Generations of the Sufis — by Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami
Abu Abd al-Rahman Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Sulami (937– 1021 CE) of Naysabur was the most important collector of early Sufi biography. His Tabaqat al-Sufiyya ("Generations of the Sufis") is the earliest surviving biographical dictionary of Islamic mystics, recording the lives and transmitted sayings of 103 figures across five generations (tabaqat), from the eighth-century ascetics of Kufa and Basra to the sophisticated masters of tenth-century Baghdad and Khorasan.
Every later biographical collection in Sufism builds on this foundation. Al-Qushayri's Risala, al-Hujwiri's Kashf al-Mahjub, Attar's Tadhkirat al-Awliya, and Jami's Nafahat al-Uns all draw from al-Sulami's transmission chains. To read the Tabaqat is to meet the first generation of Sufism through the words they actually spoke, as recorded by the students who heard them.
No complete English translation of the Tabaqat al-Sufiyya has ever been published. This is a Good Works Translation from Classical Arabic, produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the OCR-digitized text available on Internet Archive (edition of Nur al-Din Shurayba, third edition, Cairo). The OCR text contains significant artifacts; damaged passages have been reconstructed from context and cross-referenced against the translator's knowledge of the historical figures and their transmitted sayings. The translation begins with the First Generation.
The First Generation
1. Al-Fudayl ibn Iyad
Al-Fudayl ibn Iyad ibn Mas'ud ibn Bishr, al-Tamimi al-Yarbu'i. Abu Ali. Of Khorasani origin. Born in Samarqand, raised in Abiward. Died in the Sacred Precinct (Mecca) in the year 187 AH (803 CE). He transmitted hadith and was among the earliest generation of Sufi masters.
He said: "Whoever sits with an innovator will not be given wisdom."
He said: "In the end times there will be people who are brothers in public, enemies in secret."
He said: "The people most worthy of contentment with God are the people of gnosis of God, exalted and majestic."
He said: "It is not fitting for the people of the Quran to have any need of any creature — not of caliphs, not of those below them. Rather, the needs of all creatures should flow to them."
He said: "What is attained with us is not attained through much fasting or prayer. What is attained with us is attained through generosity of soul, soundness of heart, and sincere counsel to the community."
He said: "People have not adorned themselves with anything more excellent than truthfulness and seeking the lawful."
He said: "The root of renunciation is contentment with God Most High."
He said: "Whoever truly knows people finds rest."
He said: "I do not test a man's brotherhood in times of pleasure. I test his brotherhood in anger — when I have angered him."
He said: "Keep your distance from the religious scholars. If they love you, they praise you for what is not in you. If they hate you, they testify against you, and their testimony is accepted."
He was asked about humility, and he said: "That you humble yourself before the truth, submit to it, and accept the truth from whoever you hear it — even if you heard it from the lowliest of people."
He said: "Whoever shows his brother love and compliments with his tongue, but hides within himself enmity and hatred — God curses him, makes him deaf, and blinds the insight of his heart."
On the verse "Indeed in this is a message for a people who worship" (Quran 21:106), he said: "Those who preserve the five prayers."
He said: "They used to say: all evil has been placed in one house, and its key is desire for this world. And all good has been placed in one house, and its key is renunciation of this world."
He said: "Whoever restrains his evil from people has done what should please him."
He said: "Three things harden the heart: much eating, much sleeping, and much talking."
He said: "The best of works is the most hidden. And the furthest from Satan is the furthest from tribulation."
He said: "Among the gratitude for a blessing is that you speak of it."
He said: "God refuses to provide the sustenance of the believers except from where they do not expect."
He said: "There is no deed for the one who has no intention, and no reward for the one who has no reckoning of his deeds."
He said: "Blessed is the one who is estranged from people, who finds intimacy with his Lord, and who weeps over his transgression."
2. Dhu'l-Nun al-Misri
Dhu'l-Nun ibn Ibrahim al-Misri, Abu al-Fayd. Also known as Thawban ibn Ibrahim. "Dhu'l-Nun" (Lord of the Fish) is a title. He was of Egyptian origin, from the town of Ikhmim; his father Ibrahim was Nubian, a client of the Quraysh. He was among the foremost masters of the early Sufis and transmitted hadith. He died in the year 245 AH (859 CE); some say 248 AH.
He said: "Beware of being a claimant of gnosis, or a boaster in renunciation, or one attached to worship."
He was asked: "What is the most hidden and most severe veil?" He said: "Seeing the self and managing it."
He was asked about love, and he said: "That you love what God loves, and hate what God hates, and do all good, and reject everything that distracts from God, and not fear in God the blame of any blamer — along with gentleness toward the believers and severity toward the disbelievers, and following the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, in religion."
He said, relating from God Most High: "Whoever is obedient to Me, I am his protector. Let him trust in Me and rely upon Me. By My glory, if he asked Me for the removal of the world, I would remove it for him."
He was asked about the Sufi, and he said: "He whose speech, when he speaks, makes clear the realities; and when he is silent, his limbs speak by cutting attachments."
He said: "Intimacy with God comes from purity of heart with God; and solitude with God is cutting off from everything other than God."
He said: "Whoever desires humility, let him direct himself to the greatness of God, for the self melts and becomes pure. And whoever looks to the dominion of God — the dominion of the self vanishes; for all selves are poor before His majesty."
He said: "Have you seen a physician treat a drunkard in the midst of his drunkenness? If there is a remedy for his drunkenness, let him wait until he sobers — then he is treated with repentance."
He said: "I have seen nothing more stirring to the heart's sincerity than solitude; for when one is alone, one sees nothing but God Most High. And whoever loves purity has grasped the pillar of sincerity and held to a great pillar of truthfulness."
He said: "Among the signs of love of God is following the Beloved of the Truth in his character, deeds, commands, and way."
He said: "When certainty is sound in the heart, fear of God becomes sound within it."
Dhu'l-Nun recited these verses:
I die, and my longing for You has not died —
nor have I fulfilled the vows of my true love for You.O my desire, the sum of all desires —
You are my desire, and You are the wealth of all desires in my want.You are the extent of my wish and the goal of my desire —
the place of my hopes and the making of my secrets.Little is what I cannot bear for You —
though my longing for You be long, or long my suffering.And in my ribs, from You, an inclination has appeared —
not shown by revealing to family or neighbor.From You, within my entrails, a pervading sickness —
that has destroyed my endurance, my being, and my joys.
He said, in supplication:
Since I stretched my hands to You in supplication —
You sufficed me.
Shall I cut off my hope in You,
when my hands have been filled from You?
Make me independent of asking You —
You know my condition.
