and mockery (1), and Allah the Exalted has said:

“If you ask them, they will surely say, ‘We were only chatting idly and playing.’ Say, ‘Was it Allah, His revelations, and His Messenger that you were mocking? Do not make excuses; you have disbelieved after your belief. If We pardon a group of you, We shall punish another group because they have been sinners.’” (Surah al-Tawbah 9:65-66).

Abu ʿIsa al-Warraq was the close companion of this Ibn al-Rawandi—may Allah disgrace them both. When people learned of their affair, the ruler had Abu ʿIsa arrested and thrown into prison, where he remained until he died. Ibn al-Rawandi, however, fled and sought refuge with Ibn Lawi the Jew, for whom he wrote a book he entitled “The Pulverizer of the Quran.” Only a few days passed before he died—may Allah curse him. It is also said that he was captured and crucified.

Abu ʼl-Wafaʾ Ibn ʿAqil (2) said: “I found in a reliable book that he lived thirty-six years, despite plunging to such depths of disgrace—may Allah curse and condemn him, and may He show no mercy to his very bones.”

Judge Ibn Khallikan mentioned him in Wafayat (3), glossed over his case (4), offered no refutation whatever (5), and recorded his death as occurring in 245 AH.

Al-Junayd, the master of the Sufis—may Allah have mercy on him—(6): He is Junayd ibn Muhammad ibn Junayd, Abu ʼl-Qasim al-Khazzaz, also called al-Qawarirī. His family was originally from Nahawand, but he was born and raised in Baghdad. He heard hadith from al-Hasan (7) ibn ʿArafah and studied jurisprudence with Abu Thawr Ibrahim ibn Khalid al-Kalbī, issuing legal opinions in his presence when he was only twenty years old. We have already mentioned him in “Tabaqat al-Shafiʿiyyah.” He was renowned for keeping company with al-Harith ibn Asad al-Muhasibī; his maternal uncle was Sarī al-Saqatī. He persevered in worship (8) and spoke extensively about the path of Sufism.