Al-Sulamī said: Despite his learning and the perfection of his spiritual condition, the people of Rayy abandoned him and maligned him—above all the self-denying ascetics. They circulated ugly rumors until, I was told, a certain shaykh saw in a dream something like a writ of acquittal descending from heaven on which was written: “This is an exoneration for Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥusayn from all that has been alleged against him.” After that, they fell silent.

Al-Khaṭīb states: Abū Bakr al-Najjād heard hadith from him.

I say: He is the very one connected with the story of the mouse and Dhu’l-Nūn when the latter asked him about the Greatest Name (1). He lived to an advanced age.

From him it is related that he said: “By courtesy you apprehend knowledge; by knowledge your deeds become sound; by deeds you attain wisdom; by wisdom you understand renunciation; by renunciation you turn away from the world and yearn for the Hereafter—and by that you obtain the good pleasure of Allah, Exalted is He.”

Al-Sulamī further said: He died in the year 304 AH, may Allah have mercy on him.

Ibn ʿAsākir devoted a lengthy entry to his biography.

Al-Khuldī reported that Junayd wrote to Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥusayn: “I advise you to stop looking back at every state that has passed, for turning to the past diverts you from what is more fitting. I also advise you to cease scrutinizing your present state; instead, work to free your concern from your concern for your concern. Strive to obliterate your witnessing from your witnessing until the witness that is against you becomes a witness for you, by you, and from you…”—and he continued at length.

Yūsuf likewise wrote a letter to Junayd, in which he said: