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Tāj al-Dīn Abū'l-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Isa ibn Hussein ibn ʿAṭā Allāh al-Judhami al-Iskandarī al-Shādhilī was an Egyptian Malikite jurist, muhaddith and the third murshid (spiritual "guide" or "master") of the Shadhili Sufi order.

Life

He was born in Alexandria and taught at both the al-Azhar Mosque and the Mansuriyyah madrasa in Cairo. He was responsible for systematizing Shādhilī doctrines and recording the biographies of the order's founder, Abu-l-Hassan ash-Shadhili, and his successor, Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi. He is credited with having authored the first systematic treatise on dhikr, The Key to Salvation (Miftāḥ al-Falāḥ), but is mostly known for his compilation of aphorisms, the Ḥikam al-ʿAtā‘iyya.

Ibn ʿAṭā Allāh was one of those who confronted the controversial theologian Ibn Taymiyya, who was jailed several times for his views on religious issues and for his perceived excesses in attacking the Sufis.^[3] His confrontations with Ibn Taymiyya saw Ibn ʿAṭā Allāh leading a procession of some 200 Sufis against Ibn Taymiyya as well as confronting him on issues.

Works

Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah’s works include:

• Kitab al-Hikam (The Book of Wisdom)^[4]
• Kitab al-Lata’if fi manaqib Abi l-‘Abbas al-Mursi wa Shaykhihi Abi l Hasan (The Subtle Blessings in the Saintly Lives of Abu l-‘Abbas al-Mursi and His Master Abu l-Hassan)^[5]
• Miftah al-falah wa misbah al-anwah (The Key of Success and the Lamps of Spirits).^[6]
• Kitab al-Tanwir fi isqat al-Tadbir (The Illumination on Abandoning Self-Direction)^[7]
• Al-Qasd al-mujarrad fi ma’rifat al-Ism al-Mufrad (The Pure Goal Concerning Knowledge of the Unique Name)^[8]
• Taj al-arus al-hawi li-tahdhib an-nufus (The Bride’s Crown Containing the Discipline of Souls)^[9]
• Unwan at-tawfiq fi adab at-tariq (The Sign of Success Concerning the Discipline of the Path)^[10]

Death and legacy

He died in 1309 while in Cairo.

The wide circulation of Ibn ʿAṭā Allāh's written works led to the spread of the Shādhilī order in North Africa, where the order's founder had been rejected in earlier attempts. The Wafai Sufi order was also derived from his works.^[11]

Commentaries on the Ḥikam have been made by some of the most famous masters of the Shadhili order such as Ibn Abbad al-Rundi, Ahmad Zarruq and Ahmad ibn Ajiba as well as non-Shadhilis like the Syrian Islamic law Professor Sa'id Ramadan al-Bouti. A modern English translation of Ḥikam by Muhammed Nafih Wafy was published under the title "The Book of Aphorism" by Islamic Book Trust in Malaysia in 2010.^[12]

References

External links

• The Key to Salvation: A Sufi Manual of Invocation (Miftah al-Falah) chosen excerpt here Translated by Mary Ann Koury Danner
• The Key to Salvation chapter available here by Ayesha Bewley.
• Ibn 'Ata' Allah, Muslim Sufi Saint and Gift of Heaven by Abu Bakr Sirajuddin Cook.
• The Illumination on Abandoning Self-Direction (Al-Tanwir Fi Isqat Al-Tadbir) Translated by Omer Siddique
• The Book of Aphorism (KItab al-Hikam) Translated by Muhammad Nifih Wafy
• Hikam (maxims or aphorisms), partially translated here by Ayesha Bewley.
• Commentary by Ibn Abbad in English.
• Hikam in English and Arabic PDFs, and links to audio recordings.