fledged Sufi ideology, with detailed enumeration of the ‘stations’ of the
‘way’, the‘states’ encountered thereof, the conditions of attaining the stations
and the states, descriptions of particular endeavours of the great Sufis, and
so on. This trend starts modestly with the views of al Muhasibi and Dhu’l
Nun Misri, and flourishes in the writings of the Sufi saints of the succeeding
generations, such as Bayazid Bistami and Junayd. In the utterances of al
Hallaj one has an inkling of what Sufi ecstasy is capable of bringing about,
while the spiritual experiences of Al Ghazali show how Sufism finally gained
a theoretical backbone.
The 10
th
and 11
th
centuries were witness to yet another type of Sufi
writings, which are usually described as ‘the Sufi manuals.’These include the
works of Sarraj, Kalabadhi, Qushairi and al Hujweri and give details of the
practices of the Sufis and hagiographies of the saints. They are later on
complemented with poetical works, mostly in Persian, which again describe
the Sufi ways, the Sufi practices and the Sufi philosophy.These are the works
of Sanai,Attar and Rumi.They employ a very vivid and distinctive imagery,
which is studied under the rubric of Sufi imagery and expresses the Sufi
realities through the prism of poetry.
Harith bin Asad al Muhasibi
Al Muhasibi (781-857) was born in Basra, but spent most of his life in
the recently built Abbasid capital Baghdad. He studied traditions (
hadith
)
and was closely involved with the scholars of his time. His interest in
mysticism displeased the orthodox and the study of his writings was banned.
He had to flee Baghdad. After that he lived in such secrecy that, when he
died, only four men were present at his funeral.
