Abū Naṣr ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAlī al-Sarrāj (in Arabic: أبو نصرعبدالله ابن علي السرَّاج, in Persian: ابونصر عبدالله بن علی بن محمد بن یحیی سرّاج) (died 988) was a

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

sheikh and

ascetic Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their pra ...

born in Tūs, Iran. He traveled widely in the Islamic world, having lived in cities as diverse as

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

Ramla Ramla (), also known as Ramle (, ), is a city in the Central District of Israel. Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with significant numbers of both Jews and Arabs. The city was founded in the early 8th century CE by the Umayyad caliph S ...

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

, and

Nishapur Nishapur or Neyshabur (, also ) is a city in the Central District (Nishapur County), Central District of Nishapur County, Razavi Khorasan province, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Ni ...

. He is best known for his seminal ''Kitāb al-luma'' (Book of Light), which is considered an encyclopedia of the history of early Sufism.

Kitāb al-luma'

Sarrāj is best known for his work, ''Kitāb al-luma' fi'l-taṣawwuf (كتاب اللمع في التصوف, The Book of Light Flashes on Sufism)'', one of the earliest surveys of Sufism in which he affirms Sufism as an "authentic religious discipline" before he delves into accounting the different modes of knowing in Sufism. His book is considered an encyclopedia for the history of Islamic Sufism, different modes of knowing within Sufism, and Sufi concepts and sayings. The book was very successful in being one of the first "authoritative documentary" surveys, forged by first-hand information from thirty-nine Sufi authorities on a total of around 200 Sufis. Sarrāj also sought in the book to demonstrate Sufism's compatibility with mainstream

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

Other works

In addition to his scholarly activities, Sarrāj was highly active in the early Sufi community. He was the head of the order of dervishes in Baghdad, and was thus responsible for the day-to-day management of the Sufi community in the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

capital. This position of power led him to become the ''sheikh'' (teacher) of many prominent early Sufis, including Abu al-Fadl ibn al-Hasan al-Sarakhsi, who was himself the sheikh of Abū-Sa'īd Abul-Khayr,

al-Qushayri 'Abd al-Karīm ibn Hawazin Abū al-Qāsim al-Qushayrī al-Naysābūrī (, ; 986 – 30 December 1072) was an Arab Muslim scholar, theologian, jurist, legal theoretician, commentator of the Qur’an, muhaddith, grammarian, spiritual master, ...

, and Ja'far al-Khaldi. Similarly, Sarrāj was considered one of the foremost ''faqaha (legal scholars) in early Sufism. Though his prominence in the early Sufi community was mainly a result of his scholarship and knowledge of the ''

sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

'' (Islamic law), it also owed in part to his lineage, as he was descended from a long line of ascetics. السراج الطوسي، أبو نصر عبد الله
الموسوعة العربية الميسرة، 1965

References

{{Authority control Sufi mystics 10th-century deaths People from Tus, Iran Iranian Sufis Iranian Muslim mystics