and the Syrian opposition, agreed on one thing: he is a man of dignity and true knowledge. Many people tried to explain this phenomena. My explanation is the following:

"Be unattached to what people possess and they will love you" "ازهد فيما عند الناس يحبك الناس"