He died at the end of the year 276 AH; he and Baqī ibn Makhlad (1) passed away in the same year, and no one comparable to the two of them was left behind.
151 – Sahl ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūnus, Abū Muḥammad al-Tustarī *
The shaykh of the gnostics, Abū Muḥammad al-Tustarī was an ascetic Sufi. He kept the company of his maternal uncle, Muḥammad ibn Sawwār, and during the pilgrimage he met Dhū al-Nūn al-Miṣrī (2) and attached himself to him.
Among those who transmitted his anecdotes were ʿUmar ibn Wāṣil, Abū Muḥammad al-Jarīrī, ʿAbbās ibn ʿIṣām, Muḥammad ibn al-Mundhir al-Hujaymī (3), and others.
He (4) left behind many beneficial aphorisms and fine exhortations, and he was firmly grounded on the spiritual path.
Abū Zurʿa al-Ṭabarī narrated from Ibn Durustawayh—one of Sahl’s companions—that Sahl, on seeing the hadith scholars, said:
“Strive so that you meet Allah only while your inkwells are still with you.”
It is also recorded in the book Dhamm al-Kalām (5) that Sahl was asked, “Until when should one continue writing…"