He said: "Every claimant is veiled by his claim from witnessing the Truth; for the Truth witnesses for the people of the Truth — for God is the Truth, and His word is the Truth, and there is no need to claim when the Truth is witnessing for one. But when one is absent, one needs to claim. Claims belong only to the veiled."
He said: "Whoever is intimate with God has mastered the inner nature of perspicacity. Whoever is absent from observing his self has mastered sincerity. Whoever's portion in all things is 'Him' — he does not care what he has missed, for He is his sustenance."
He said: "Truthfulness is God's sword upon His earth — whatever it is placed upon, it cuts."
He said: "Whoever is pleased with his own deeds, his good deeds become sins."
He said: "With any foot we seek Him, His face confronts us."
He said: "The lowest of the stations of intimacy is that one be cast into the Fire, and yet one's concern is not diverted from beholding Him."
He said: "Intimacy with God is a radiant light; intimacy with creation is an obstructing barrier."
He said: "God has servants who abandoned sins out of shame before His gaze — after having already abandoned them out of fear of His punishment. And if He told you: 'Do as you wish, I will not take you to account for any sin' — even then, His generosity should increase your shame before Him and your abandonment of disobedience to Him, if you are a free person of honor or a grateful servant. How much more so, when He has warned you!"
He said: "Fear is the watchman of deeds, and hope is the intercessor of faith."
He said: "Seek your need with the tongue of poverty, not with the tongue of knowledge."
He said: "The key to worship is contemplation. The sign of whim is following desires. The sign of trust in God is the cutting off of ambitions."
He said: "I had a poor friend who died. I saw him in a dream and asked: 'What did God do with you?' He said: 'He said to me: I have forgiven you. Go back to those children of the world — for a loaf of bread, before they give it to you.'"
He said: "In the past, a man of knowledge would grow in detachment from the world through his knowledge, and in abandonment of it. Today, a man grows through his knowledge in love of the world and pursuit of it. In the past, a man would spend his wealth upon his knowledge. Today, a man earns wealth through his knowledge. In the past, one could see in the man of knowledge an increase in his inward and outward virtue. Today, one sees in many people of knowledge corruption of both the inward and the outward."
He said: "The gnostic grows more humble each day, for each hour he draws nearer."
He said: "O company of seekers! Whoever desires to walk the path, let him meet the scholars with the humility of ignorance, the renunciants with desire, and the people of gnosis with silence."
He said: "The gnostic does not cling to a single state; rather, he obeys his Lord in all states."
3. Ibrahim ibn Adham
Ibrahim ibn Adham ibn Mansur, Abu Ishaq. From the people of Balkh. He was from the sons of kings. Then he was stirred from his heedlessness, and he abandoned his way and turned to the path of renunciation and piety. He went to Mecca, and kept company with Sufyan al-Thawri and al-Fudayl ibn Iyad. He entered Syria, where he would work and eat from the labor of his own hands. He transmitted hadith.
He related from his own beginning:
"My father was of the kings of Khorasan. I was a young man. I mounted for the hunt and went out on a riding beast of mine, with a dog. I raised a rabbit — or a fox. While I was pursuing it, a caller I could not see called out to me and said: 'O Ibrahim! Was it for this you were created? Was this what you were commanded?'
I was terrified. I stopped. Then I resumed and spurred on a second time. The same happened to me — three times. Then a caller called to me from the saddlebow of the saddle: 'By God! It was not for this you were created, nor for this were you commanded!'
So I dismounted. I came upon a shepherd of my father's. I took his wool garment and wore it, and gave him the horse and whatever was with me, and set out for Mecca.
While I was in the desert, there was a man traveling — he had no vessel and no provisions. When evening came and he prayed the sunset prayer, he moved his lips with words I could not hear. Then there appeared a vessel with food and a vessel with drink. I ate and drank.
I was with him in this state. He invoked the Greatest Name of God. Then he vanished from me, and I was left alone. When solitude troubled me, I called upon God by it. Then there appeared to me a figure, who said: 'Ask, and you shall be given.' I was alarmed by his words. He said: 'Fear not, and no harm shall come to you! I am your brother al-Khidr. My brother David taught you the Greatest Name. Do not call upon it against anyone between whom and you there is enmity, lest it bring destruction upon this world and the next. But call upon God that He grant you thereby His mercy, strengthen your weakness, and deepen your awe. Strive with it, at every hour, toward your aspiration.'
Then he departed and left me."
He met a man of the people of Alexandria called Aslam ibn Yazid al-Juhani. Ibrahim said:
"I met him in Alexandria. He said to me: 'Who are you, young man?' I said: 'A youth from the people of Khorasan.' He said: 'What drove you to leave the world?' I said: 'Fear, and hope for the reward of God Most High.'
He said: 'Fear does not bring one to seek the reward of God Most High until one trains the self upon patience.'
A man among his companions said: 'And what is patience?'
He said: 'The first of the stations of patience is that the servant train his self to bear hardships.' I said: 'Then what follows?' He said: 'When one is patient with hardships, God bequeaths to his heart a light.' I said: 'And what is that light?' He said: 'A lamp in his heart, by which he distinguishes between truth and falsehood, the abrogating and the abrogated, the sound and the doubtful.'
I said: 'This is the attribute of the friends of the Lord of the Worlds.'
He said: 'I seek God's forgiveness! Jesus son of Mary, peace be upon him, spoke truly when he said: Do not place wisdom before those who are not its people, lest you waste it; and do not withhold it from its people, lest you wrong them.'
Then he said: 'Young man! Beware — if you keep the company of the righteous or converse with the devout, do not show self-admiration. For God is angry with the self-admiring and pleased with the humble.
The angels are the scholars. They are the ones pleased with God Most High when the people are displeased. They will be God's companions tomorrow, after the prophets and the truthful ones.
Young man! Keep what I say, and understand. Bear patiently, and do not be hasty. For God is with patience and modesty, and God is where there is kindness and gentleness.'
My eyes wept. I said: 'By God! Nothing drove me from my family and my leaving home except love of the next world — and with that, renunciation of this world, and desire for the nearness of God Most High.'
He said: 'Beware of stinginess!'
I said: 'What is stinginess?'
He said: 'As for stinginess among the people of this world — it is that a man be miserly with his wealth. But stinginess among the people of the next world is that one be stingy with his self before God Most High. Indeed, when the servant gives his self to his Lord, He bequeaths to his heart guidance and piety, and grants him the character of the righteous — the full and complete character. And with that, the gates of heaven open for him, and he gazes upon the gates with his heart as they open, even if upon the path of this world he is cast down.'
