Ibn ʿAta' Allah al-Iskandari

A Maliki jurist and Sufi master, Ibn ʿAta' Allah al-Iskandari is the author of the Hikam (“Aphorisms”), a collection of spiritual maxims that has remained one of the most widely read texts of Sufism. Third great figure of the Shadhili way, he made it a respected current within religious science itself.

Alexandria

Taj ad-Din Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAta' Allah was born in Alexandria in 1259, under the Mamluks, in a family of Maliki scholars. He mastered the religious disciplines very early.

From hostility to discipline

At first hostile to Sufism, he criticised the teaching of Abu al-ʿAbbas al-Mursi. A meeting with him changed his attitude: he became his disciple and stayed at his side for twelve years.

Head of the Shadhili way

After al-Mursi's death in 1287, he led the order. He played an essential role in shaping Shadhili doctrine and recorded the lives of the founders, Abu al-Hasan ash-Shadhili and al-Mursi, in his Lata'if al-Minan.

In Cairo

Settled in Cairo, he taught at Al-Azhar and at the Mansuriyya madrasa. Among his students were Taj ad-Din as-Subki and Shihab ad-Din al-Qarafi. He embodied a model of the Sufi who was both jurist and theologian, bringing Sufis and jurists closer together.

Works

About twenty works are attributed to him, including the Hikam (264 aphorisms), the Lata'if al-Minan, Taj al-ʿArus, al-Tanwir and a treatise on dhikr, Miftah al-Falah. The Hikam have been commented on by many authors, among them Ahmad Zarruq and Ahmad ibn ʿAjiba.

A meeting with Ibn Taymiyya

A famous episode shows him at the al-Husayn mosque in Cairo: Ibn Taymiyya, just out of prison, prayed behind him. The two men exchanged respectful greetings despite their differences.

Death

He died in Cairo in 1309-1310 and was buried in the Abi al-Wafa cemetery, at the foot of the Muqattam.