Sadiq Rofail
1899–1969
For your sake He became food for eating and drink for drinking, and a spirit to abide and dwell in you. It was to you that He was pleased to give the key to the Kingdom of Heaven, through His Holy Spirit in the Holy Bible. After this, do you lack any knowledge? Are you deprived of any of the Father’s mysteries? Through the Son, you have become a son to Him, and everything you ask, the Father is pleased to give you
(Who Are You?, 1951)
Biography
Sadiq Rofail (November 6, 1969) ,better known as “Baba Sadiq”) was a celibate servant based for most of his life in Alexandria, considered by many (including the late Fr Luka Sidarous) to have been a contemporary saint.[1]See Fr Luka Sidarous, The Fragrance of Christ in the Lives of Contemporary Saints [Rā’iḥat al-Masīḥ fī ḥayāt ābrār mū‘āṣirīn].
He was born and raised Shubra to pious parents, and displayed remarkable eloquence and academic ability from a young age. Mishil Yassa an Ayman Eryan report that he had a photographic memory and was able to recall nearly every page of the many literary and scientific books he read.[2]Mishil Yassa & Ayman Eryan, Baba Sadiq: The Spiritual Bird (Khidmat Yulyus al-Aqfihasi li-nashr al-siyar al-mu‘asira, 2000): 10.
He was profoundly affected by the loss of his father to cancer in 1923, when Sadiq was 23 years old. His journals reveal the debilitating grief he experienced afterwards; for some time, he prayed incessantly for God to raise his father from the dead. After a spiritual experience which occurred while walking to his workplace in Giza, he found himself greatly comforted and began to depend solely on God without relying upon any earthly relationships.[3]Yassa & Eryan, Baba Sadiq, 11–12.
Despite pressure from his family to take a wife, Sadiq chose to live a celibate life. He devoted himself to taking care of his departed brother’s wife Fayqa and her daughter Hikmat (his niece) and later, Hikmat’s children. To this end, he led a successful career at the Land Registry Office in Giza, where he worked until 1960 when he was required to move to Alexandria.[4]Yassa & Eryan, Baba Sadiq, 15–16.
He was well-educated and fluent in English, French as well as Arabic and Coptic. He assisted a young Kamal Habib (the future Bishop Bimen of Mallawi) in the preparation of his doctoral thesis in psychology.[5]Yassa & Eryan, Baba Sadiq, 15. In Alexandria, he became a spiritual guide to many, despite his refusal to give sermons or talks. During this time, he had an immense impact on many others in the Church including Bishop Youannis of Gharbiyya, Fr Daoud al-Maqary, Fr Mikhail Ibrahim, and the priests of the famous church of St George in Sporting, Alexandria, Fr Bishoy Kamel, Fr Luka Sidarous, and Fr Tadros Malaty. It was during this time also that his spiritual children began to refer to him as “Baba Sadiq.”[6]Yassa & Eryan, Baba Sadiq, 17.
In the last year of his life, a disease of the nervous system which limited his breathing left him confined to his home, where many of his spiritual children still gathered around him, and even persuaded him to let some of his words be recorded on cassette for posterity.[7]Yassa & Eryan, Baba Sadiq, 34. He passed away on November 6, 1969. Anba Shenouda, General Bishop of Education (the future Pope Shenouda III) visited the mourners on the third day after his departure and told them, “When they told me that Uncle Sadiq had passed away, I was filled with awe, for this was a man of spiritual stature.”[8]lammā balaghūnī inn ‘amm Ṣādiq it-nayyaḥ, ḥassīt bi-rahba, li’an al-rajul da līh makān-tuh al-rūḥiyya, Yassa & Eryan, Baba Sadiq, 48. His funeral was held in the Church of St Takla Heymanout in al-Ibrahimiyya, not far from his residence; Fr Bishoy Kamel delivered the eulogy. He was laid to rest in a cemetery in Shatby, Alexandria. [9]Yassa & Eryan, Baba Sadiq, 47.
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Bibliography
A. Works by Sadiq Rofail
Rofail published no books, but some of his writings were published in al-Anwār magazine, managed by his friend Fr Dawud al-Maqary, which is yet to be made available online. At present, the only printed collection of his works is the selection of articles included in Mishil Yassa and Ayman Eryan, Baba Sadiq: The Spiritual Bird, pp. 55–74. Several recordings of his teaching were also made in the final year of his life during his illness (see note 7 below).
B. Further Reading
Sidarous, (Hegumen) Luqa. The Fragrance of Christ in the Lives of Contemporary Saints [Rā’ḥat al-Masīḥ fī ḥayāt ābrār mū‘āṣirīn].
Yassa, Mishil and Ayman Eryan. Baba Sadiq: The Spiritual Bird. His Life, Miracles and Teachings [Bābā Ṣādiq: al-ṭā’ir al-rūḥānī. Sīrat-hu, mu‘jizāt-hu, ta‘ālīm-hu]. Living Gospel Series, Volume 6. Khidmat Yulyus al-Aqfihasi li-nashr al-siyar al-mu‘asira, 2000.
Links
Notes:
| ↑1 | See Fr Luka Sidarous, The Fragrance of Christ in the Lives of Contemporary Saints [Rā’iḥat al-Masīḥ fī ḥayāt ābrār mū‘āṣirīn]. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Mishil Yassa & Ayman Eryan, Baba Sadiq: The Spiritual Bird (Khidmat Yulyus al-Aqfihasi li-nashr al-siyar al-mu‘asira, 2000): 10. |
| ↑3 | Yassa & Eryan, Baba Sadiq, 11–12. |
| ↑4 | Yassa & Eryan, Baba Sadiq, 15–16. |
| ↑5 | Yassa & Eryan, Baba Sadiq, 15. |
| ↑6 | Yassa & Eryan, Baba Sadiq, 17. |
| ↑7 | Yassa & Eryan, Baba Sadiq, 34. |
| ↑8 | lammā balaghūnī inn ‘amm Ṣādiq it-nayyaḥ, ḥassīt bi-rahba, li’an al-rajul da līh makān-tuh al-rūḥiyya, Yassa & Eryan, Baba Sadiq, 48. |
| ↑9 | Yassa & Eryan, Baba Sadiq, 47. |
Related:
Connections: Bishop Youannis (1923–1987) | Bishop Bimen (1930–1986) | Fr Luka Sidarous (1940–2020) | Fr Bishoy Kamel (1931–1979)