A man among his companions said: 'Give him attention! For we see he is a youth who has been granted the friendship of God Most High.' The sheikh marveled at his companions' words.
Then he said to me: 'Young man! You will keep the company of the righteous. Be gentle with them, that they may be pleased with you — even if they strike you, insult you, drive you away, and make you hear ugly words. When they do that to you, think within yourself: From where have I come? For when you do that, God will support you with His victory and turn the hearts of people toward you.
And know that when the servant is shunned by the wicked and avoided by the corrupt, that is a sign of acceptance from God Most High. For when God Most High accepts, He turns hearts toward him. But if one rebels against God, He bequeaths to his heart error, then deprivation of sustenance, harshness from family, loathing from the angels, and the turning away of the messengers. Then God does not care in which valley he perishes.'
I said: 'I had a companion — and I was walking between Kufa and Balkh — a man. I saw him: when evening came, he prayed two cycles, then a step further, then two more, never exceeding that. Then he spoke words between his lips. Then a bowl of porridge appeared at his right hand, and a jug of water. He ate and gave me to drink.'
The sheikh wept at that, and those around him wept. Then he said: 'Do you know who that was? That was my brother David. His dwelling is beyond Balkh, in a place called the Cold and the Sweet. That is because the lands boasted of David dwelling among them.
Young man! What did he say to you? What did he teach you?'
I told him. The sheikh asked: 'What is it?'
I said: 'He taught me the Greatest Name.'
He marveled. Then he said: 'And al-Khidr — what did he teach you?'
I said: 'He warned me not to call upon it except in what is right. He said: The renunciants of this world have taken contentment with God as their garment, and His love as their dwelling, and the next world as their banner. God Most High has bestowed upon them favors unlike His favors to others.'
Then he departed from me. The sheikh marveled at my words. Then he said: 'God knows whom He has placed among the guided.'"
Then the sheikh spoke to Ibrahim:
"Do not aspire to contentment with God while following desires. Do not aspire to the love of God while loving wealth and honor. Do not aspire to softness of heart while loving a full stomach and pride. Do not aspire to the fear of God while abandoning piety. Do not aspire to the mercy of God while abandoning mercy for creatures. Do not aspire to righteousness while abandoning the company of the scholars. Do not aspire to the love of God while loving comfort. Do not aspire to scrupulousness while greedily pursuing the world. Do not aspire to contentment and sufficiency while lacking devotion."
Some of his companions said: "O master! Veil him from us, and veil us from him!" He said: "Go!" They went. Ibrahim said: "And I did not know where they went."
He was asked: "Advise me." He said: "Take God as your companion, and put people aside."
Ibrahim ibn Adham wrote to Sufyan al-Thawri:
"Whoever knows what he seeks, what he gives up becomes easy for him. Whoever lets loose his gaze, long is his sorrow. Whoever lets loose his hopes, things go ill for him. Whoever lets loose his tongue, it kills him."
Ibrahim ibn Adham said to a man during the circumambulation of the Kaaba:
"Know that you will not attain the ranks of the righteous until you pass through six gates:
The first: that you close the gate of comfort and open the gate of hardship.
The second: that you close the gate of glory and open the gate of humility.
The third: that you close the gate of rest and open the gate of striving.
The fourth: that you close the gate of sleep and open the gate of wakefulness.
The fifth: that you close the gate of wealth and open the gate of poverty.
The sixth: that you close the gate of hope and open the gate of preparation for death."
4. Bishr ibn al-Harith
Bishr ibn al-Harith ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Ata ibn Hilal ibn Mahan ibn Abdallah, al-Hafi ("the Barefoot"). Abu Nasr. From the village of Bakr, near Marw. He settled in Baghdad and kept company with al-Fudayl ibn Iyad and Ahmad ibn Hanbal. He was learned, scrupulously pious, and the most renowned ascetic of his age. The Caliph al-Ma'mun said of him: "There is no one remaining in this city whom I stand in greater awe of than this shaykh — Bishr ibn al-Harith." He died on Wednesday, the tenth of Muharram, in the year 227 AH (841 CE). He transmitted hadith.
He said: "There will come upon people a time when you will not see a merciful eye among them. And there will come upon them a time when death is more fitting for the people."
He said: "Looking upon the oppressor darkens the eye. Looking upon the miser hardens the heart."
He said: "Strive in abandoning affectation, and do not strive in affectation."
He said: "True patience is that in which there is no complaint to people."
He said: "You will not be complete until your enemy feels safe from you. How can there be any good in you, when your own friend does not feel safe from you?"
He said: "You will not find the sweetness of worship until you place between yourself and your desires a wall of iron."
He said: "True prayer is the abandonment of sins."
He recited verses. The manuscript is severely damaged; what can be recovered:
Say to the nights: the days have ended in disquiet,
never sheltered beneath the canopy of care and dread.They said: "Are you satisfied with this?"
I said: "Contentment lies in preferring the Hereafter over wealth and coin."
Two additional lines survive in the manuscript but are too damaged to translate with confidence. The poem concerns Bishr's ascetic contentment — his willingness to live on vinegar and poverty, choosing the road over comfort.
He said: "The one who endures hunger willingly is like the one who sheds his blood in the way of God. And the reward is Paradise."
He said: "Suppose you do not fear God — do you not at least long for Him?"
He said: "A generous rogue is more beloved to me than a stingy reciter of the Quran."
He said: "I have been buying bread at the same price for forty years. Bear with me."
A man said to Bishr: "I do not know what to season my bread with." He said: "Remember well-being, and make it your seasoning."
He said: "If you eat, do not fault what you are given."
He said: "Everyone dislikes death. But none truly dislikes death except a stranger in this world."
He said: "Your love of being known among people is a proof of your love of the world."
He said: "Some people are dead, yet hearts come alive by remembering them. Some people are alive, yet hearts harden from seeing them."
He said: "Wealth cannot bear extravagance."
He said: "One of you comes to me with the illness of a whole year and expects me to cure him in a single hour. As long as I am treating my own self, I have no leisure for anyone else. When my self recovers, I am free for others. What helps the physician is the willingness of the patient to be treated."
Then he said: "I wish I could see the faces of people who do not fear — who are wholly given to the matters of the Hereafter."
A man of the Sufis came to Bishr while he was sitting and said to him: "Abu Nasr! Will you not extend your hand to take from the wealthy, to supply water for the people? If you are truly devoted to renunciation and have turned your back on the world, take from them and give to the poor — and be a steward for all who are beneath you in station."
This troubled Bishr's companions. Bishr said to the man:
"Know that the poor are three:
A poor man who does not ask, and when given, does not take. He is of the highest station. If he asks God, God gives. If he swears an oath before God, God fulfills it.
