al-Suhrawardi, Abu Hafs
- Died
- 632 AH
- Born in
- -
Abu Hafs al-Suhrawardi (539–632 AH / 1145–1234 CE) was a Shafi'i jurist, hadith transmitter, and prominent Sufi master based in Baghdad, best known for authoring the influential Sufi manual Awarif al-Ma'arif (The Bounties of Divine Knowledge) .
Lineage and Early Life
His full name was Shihab al-Din Abu Hafs Umar ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ammuwayh al-Suhrawardi al-Bakri al-Taymi . His lineage traced back to the first caliph, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq . His nisba derives from Suhraward, a town near Zanjan . He was born in 539 AH (1145 CE) and subsequently moved to Baghdad .
Education, Spiritual Training, and Career
Al-Suhrawardi received his early religious education and spiritual training under his paternal uncle, the Sufi scholar and jurist Abu al-Najib al-Suhrawardi, from whom he received the Sufi mantle (khirqa) and transmitted hadith and legal works . He also kept company with the renowned mystic Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, who reportedly remarked to him that he would be "the last of the renowned [spiritual masters] in Iraq" . Among his other teachers in hadith transmission were Abu Zur'ah and Abu al-Fath Ibn al-Batti .
In Baghdad, al-Suhrawardi established himself as a preacher and spiritual director . He rose to high standing at the court of the Abbasid caliph al-Nasir li-Din Allah, who appointed him chief of the Sufi masters (shaykh al-shuyukh) in Baghdad and entrusted him with high-level diplomatic missions . In 604 AH, the caliph dispatched him as an envoy carrying official robes of honor and investiture charters to the Ayyubid sultan al-Adil I and his sons, being received with full military honors outside Aleppo by al-Zahir Ghazi .
He composed his major Sufi treatise, Awarif al-Ma'arif, while residing in Mecca, where he was noted to circumambulate the Kaaba whenever an intricate issue arose during its drafting . He also authored other treatises addressing spiritual guidance, including Rashf al-Nasa'ih (Sipping of Sincere Counsels) and A'lam al-Tuqa (Signs of Piety) .
Students and Scholarly Standing
A large number of scholars and disciples traveled from various lands to study under al-Suhrawardi, hear his works, and receive the Sufi mantle from his hand . His students included the hadith scholar Rashid al-Din Muhammad ibn Abi al-Qasim al-Salami, the Hanbali chief judge Sulayman ibn Hamza al-Maqdisi, Muhammad ibn Hibat Allah al-Shirazi, Fatima bint Ali ibn Abi al-Badr, Ahmad ibn Ishaq al-Abarquhi, and the Sufi scholar Abd al-Razzaq al-Qashi . Later biographers, including al-Yafi'i, praised him as the foremost master of his era who combined outward legal knowledge with inward spiritual realization .
Death
Al-Suhrawardi died in Baghdad at the beginning of Muharram 632 AH (September 1234 CE) and was buried the following day in the al-Wardiyyah cemetery .
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List of Works
Mashyakhat al-Suhrawardi is a concise hadith booklet (juzʾ laṭīf) and collection of hadith transmissions and shaykh records compiled and extracted (takhrģj) by al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Abī Jarwayh al-Shaybānī al-Mawṣilī. It documents direct teachers (mashāyikh) and the traditions narrated on their authority.