—better known as Ibn al-Muʿtamid.
He was a foremost preacher: eloquent, sweet-phrased, graceful in delivery, witty and learned, with a vast store of memorized material. Visibly clad in the Sufi mantle, he was also a skilful author.
He was born in 474 AH.
Among those from whom he received hadith were Abū al-Ḥasan ibn al-Akhram and Shīrawayh al-Daylamī.
Those who transmitted from him include al-Samʿānī and Ibn ʿAsākir.
Ibn al-Najjār said: “He stood alone in his age as a preacher, subtle in his allusions. In the Ashʿarī school he was unrivalled in his time, and in Sufism he had a firm footing. He wrote works on the spiritual reality, among them: Kashf al-Asrār (Unveiling the Secrets), Bayān al-Qalb (Clarification of the Heart), and Bathth al-Sirr (Disclosing the Secret). All his books are terse notes and mystical hints. He enjoyed total acceptance in Baghdad, but because he preached according to the Ashʿarī doctrine the Ḥanbalīs rose against him. Caliph al-Mustarshid ordered his expulsion; when al-Muqtafī came to power he returned to Baghdad, yet when he resumed his teaching the turmoil flared up again, so they drove him back to his home town ⦗1⦘.”
Ibn ʿAsākir ⦗2⦘ said: “He is the boldest man I have ever seen, both in tongue and in heart; the most accurate and excellent in the passages he cites, the quickest in reply and the smoothest in discourse—along with sound creed, praiseworthy qualities, guidance of the people, and self-sacrifice in defence of the Truth….” He then added: “He died of an intestinal illness, counted as a martyr, far from home. I attended his gatherings constantly and never saw his equal as a preacher.”
Ibn al-Najjār also said: “I read in the book of Abū Bakr al-Maristanī: he told me…"