A poor man who does not ask, but when given, accepts. He is of the middle station. His lot is trust and stillness before God — wealth in God's care — and he is among those for whom feasts are spread in the enclosure of holiness.
A poor man who has resolved upon patience and guarding the present moment. When need overtakes him, he goes out to the servants of God and turns to God through the act of asking. The expiation for his asking is the sincerity within the asking."
The man said: "I am satisfied. May God be pleased with you!"
5. Al-Sari al-Saqati
Al-Sari ibn al-Mughallas al-Saqati, Abu al-Hasan. It is said he was the maternal uncle of al-Junaid and his teacher. He was a companion of Ma'ruf al-Karkhi. He was the first to speak in Baghdad on the language of divine unity (tawhid) and the realities of spiritual states. He was the imam of the Baghdadis and their shaykh in his time. Most of the Second Generation of shaykhs mentioned in this book trace their lineage to him. He died in the year 251 AH (865 CE). He transmitted hadith.
Al-Junaid related: I heard al-Sari say: "I know a short, direct path to Paradise." I said: "What is it?" He said: "Ask nothing of anyone; take nothing from anyone; and possess nothing that you might give to anyone."
He said: "I see no superiority for myself over anyone." He was pressed: "Not even over the effeminate?" He said: "Not even over the effeminate."
He said: "If a portion of my daily recitation passes me by, I can never make it up."
He said: "Whoever wishes to preserve his religion, give rest to his heart and body, and diminish his grief — let him withdraw from people, for this is a time of solitude and isolation."
He said: "All of the world is excess except five things: bread to satisfy him, water to quench him, a garment to cover him, a house to shelter him, and useful knowledge."
He said: "Trust in God is the stripping away of all power and strength."
He said: "Four are the traits of the Abdal: thoroughness in scrupulousness, sincerity of intention, soundness of heart toward all creation, and counsel."
Al-Junaid related that al-Sari said in supplication: "O God, whatever You punish me with, do not punish me with the humiliation of the Veil."
He was asked about reason, and he said: "That by which the Real establishes what is commanded and what is forbidden."
He said: "Four qualities elevate the aspirant: forbearance, good conduct, trustworthiness, and chastity."
He said: "Whoever recognizes the true value of the blessing is spared from where he does not expect."
He said: "Whoever endures tribulations — they refine him."
He said: "A little with sincerity is better than much with pretension. How can one whose sincerity is pretension fare?"
He said: "Matters are three: one whose guidance is clear to you — follow it; one whose harm is clear to you — avoid it; and one that is doubtful to you — stop at it and refer it to God Most High. Let God be your guide. Commit your whole affair to Him, and you will be sufficed by Him over all else."
He said: "Good conduct is the guardian of reason."
He said: "How many there are who describe the blessing, and how few whose deeds match their description."
He said: "The strongest of strengths is conquering yourself. Whoever falls short of disciplining himself is even less able to discipline others. And whoever obeys his passions has severed obedience from those beneath him."
He said: "Whoever fears God — all things fear him."
He said: "Your tongue is the guardian of your heart, and your face is the mirror of your heart. What appears on faces reveals what hearts conceal."
He said: "Hearts are three: a heart like a mountain — nothing moves it; a heart like a palm tree — its root is firm and its fruit is high; and a heart like a feather — the wind tosses it this way and that."
He said: "Do not harm your brother on the basis of suspicion, and do not abandon seeking reconciliation."
He said: "If you fear your property will diminish, then weep over what has decreased of your deeds."
He said: "Among the signs of gnosis of God: standing up for God’s rights, and preferring Him over the self in whatever is within your power."
He said: "The abundance of critics comes from the scarcity of truthfulness."
He said: "The best of character is defending people from harm, and bearing harm from them — without grudge and without retribution."
He said: "Among the signs of being led astray: blindness to the faults of the self."
He said: "People earn from five kinds of wrongdoing: sin in acquisition; humiliation and submissiveness in begging; fraud in craft; persistence in disobedience; and colluding with oppressors."
He said: "The best of things are five: purification of faults, rectification of defects, propriety of speech about the unseen, guarding what the hearts perceive, and not being for every trial a willing vehicle."
He said: "Five things — when the heart holds them, nothing else remains alongside: fear of God alone, hope in God alone, love of God alone, and intimacy with God alone."
He said: "The most stripped of people is the one stripped of his pretensions."
He said: "Whoever adorns himself before people with what is not in him falls from the eye of God."
He said: "A man will not be perfected until he gives precedence to his religion over his desire. And he will not be destroyed unless his desire takes precedence over his religion."
A man said to al-Sari: "How are you?" He said: "One whose house is full yet his physician is absent — how do you suppose his condition?"
He said: "When a man begins with asceticism, he takes hadith to heart. But when he begins with hadith, asceticism does not begin in him."
Colophon
Tabaqat al-Sufiyya (طبقات الصوفية, Generations of the Sufis) by Abu Abd al-Rahman Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Sulami (937–1021 CE). This is believed to be the first English translation of any portion of this work. Al-Sulami was the foremost collector of early Sufi biography, and his Tabaqat is the foundation upon which all later Sufi biographical literature was built.
Translated from Classical Arabic by the New Tianmu Anglican Church (Good Works Translation, AI-assisted), 2026. The translation was produced independently from the Arabic source text as digitized on Internet Archive (edition of Nur al-Din Shurayba, third edition, Cairo). The OCR text contains significant artifacts; the translator reconstructed damaged passages from context, grammatical structure, and cross-reference with the historical tradition. No existing English translation was consulted as a reference, as no complete English translation is known to exist.
This translation covers Entries 1–5 of the First Generation: al-Fudayl ibn Iyad (d. 187 AH / 803 CE), comprising 21 transmitted sayings; Dhu'l-Nun al-Misri (d. 245 AH / 859 CE), comprising 28 transmitted sayings plus poetry; Ibrahim ibn Adham (d. 161 AH / 777 CE), comprising a conversion narrative, dialogue with Aslam ibn Yazid, encounter with al-Khidr, transmitted sayings, a letter to Sufyan al-Thawri, and the teaching of the Six Gates; Bishr ibn al-Harith, known as al-Hafi ("the Barefoot") (d. 227 AH / 841 CE), comprising 20 transmitted sayings, partially reconstructed poetry, and a dialogue on the three stations of poverty; and al-Sari ibn al-Mughallas al-Saqati (d. 251 AH / 865 CE), the imam of Baghdad and teacher of al-Junaid, comprising 34 transmitted sayings on divine unity, renunciation, trust in God, the nature of the heart, and the relationship between sincerity and action. The complete work contains 103 biographical entries across five generations. Future translators should continue from Entry 6: al-Harith al-Muhasibi (DjVu line 5873).
