190 – al-Shiblī, Abū Bakr al-Baghdādī

Shaykh of the Sufi fraternity, Abū Bakr al-Shiblī (1), of Baghdad.

It is said that his name was Dulaf ibn Jahdar; another report states it was Jaʿfar ibn Yūnus; a third view says Jaʿfar ibn Dulaf (2). He came from al-Shiblīyya—a village—and was born in Sāmarrāʾ.

His father was among the foremost chamberlains of the caliphate, and he himself held the chamberlainship of Abū Aḥmad al-Muwaffaq (3). When Abū Aḥmad was dismissed from office, al-Shiblī attended the gathering of a certain righteous man.

He repented, then kept the company of al-Junayd and others, and rose to the rank for which he is renowned.

Al-Shiblī was a jurist well-versed in the Mālikī school, and he wrote down hadith from a number of scholars.

He composed poetry, and his sayings, aphorisms, spiritual states, and firmness in the path are well attested; yet at times he suffered from mental dryness and states of ecstatic intoxication. Consequently he uttered remarks for which excuses are made—there is in them a degree of laxity (4) that should not be taken as a model.