- al-Abharī – Abū Muḥammad Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn
The exemplar, shaykh of the ascetics, Abū Muḥammad Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Abharī, later known as al-Hamadhānī.
Shīrawayh said: “He stood alone in his time in the science of maʿrifa (spiritual knowledge) and the Sufi path—his hints were profound and his discernment subtle.”
He transmitted ḥadith from Ṣāliḥ ibn Aḥmad, ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Rabīʿ, ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Qazwīnī, al-Mufīd al-Jarjarāʾī, and Ibn al-Muẓaffar.
He travelled widely and applied himself to transmission.
Those who narrated to us (1) from him include: Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān, Aḥmad ibn Ṭāhir al-Qūmisānī, Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar, ʿAbdūs ibn ʿAbd Allāh, and Yanjīr ibn Manṣūr.
He was reliable and knowledgeable, held in high regard, and evident miracles were ascribed to him.
He passed away in Shawwāl 428 AH at the age of seventy-eight.
It is said that he once secluded himself for fifty days without eating anything.
We have already remarked that such excessive starvation is impermissible; if the Prophet ﷺ has forbidden consecutive day-long fasts and unbroken fasting, then what should we think of this? For our Prophet ﷺ said: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from hunger, for it is a most wretched bedfellow.” (2)
After that, scarcely anyone undertook such retreats.