The poetry attributed to Bishr ibn al-Harith survives in four lines, of which two are severely damaged in the OCR. Two lines have been translated; two are noted as too damaged for confident reconstruction. The poem concerns ascetic contentment, consistent with Bishr's known character and teaching.
The poetry attributed to Dhu'l-Nun is severely damaged in the OCR text. The six verses presented represent the best reconstruction possible from the digitized source. Additional verses exist in the OCR but are too garbled to translate with confidence; they have been omitted per the Blood Rule rather than guessed.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
See also: Adab al-Nufus and Al-Wasaya, the works of al-Harith al-Muhasibi — the sixth entry in al-Sulami's biographical sequence, whose works are also in this archive. Letters of al-Junaid, Book of Annihilation, Book of the Covenant, and Short Treatises of al-Junaid, the works of al-Junaid ibn Muhammad — student of al-Sari al-Saqati (Entry 5) and al-Muhasibi (Entry 6). Diwan al-Hallaj, the poetry of al-Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj — al-Junaid's most controversial student.
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Source Text: طبقات الصوفية
Arabic source text from Internet Archive (archive.org/details/TabakatSufiya), edition of Nur al-Din Shurayba, third edition, Cairo. OCR digitization with significant artifacts. Presented for reference and verification alongside the English translation above. Page numbers, footnote markers, variant readings, and OCR noise have been retained to preserve fidelity to the digitized source.
الطبقة الأولى
[١] الفضيل بن عياض
هو الفضيل بن عياض بن مسعود بن بشر، التميمي اليربوعي.
قال: «من جالس صاحب بدعة لم يُعطَ الحكمة».
قال: «يكون في آخر الزمان أقوام، يكونون إخوان العلانية، أعداء السرّيّة».
قال: «أحقّ الناس بالرضا عن الله أهل المعرفة بالله عزّ وجلّ».
قال: «لا ينبغي لأهل القرآن أن يكون له إلى أحد حاجة، لا إلى الخلفاء فمن دونهم. ينبغي أن تكون حوائج الخلق كلهم إليه».
قال: «لم يُدرك عندنا من أدرك بكثرة صيامه ولا صلاته، وإنما أُدرك بسخاء الأنفس، وسلامة الصدر، والنصيحة للأمة».
قال: «لم يتزيّن الناس بشيء أفضل من الصدق وطلب الحلال».
قال: «أصل الزهد الرضا عن الله تعالى».
قال: «من عرف الناس استراح».
قال: «إني لا أعتقد إخاء الرجل في الرضاء، ولكني أعتقد إخاءه في الغضب، إذا أغضبته».
قال: «تباعد من القرّاء، فإنهم إن أحبّوك مدحوك بما ليس فيك، وإن أبغضوك شهدوا عليك، وقُبِل منهم».
سئل عن التواضع، فقال: «أن تخضع للحقّ، وتنقاد له، وتقبل الحقّ من كلّ من سمعته منه».
قال: «من أظهر لأخيه المودّة والثناء بلسانه، وأضمر له العداوة والبغضاء، لعنه الله، فأصمّه، وأعمى بصيرة قلبه».
قال في قوله تعالى: «إنّ في هذا لبلاغاً لقوم عابدين»: «الذين يحافظون على الصلوات الخمس».
قال: «كان يقال: جُعل الشرّ كلّه في بيت، وجُعل مفتاحه الرغبة في الدنيا. وجُعل الخير كلّه في بيت، وجُعل مفتاحه الزهد في الدنيا».
قال: «من كفّ شرّه عن الناس فقد صنع ما سرّه».
قال: «ثلاث خصال تقسي القلب: كثرة الأكل، وكثرة النوم، وكثرة الكلام».
قال: «خير العمل أخفاه. وأبعده من الشيطان أبعده من البلاء».
قال: «إنّ من شكر النعمة أن تحدّث بها».
قال: «أبى الله أن يجعل أرزاق المؤمنين من حيث لا يحتسبون».
قال: «لا عمل لمن لا نيّة له، ولا أجر لمن لا حسبة له».
قال: «طوبى لمن استوحش من الناس، وأنس بربّه، وبكى على خطيئته».
[٢] ذو النون المصري
ومنهم ذو النون بن إبراهيم المصري، أبو الفيض. ويقال: ثوبان بن إبراهيم. وذو النون لقب.
قال: «إياك أن تكون بالمعرفة مدعياً، أو تكون بالزهد مختالاً، أو تكون بالعبادة متعلقاً».
سئل: «ما أخفى الحجاب وأشده؟» قال: «رؤية النفس وتدبيرها».
سئل عن المحبة، قال: «أن تحب ما أحب الله، وتبغض ما أبغض الله، وتفعل الخير كله، وترفض كل ما يشغل عن الله، وألا تخاف في الله لومة لائم، مع العطف للمؤمنين والغلظة على الكافرين، واتباع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في الدين».
قال الله تعالى: «من كان لي مطيعاً كنت له ولياً، فليثق بي وليحكم علي. فبعزتي، لو سألني زوال الدنيا لأزلتها».
سئل عن الصوفي، قال: «من إذا نطق أبان نطقه عن الحقائق، وإن سكت نطقت عنه الجوارح بقطع العلائق».
قال: «الأنس بالله من صفاء القلب مع الله، والتفرد بالله الانقطاع من كل شيء سوى الله».
قال: «من أراد التواضع فليوجه نفسه إلى عظمة الله، فإنها تذوب وتصفو. ومن نظر إلى سلطان الله غاب سلطان النفس، لأن النفوس كلها فقيرة عند هيبته».
قال: «هل رأيت طبيباً يداوي سكراناً في وقت سكره؟ إن يكن لسكره دواء حتى يفيق فيداوى بالتوبة».
قال: «لم أر شيئاً أبعث لعلق الإخلاص من الوحدة، لأنه إذا خلا لم ير غير الله تعالى. ومن أحب الطهارة فقد تعلق بعمود الإخلاص واستمسك بركن كبير من أركان الصدق».
قال: «من علامات الحب لله متابعة حبيب الحق في أخلاقه وأفعاله وأوامره وسنته».
قال: «إذا صح اليقين في القلب صح الخوف من الله تعالى».
