166 – Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir (471–562 AH)

348 – Shaykh al-Islām, the master-preacher Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādir ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ ibn Jankī Dūst al-Jīlī, the Shaykh of Iraq, said in his book al-Ghunya, a single-volume work:

“As for knowing the Creator through His signs and proofs in a manner that grants victory, it is to know with full certainty that Allah is One, Unique …” until he said:

“He is established over the Throne, encompassing the dominion; His knowledge surrounds all things. ‘To Him ascent the good words, and the righteous deed He elevates’ (Q 35:10). It is impermissible to describe Him as being in every place. One must state this plainly, without figurative interpretation. His being exalted over the Throne is mentioned in every Book sent down to every prophet dispatched—without asking how.”

I heard the ḥadith-master Abū al-Ḥusayn say: I heard Shaykh ʿIzz al-Dīn ibn ʿAbd al-Salām in Egypt say, “We do not know anyone whose karāmāt1 are mass-transmitted as those of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir.” He died in 561 AH.

167 – Shaykh Abū al-Bayān ( ? – 551 AH)

Shaykh, Imām, exemplar Abū al-Bayān Ibn Āban Muḥammad ibn Maḥfūẓ al-Sulamī, originally from Ḥawrān and later of Damascus, a Shāfiʿī linguist and the spiritual guide of the Bayāni poorfolk, was devoted to affirming the divine attributes, openly opposed to the scholastic theologians, and sharply critical of the negators. He has several works on this subject.

349 – ʿAbd al-Khāliq ibn ʿAbd al-Salām the judge related to us, and Imām Abū Muḥammad Ibn Qudāmah related to us; he said: Abū al-Maʿālī Asʿad ibn al-Munajjā told me:

“One day I was with Shaykh Abū al-Bayān, may Allah have mercy on him, when Ibn Tamīm—who styles himself ‘the trustworthy shaykh’—came in. After some discussion between them, the shaykh said to him, ‘Woe to you! The Ḥanbalīs, when it is said …’”