Sufi Biographies and Stories Introduction by A. J. Arberry from his translated book Muslim Saints and Mystics Episodes from the Tadhkirat al-Auliya’ (Memorial of the Saints) by Shaykh Farid al-Din Attar. Sufism is the name given to the mystical movement within Islam; a Sufi is a Muslim who dedicates himself to the quest after mystical union (or, better said, reunion) with his Creator. The name is Arabic in origin, being derived from the word suf meaning “wool”; the Sufis were distinguishable from their fellows by wearing a habit of coarse woollen cloth, in time when silks and brocades had become the fashion of the wealthy and mundane-minded, symbolic of their renunciation of worldly values and their abhorrence for physical comforts. The ascetic outlook and practice, an indispensable preparation to mystical communion, characterized the life not only of Mohammad himself but of many of his earliest followers. Even when the rapid spread of Islam and the astonishing military conquests of neighbouring ancient kingdoms brought undreamed-of riches to the public exchequer, not a few of the leading men in the new commonwealth withstood all temptation to abandon the austere life of the desert, and their example was admired and emulated by multitudes of humbler rank. Nevertheless with the passage of time, and as Islam became increasing secularized consequent upon further victories and rapidly augmenting complications of state craft, the original ascetic impulse tended to be overwhelmed in the flood of worldly preoccupation. Farid al-Din Attar, author of the book Tadhkirat al-Auliya here presented in an abridged translation, is to be accounted amongst the greatest poets of Persia; his dimensions as a literary genius increase with the further investigation of his writings. Below are the biographies of Sufis and Saints, mostly as accounted by Shaykh Faridudin Attar in his book Tadhkirat al-Auliya : ● Mevlana Jalaludin Rumi ● Imam Ghazali ● Farid ud Din Attar ● Rabia Basri ● Mansoor al Hallaj ● Hasan of Basra ● Bayazid Bestami ● Al-Fozail ibn Iyaz ● Habib al-Ajami ● Malek ibn Dinar ● Ebrahim ibn Adham ● Habib al-Ajami ● Beshr Ibn al-Hareth ● Dhol-Nun al-Mesri ● Abd Allah Ibn al-Mobarak ● Shaqiq of Balkh ● Dawud al-Tai ● Al-Mohasebi ● Ahmad Ibn Harb ● Hatem al Asamm ● Sahl Ibn Abd Allah al-Tostari ● Maruf al-Karkhi ● Sari al-Saqati ● Yahya Ibn Mo‘adh ● Shah Ibn Shoja ● Yusof Ibn al-Hosain ● Abu Hafs al-Haddad ● Abol-Qasem al-Jonaid ● Amr Ibn Othman ● Abu Sa‘id al-Kharraz ● Abul-Hosain al-Nuri ● Abu Othman al-Hiri ● Ibn Ata ● Somnun ● al-Termedhi ● Khair al-Nassaj ● Abu Bakr al-Kattani ● Ibn Khafif ● Ebrahim al-Khauwas ● Al-Shebli Click Our Website Link: http://bit.ly/2FGJpPd

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