أنشد ذو النون:
أموت وما ماتت إليك صبابتي ولا قضيت من صدق حبك أوطاري
مناي أنال كل المنى أنت لي منى وأنت الغنى كل المنى عند افتقاري
وأنت مدى سؤلي وغاية رغبتي وموضع آمالي وتكوين أضماري
قليل فيك ما لا أبله إن طال شوقي فيك أو طال إضراري
وإن ضلوعي منك ميل قد بدا ولم يبد بإبداء لأهل ولا جار
ولي منك في الأحشاء داء مخامر فقد هد مني الجلد والكيان والإشرار
قال: «كل مدعٍ محجوب بدعواه عن شهود الحق، لأن الحق شاهد لأهل الحق، لأن الله هو الحق وقوله الحق، ولا يحتاج أن يدعي إذا كان الحق شاهداً له. فأما إذا كان غائباً فيحتاج. وإنما تقوم الدعوى للمحجوبين».
قال: «من أنس بالله فقد استمكن من باطن الفراسة. ومن غاب عن ملاحظة نفسه فقد استمكن من الإخلاص. ومن كان حظه في الأشياء «هو» لا يبالي ما فاته، هو دوله».
قال: «الصدق سيف الله في أرضه، ما وضع على شيء إلا قطعه».
قال: «من عجب بعمله كانت حسناته سيئات».
قال: «بأي قدم نطلبه تدركه وجهه».
قال: «أدنى منازل الأنس أن يلقى في النار فلا ينصرف همه عن تأمله».
قال: «الأنس بالله نور ساطع، والأنس بالخلق حاجز واقع».
قال: «لله عباد تركوا الذنوب استحياء من نظره، بعد أن تركوها خوفاً من عقوبته. ولو قال لك: افعل ما شئت فلست آخذك بذنب، لكان ينبغي أن يزيدك كرمه استحياء منه وتركاً لمعصيته، إن كنت حراً كريماً أو عبداً شكوراً. فكيف وقد حذرك؟!».
قال: «الخوف رقيب العمل، والرجاء شفيع الإيمان».
قال: «اطلب الحاجة بلسان الفقر لا بلسان العلم».
قال: «مفتاح العبادة الفكرة، وعلامة الهوى متابعة الشهوات، وعلامة التوكل انقطاع المطامع».
قال: «كان لي صديق فقير مات، فرأيته في النوم، فقلت له: ما فعل الله بك؟ قال: قال لي: قد غفرت لك. عد إلى هؤلاء أبناء الدنيا، رغيف قبل أن يعطوك».
قال: «كان الرجل من أهل العلم يزداد بعلمه فضلاً للدنيا وتركاً لها. واليوم يزداد الرجل بعلمه للدنيا حباً وطلباً. وكان الرجل ينفق ماله على علمه، واليوم يكسب الرجل بعلمه مالاً. وكان يرى على صاحب العلم زيادة في باطنه وظاهره، واليوم يرى على كثير من أهل العلم فساد الباطن والظاهر».
قال: «العارف كل يوم أخشع، لأنه كل ساعة أقرب».
قال: «يا معشر المريدين! من أراد سلوك الطريق فليلق العلماء بالجهل، والزهاد بالرغبة، وأهل المعرفة بالصمت».
قال: «إن العارف لا يلزم حالة واحدة، إنما يأتمر ربه في الحالات كلها».
[٣] إبراهيم بن أدهم
ومنهم إبراهيم بن أدهم بن منصور، أبو إسحاق. من أهل بلخ. كان من أبناء الملوك، فشُرج معدانه، أي أيقظه من غفلته. فترك طريقته في الزين، ودخل إلى طريقة الزهد والورع. وخرج إلى مكة، وصحب بها سفيان الثوري، والفضيل بن عياض. ودخل الشام، فكان يعمل فيه ويأكل من عمل يده. وأسند الحديث.
أخبرني عن بدء أمره، قال: «كان أبي من ملوك خراسان. وكنت شاباً. فركبت إلى الصيد. فخرجت على دابة لي، ومعي كلب. فأثرت أرنباً أو ثعلباً. فبينا أنا أطلبه، إذ هتف بي هاتف لا أراه. قال: يا إبراهيم! ألهذا خُلقت؟! أم بهذا أُمرت؟!
ففزعت، ووقفت، ثم عدت، فركضت الثانية. ففعل بي مثل ذلك، ثلاث مرات. ثم هتف بي هاتف، من قربوس السرج: والله! ما لهذا خُلقت، ولا بهذا أُمرت!
فنزلت، فصادفت راعياً لأبي. فأخذت جبة الصوف، فلبستها، ودفعت إليه الفرس وما كان معي. وتوجهت إلى مكة.
فبينا أنا في البادية، إذا أنا برجل يسير، ليس معه إناء ولا زاد. فلما أمسى، وصلى المغرب، حرك شفتيه بكلام لا أفهمه. فإذا أنا بإناء فيه طعام، وإناء فيه شراب. فأكلت وشربت.
ونادى باسم الله الأعظم. ثم غاب عني، وبقيت وحدي. فلما استوحشت من الوحدة، دعوت الله به. فإذا أنا بشخص يتراءى. قال: سَلْ تُعطَ. فراعني قوله. فقال: لا رَوْع عليك ولا أذى! أنا أخوك الخضر. إن أخي داود علمك اسم الله الأعظم. فلا تدع به على أحد بينك وبينه شحناء، فيلحقه هلاك الدنيا والآخرة. ولكن ادع الله أن يشحم به خيرك، ويقوي به ضعفك، ويكون به وخشتك. جدّ به في كل ساعة رغبتك». ثم انصرف وتركني.
قال أسلم بن يزيد: «من أنت يا غلام؟» قلت: «شاب من أهل خراسان». قال: «ما حملك على الخروج من الدنيا؟» قلت: «خوفاً ورجاءً لثواب الله تعالى».
قال: «إن الخوف لا يبلغ رجاء ثواب الله تعالى، حتى يعمل على الصبر». قال رجل من أصحابه: «وأي شيء الصبر؟»
قال: «إن أدنى منازل الصبر أن يروض العبد نفسه على احتمال مكاره الأشياء». قلت: «ثم مه؟» قال: «إذا كان صابراً للمكاره، أورث الله قلبه نوراً». قلت: «وما ذلك النور؟» قال: «سراجاً يكون في قلبه، يفرق به بين الحق والباطل، والناسخ والمتشابه».
قلت: «هذه صفة أولياء رب العالمين». قال: «أستغفر الله! صدق عيسى بن مريم عليه السلام حين قال: لا تضعوا الحكمة عند غير أهلها فتضيعوها، ولا تمنعوها أهلها فتظلموها».
قال: «يا غلام! إياك إذا صحبت الأخيار أو حادثت الأبرار أن تضمّ عليك، فإن الله يغضب للمضمّ، ويرضى للراضين».
