By written authorization he also taught: al-Fakhr ibn ʿAsākir, al-Shams ibn al-Shīrāzī, al-Qāḍī al-Ḥanbalī, and a number of others.

Ibn al-Dubaythī (1) said: He arrived in Baghdad with a firm footing in the Sufi path and an eloquent tongue. He was placed in charge of several Sufi hospices and was sent as an emissary to various regions.

Ibn al-Najjār relates: His father, Abū Jaʿfar, had studied law in Baghdad under Asʿad al-Mīhanī and used to preach. His son told me, “My father was killed in Suhraward when I was six months old. In our town there was an oppressive shihna (military prefect). A group assassinated him and claimed my father had ordered the deed. The slain man’s retainers then fell upon my father and murdered him. The common people rose against the retainers and killed them, whereupon turmoil erupted. The sultan crucified four of the townsfolk. This weighed heavily upon my uncle Abū al-Najīb; he donned a qabāʾ and declared, ‘I want nothing to do with Sufism until reconciliation is achieved.’ ”

Ibn al-Najjār continued: Shihāb al-Dīn was the foremost shaykh of his time in the science of spiritual reality. Leadership in training disciples, calling creation to Allah, and guiding them along the path came to rest with him.

He kept company with his uncle, followed the way of ascetic exercises and spiritual struggles, studied jurisprudence, legal disputation, and Arabic, and attended hadith sessions. Afterwards he devoted himself to retreat, remembrance, and fasting until, in advanced age, he felt moved to appear before the people and speak. He established a preaching circle in his uncle’s madrasa, addressing his audience with useful words devoid of ornament. Great crowds attended him; he was accepted by elite and commoner alike. His name spread far and wide, people traveled to him from distant lands, and the blessings of his spiritual breaths touched many sinners, who then repented. Through him many reached Allah, and his companions came to resemble the stars.

He was dispatched as an envoy to Syria on several occasions and to the sultan Khwārazm Shāh. He enjoyed a prestige and honor unmatched by anyone before him. He was later appointed to the Nāsirī hospice, the Maʾmūnīyah hospice, and the Bisṭāmī hospice. In the end he became infirm and bedridden, yet even so he never neglected his regular devotions.