the spiritual path.
He heard ḥadith from Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā, al-Rabīʿ al-Murādī, and Sulaymān ibn Sayf al-Harrānī. Those who transmitted from him include Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Aṣbahānī, Abū Shaykh, and Jaʿfar al-Khuldī. Abū Nuʿaym said: he died after the year 300 AH.
Among his maxims: “Knowledge leads, fear drives, and the ego, caught between them, is obstinate and deceptive.”
It was said that he ranked among the leading jurists, but when he was appointed chief judge of Jeddah al-Junayd broke off relations with him. He also denounced al-Ḥallāj(1) and spoke against him.
30 – al-Shīʿī Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣanʿānī*
The malicious propagandist, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyā al-Ṣanʿānī, was one of the shrewdest men, skilled in disputation, ruses, and leading the children of Adam astray. He championed the ʿUbaydid(2) mission, performed the pilgrimage, attached himself to a group from Kutāma(3), and bound them