قال: «إياك والبخل!» قلت: «ما البخل؟» قال: «أما البخل عند أهل الدنيا، فهو أن يكون الرجل بخيلاً بماله. وأما البخل عند أهل الآخرة، فهو الذي يبخل بنفسه عن الله تعالى. ألا وإن العبد إذا جاد بنفسه لله، أورث قلبه الهدى والتقى، وأعطي أخلاق الصالحين الكاملة. ومع ذلك تفتح له أبواب السماء، فهو ينظر إلى أبوابها بقلبه كيف تفتح، وإن كان في طريق الدنيا مطروحاً».
«لا تطمع في الرضا مع موافقة الغلبة. ولا تطمع في حب الله مع حبة المال والشرف. ولا تطمع في لين القلب مع حب الشبع والتكبر. ولا تطمع في الخوف من الله مع ترك التقوى. ولا تطمع في رحمة الله مع ترك الرحمة للمخلوقين. ولا تطمع في الرشد مع ترك مجالسة العلماء. ولا تطمع في الحب لله مع حب الراحة. ولا تطمع في الورع مع الحرص في الدنيا. ولا تطمع في الرضا والقناعة مع قلة الدعاء».
قال بعضهم: «يا إمامنا! احجبه عنا واحجبنا عنه!» قال: «انصرفوا!» فانصرفوا. قال: «فما أدري أين ذهبوا».
قيل: «أوصني». قال: «اتّخذ الله صاحباً، ودع الناس جانباً».
كتب إبراهيم بن أدهم إلى سفيان الثوري:
«من عرف ما يطلب هان عليه ما بذل. ومن أطلق بصره طال أسفه. ومن أطلق أمله ساء عمله. ومن أطلق لسانه قتل نفسه».
قال إبراهيم بن أدهم لرجل في الطواف:
«اعلم أنك لا تنال درجة الصالحين حتى تجوز ست عقبات:
الأولى: أن تغلق باب النعمة وتفتح باب الشدة.
والثانية: أن تغلق باب العز وتفتح باب الذل.
والثالثة: أن تغلق باب الراحة وتفتح باب الجهد.
والرابعة: أن تغلق باب النوم وتفتح باب السهر.
والخامسة: أن تغلق باب الغنى وتفتح باب الفقر.
والسادسة: أن تغلق باب الأمل وتفتح باب الاستعداد للموت».
[٤] بشر بن الحارث
ومنهم بشر بن الحارث بن عبد الرحمن بن عطاء بن هلال بن ماهان بن عبد الله، الحافي. كنيته أبو نصر. أصله من قرية بكر، من قرى مرو. سكن بغداد، ومات بها. وصحب الفضيل بن عياض. وكان عالماً ورعاً.
قال أحمد بن حنبل: قال لي المأمون: لم يبق في هذه الكورة أحد أستحيي منه غير هذا الشيخ، بشر بن الحارث.
مات بشر بن الحارث يوم الأربعاء لعشر خلون من المحرم سنة سبع وعشرين ومائتين.
وأسند الحديث.
قال: سمعت بشر بن الحارث يقول: «يأتي على الناس زمان لا ترى فيه عين رحمة. ويأتي عليهم زمان يكون الموت فيه أحق على الناس».
قال: سمعت بشراً يقول: «النظر إلى الظالم سخنة العين. والنظر إلى البخيل يقسي القلب».
قال: سمعت بشراً يقول: «اعمل في ترك التصنع، ولا تعمل في التصنع».
قال: سمعت بشراً يقول: «الصبر الجميل هو الذي لا شكوى فيه إلى الناس».
قال: سمعت بشراً يقول: «لا تكون كاملاً حتى يأمنك عدوك. وكيف يكون فيك خير وأنت لا يأمنك صديقك؟».
قال: سمعت بشراً يقول: «لا تجد حلاوة العبادة حتى تجعل بينك وبين الشهوات حائطاً من حديد».
قال: سمعت بشراً يقول: «الدعاء ترك الذنوب».
[أبيات]
قل للّيالي تمّ الأيام في خُلُقٍ ولم تحتّ رواق الهمّ والقلق
[بيت تالف]
قالوا رضيت بذا | قلت: القنوع في ردّ الآخرة الأموال والورق
رضيت بالخلّ في عمري وفي قدري [بيت تالف]
قال: سمعت بشراً يقول: «المتقلّل في جوعه كالمتشحّط في دمه في سبيل الله. وثواب الجنة».
قال: سمعت بشراً يقول: «هب أنت لا تخاف، أولا تشتاق؟!»
قال: سمعت بشراً يقول: «شاطر سخيّ أحبّ إليّ من قارئ لئيم».
قال: «إني لأشتري الخبز بثمن سواء منذ أربعين سنة، فاصبروا عليّ».
قال رجل لبشر: «لا أدري بأيّ شيء آكل خبزي؟» فقال: «اذكر العافية واجعلها إدامك!»
قال: سمعت بشراً يقول: «إذا طعمت فلا تذم».
قال: سمعت بشراً يقول: «كلّهم يكره الموت، ولا يكره الموت إلا غريب».
قال بشر: «حبّك لمعرفة الناس رأس حبّ الدنيا».
قال: سمعت بشر بن الحارث يقول: «إنّ قوماً أمواتاً تحيا القلوب بذكرهم. وإنّ قوماً أحياء تقسو القلوب برؤيتهم».
قال: «المال لا يحتمل التّرف».
قال: سمعت بشراً يقول: «يأتيني أحدكم بداء سنة عام، كيف تريد أن أعالجك في ساعة؟ ما دمت أعالج نفسي لا أتفرّغ لغيري. فإذا عوفيت نفسي تفرّغت لغيري. ما يصلح الطبيب إلا أن يكون في المريض منه معونة!»
ثم قال: «أريد أن أرى وجوه قوم لا يخافون، مهتمّين بأمور الآخرة».
جاء رجل من المتصوّفة إلى بشر وهو جالس في الرّضا والسّلام. فقال له: يا أبا نصر! أتمدّ ساعدك إلى أحد من أهل الدنيا لإقامة الماء للناس؟ فإن كنت متحقّقاً بالزهد، منصرفاً عن الدنيا، خذ من أموالهم ليستسقي بك الناس، وكن مدبّراً لكلّ من دونك من أصناف الخلق.
فاشتدّ ذلك على أصحاب بشر. قال بشر: اعلم أنّ الفقراء ثلاثة:
فقير لا يسأل وإن أعطي لا يأخذ. فذاك من الأربعين. إذا سأل الله أعطاه، وإن أقسم على الله لأبرّه.
