Aḥmad ibn ʿĀṣim al-Anṭākī (1) was Abū ʿAlī, the preacher and ascetic, counted among the devoted worshippers. He left eloquent words on zuhd (renunciation) and on nurturing the hearts. Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī said that he belonged to the same class as al-Ḥārith al-Muḥāsibī and Bishr al-Ḥāfī. Abū Sulaymān al-Dārānī used to call him “the spy of hearts” because of the sharpness of his spiritual insight.

He transmitted reports from Abū Muʿāwiyah al-Ḍarīr and others of that generation. Among those who narrated from him were Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Ḥawārī, Maḥmūd ibn Khālid, Abū Zurʿah al-Dimashqī, and others.

Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Ḥawārī also related—through Makhlad ibn al-Ḥusayn, from Hishām ibn Ḥassān—that the latter said: “I passed by al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī while he was sitting in the pre-dawn hours. I said, ‘Abū Saʿīd, is it befitting for a man like you to be sitting at this time?’ He replied, ‘I have already performed wuḍūʾ (ritual ablution), and I wanted her (2) to rise and pray, but she refused; she wanted me (3) to sleep, and I refused her.’”

Among his select sayings:
• “If you wish your heart to be sound, seek that by guarding your tongue.” (4)
• “One of the effortless spoils is to set right what remains of your life, so that what has passed may be forgiven.”
• “A small measure of yaqīn (certainty) expels every trace of doubt from the heart, and a small measure of doubt expels every trace of certainty from it.”
• “Whoever knows Allah better, fears Him more.”
• “The best companion for you in this world is hamm (concern); it cuts you off from the world and conveys you to the Hereafter.” (5)

Of his poetry (6) (may Allah have mercy on him):
I resolved, yet did not act; had I been truthful,
I would have acted, but the weaning is severe.

If I possessed reason and the sure conviction of one certain,
I would never veer from the intended path.

Nor would my hopes rest in the doubt that clouds certainty (7),
Yet how can I escape what destiny has decreed?

And of his poetry also: