al-Juwaynī the Sufi, forefather of the Hamūyah line that later rose to prominence in Egypt, was a man of deep godliness, devoted worship, spiritual struggle, and sincerity (1).
He performed the ḥajj twice and related ḥadith from ʿĀʾishah bint al-Bisṭāmī, Mūsā ibn ʿImrān the Sufi, and others. Those who transmitted from him include Abū Muḥammad ibn al-Khashshāb, Ibn ʿAsākir, Abū Aḥmad ibn Sukaynah, and a number of scholars besides.
Al-Samʿānī says: “He was endowed with miracles and extraordinary signs, renowned for training disciples. He held an authorization (ijāzah) from the teacher Abū al-Qāsim al-Qushayrī and lived eighty-two years.”
I add: He wrote a work on Sufism, and his grave—still visited—is in the village of Buḥayrābādh (2).
He passed away, to God’s good pleasure, at the beginning of Rabīʿ al-Awwal in 530 AH.
348 – Ibn ʿAydhūn* (3)
Holder of the Two Ministries, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Majīd ibn ʿAydhūn, who was affiliated with
(1) Al-Wafi bi-l-Wafayat, vol. 3, p. 28, relates that Sultan Sanjar and other rulers used to visit him, whereas he never presented himself at their gates, accepted no stipends from them, and refused to live off charitable endowments. He owned only a small plot of land that a servant cultivated for him. Beside his house in Buhayrabadh he built a khanqah (Sufi lodge) and endowed it with revenue-bearing properties.
(2) Yaqut’s Geographical Dictionary notes that it is a village in the district of Juwain near Nishapur.
(*) Principal biographical sources: al-Qalaid, p. 145; al-Dhakhira, fol. 2, maqala 2, pp. 668–727; al-Sila, vol. 2, pp. 388–389; al-Kharida, vol. 2, p. 103; Bughyat al-Multamis, no. 1570; al-Mutrib, pp. 127, 180; al-Muʿjib, pp. 76, 87, 112–134, 164–170, 244; Takmila Ibn al-Abar, p. 407. His death occurred in 520 AH, see: al-Maghrib, vol. 1, p. 374; Tarikh al-Islam, vol. 4, section 2, p. 274; Fawat al-Wafayat, vol. 2, pp. 388–393.
(3) The base manuscript consistently spells the name with a final ya (y) and dotted dhal (dh), and the word sahh (“correct”) is written above the ya. This orthography recurs throughout the entry, even though the author’s own History and all other biographical sources record it otherwise.