وفقير لا يسأل وإن أعطي قبل. فذاك من أوسط القوم. عنده التوكّل والسكون إلى الله والمال. وهو ممّن توضع له الموائد في حظيرة القدس.
وفقير اعتقد الصبر ومحافظة الوقت. فإذا عرضت الحاجة خرج إلى عبيد الله وتضرّع إلى الله بالسؤال. فكفّارة مسألته صدقة في السؤال.
فقال الرجل: رضيت! رضي الله عنك!
[٥] السري السقطي
ومنهم السري بن المغلّس السقطي، أبو الحسن. يقال إنه خال الجنيد وأستاذه. صحب معروفاً الكرخي. وهو أول من تكلم ببغداد في لسان التوحيد وحقائق الأحوال. وهو إمام البغداديين وشيخهم في وقته. وإليه ينتسب أكثر الطبقة الثانية من المشايخ المذكورين في هذا الكتاب. مات سنة إحدى وخمسين ومائتين.
سمعت الجنيد يقول: سمعت السري يقول: «أعرف طريقاً مختصراً قاصداً إلى الجنة». فقلت: «ما هو؟» فقال: «لا تسأل أحداً شيئاً، ولا تأخذ من أحد شيئاً، ولا يكون معك شيء تعطي منه أحداً».
قال: «ما أرى لي على أحد فضلاً». قيل: «ولا على المخنثين؟» قال: «ولا على المخنثين».
قال: «إذا فاتني جزء من وردي، لا أكون أن أقضيه أبداً».
قال: «من أراد أن يسلم دينه ويستريح قلبه وبدنه ويقل غمه، فليعتزل الناس، لأن هذا زمان عزلة ووحدة».
قال: «كل الدنيا فضول إلا خمس خصال: خبز يشبعه، وماء يرويه، وثوب يستره، وبيت يكنه، وعلم نافع».
قال: «التوكل الانخلاع من الحول والقوة».
قال: «أربع من أخلاق الأبدال: استقصاء الورع، وتصحيح الإرادة، وسلامة الصدر للخلق، والنصيحة».
قال الجنيد: قال السري: «اللهم ما عذبتني بشيء فلا تعذبني بذل الحجاب».
سئل السري عن العقل، فقال: «ما قام به الحق على الأمور ومنهي».
قال: «أربع خصال ترفع المريد: الحلم والأدب والأمانة والعفة».
قال: «من يعرف قدر النعمة سلم من حيث لا يعرف».
قال: «من هانت عليه المصائب أخّره واها».
قال: «قليل في صدق خير من كثير مع دعوى. كيف يفلح مع دعوى؟».
قال: «الأمور ثلاثة: أمر بان لك رشده فاتبعه؛ وأمر بان لك غيّه فاجتنبه؛ وأمر أشكل عليك فقف عنده وكله إلى الله عز وجل. وليكن الله دليلك. واجعل أمرك إليه، تكفه دون سواه».
قال: «الأدب حراسة العقل».
قال: «ما أكثر من يصف النعمة، وأقل من وافق فعله صفته».
قال: «أقوى القوة غلبتك نفسك. ومن عجز عن أدب نفسه كان عن أدب غيره أعجز. ومن أطاع نفسه فرّق طاعته من دونه».
قال: «من خاف الله خافه كل شيء».
قال: «لسانك حراسة قلبك، ووجهك مرآة قلبك؛ يبين على الوجوه ما تضمره القلوب».
قال: «القلوب ثلاثة: قلب مثل الجبل لا يزيله شيء؛ وقلب مثل النخلة أصلها ثابت وفرعها عالٍ؛ وقلب كالريشة يقلبها الريح ما وما».
قال: «لا تضر أخاك في ارتياب، ولا تدع دون الاستعتاب».
قال: «إن خشيت ألا ينقص من مالك، فابك على ما نقص من عملك».
قال: «من علامة المعرفة به القيام بحقوق الله وإيثاره على النفس فيما أمكنك فيه القدرة».
قال: «من قلة الصدق كثرة الخلطاء».
قال: «حسن الخلق كف الأذى عن الناس واحتمال الأذى عنهم بلا حقد ولا مكافاة».
قال: «من علامة الاستدراج العمى عن عيوب النفس».
قال: «الخلق يكتسبون من خمسة: من الإثم في الاكتساب، والمهانة والخضوع في السؤال، والغش في الصناعة، وإدمان المعاصي، ومحاملة الظلمة».
قال: «أحسن الأشياء خمسة: إصلاح الذنوب واصطلاح العيوب ورعاية كلام الغيوب وإلا تهون مرأى القلوب وألا تكون لكل ما يرى ركوب».
قال: «خمسة أشياء لا يحسن في القلب معها غيرها: الخوف من الله وحده، والرجاء لله وحده، والحب لله وحده، والأنس بالله وحده».
قال: «أجرد الناس من جرّده حاله».
قال: «من زيّن للناس ما ليس فيه سقط من عين الله عز وجل».
قال: «لن يكمل رجل حتى يؤثر دينه على شهوته؛ وإن يهلك حتى يؤثر شهوته على دينه».
قال رجل للسري: «كيف أنت؟» فقال: «من كان بيته ملآن والطبيب غائب كيف تظن حاله أن يكون؟».
قال: «إذا ابتدأ الإنسان بالنسك ثم كتب الحديث فارهنه؛ وإذا ابتدأ بكتب الحديث ثم طلب النسك لم تنله».
Source Colophon
Arabic source text from archive.org/details/TabakatSufiya (DjVu OCR text, 33,124 lines). Edition: Tabaqat al-Sufiyya, by Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami (d. 412 AH / 1021 CE), edited by Nur al-Din Shurayba, third edition, Cairo. The OCR digitization contains significant artifacts including garbled characters, mixed scripts, page headers, footnote markers, and variant readings interspersed with the main text. The Arabic source presented above has been manually cleaned from the OCR text to present the core transmitted sayings in readable form. Entry 1 (al-Fudayl): DjVu lines 2821–3427. Entry 2 (Dhu'l-Nun al-Misri): DjVu lines 3428–4143. Entry 3 (Ibrahim ibn Adham): DjVu lines 4144–4849. Entry 4 (Bishr ibn al-Harith): DjVu lines 4850–5418. Entry 5 (al-Sari al-Saqati): DjVu lines 5418–5872. The complete OCR file is preserved at Tulku/Tools/arabic/tabaqat_sufiyya_djvu.txt for future translators.
The Tabaqat al-Sufiyya contains 103 biographical entries across five generations. This translation covers Entries 1–5 of the First Generation. Entry 6 (al-Harith al-Muhasibi) begins at DjVu line 5873. The complete work runs to approximately 33,000 lines of OCR text.
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