‛Arūs al-Zuhhād

‛Arūs al-Zuhhād, ascetic and hadith transmitter from Isfahan in the 8^th/2^nd century. Abū ‛Abdullāh Muhammad b. Yūsuf b.

Ma‛dān b. Suleymān¹ Eṣfahānī, known as ‛Arūs al-Zuhhād, was born in the Jūrjīr*,² a quarter of Isfahan, most likely in 761/144.³ He is also referred to as Ebn Ma‛dān and Muhammad b. Yūsuf Ma‛dānī.⁴ Little information is available about his life. Given that Isfahan in the 7^th/1^st and 8^th/2^nd centuries was one of the major and populated centers of Jews*, the names of his father and ancestors suggest the possibility that his forebears were of Jewish origin from Isfahan. Muhammad received his early education in Isfahan and later traveled to Basra, where he studied hadith under Ḥammād b. Zayd al-Azdī (d. 795/179), Ḥammād b. Salama al-Baṣrī (d. 783/167), and Ṣāleḥ b. Bashīr al-Baṣrī al-Murrī (d. 792/176).⁵ Abū Nu‛aym Iṣfahānī* listed him among the students of some of the successors, including Yūnus b. ‛Ubayd al-Baṣrī (d. 756/139) and Suleymān b. Mehrān al-Kūfī, known as al-A‛mash (d. 765/148), and this claim was repeated by historians such as Ebn al-Jawzī,⁶ Muhammad b. Aḥmad al-Dhahabī,⁷ and Ebn Kathīr;⁸ however, due to Muhammad b. Yūsuf’s year of birth, Abū Nu‛aym’s report appears implausible.⁹ His most prominent teacher was Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 778/161), the Kufī hadith transmitter, jurist, and ascetic, from whom Muhammad studied jurisprudence, hadith, and esoteric knowledge in Basra during the last years of al-Thawrī’s life.¹⁰

According to one report, Muhammad b. Yūsuf was engaged in herding livestock during a period of his life,¹¹ but he suddenly gave up his home and possessions and set out on a journey. He lived in an era when asceticism was the dominant form of spirituality in the Islamic world. Accordingly, after completing his studies in hadith and jurisprudence, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to asceticism, spiritual struggle, rigorous discipline, and worship, and soon rose to prominence as one of the foremost ascetics of his time. ‛Abdullāh b. Mubārak, himself one of the foremost figures of asceticism in the 8th/2nd century, was astonished by Muhammad’s asceticism and called him ‛Arūs al-Zuhhād, (Bride of the Ascetics)¹² because his face, due to intense worship and nightly supplication, would shine like that of a bride.¹³ Additionally, owing to his devotion to worship and recitation of the Quran, he was also referred to as ‛Arūs al-‛Ubbād and ‛Arūs al-Qurrāʾ.¹⁴

‛Arūs al-Zuhhād did not remain in any one city for long, constantly moving from place to place. He spent periods of time in Qazvin, Ahvaz, ‛Abbādān (Abadan), Kufa, Baghdad, Damascus, Halab (Aleppo), Alexandria, ‛Asqalān (Ashkelon), and Harran.¹⁵ He then settled for an extended period in Basra, where he met numerous hadith transmitters and became recognized as one of the most respected hadith transmitters, ascetics, and Quran reciters of the region.¹⁶ According to historical reports, it was in Basra that he met Fuḍayl b. ‛Eyāḍ, the eminent ascetic and model for later Sufis, and it is said that upon seeing each other, both men fainted.¹⁷ He also traveled several times to Mecca and Medina, and during one such journey, he rode a camel that had been purchased for him by Fuḍayl.¹⁸ His most significant journey was to the front lines of the military campaigns against Christians in Asia Minor and the Levant.¹⁹ In those days, many ascetics, such as Ebrāhīm Adham (d. 778/162) and Ḥātem al-Aṣamm (d. 851/237), served as murābeṭūn (combatants stationed at the frontier) and went to the borders of the Islamic lands to fight non-Muslims.²⁰ ‛Arūs al-Zuhhād was among those ascetics who stayed in regions such as Muṣayṣa (Mopsuestia, nowadays in Turkey) and Raqqa in order to provide religious and scholarly instruction to the combatants. His other efforts included preaching and inviting non-Muslims—especially Christians—to Islam with gentleness and good character.²¹ So committed and well-known was he in his mission that ‛Abdullāh b. Mubārak traveled to Muṣayṣa specifically to meet him.²² Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal also heard of his reputation but was not able to meet him in person.²³

The few extant sayings attributed to ‛Arūs al-Zuhhād reflect his otherworldliness, eschatological consciousness, and longing for death. He had no fear of poverty and even declined marriage to the daughter of a wealthy man so as not to be tempted by the world, which he saw as a realm of humiliation, best abandoned.²⁴ He wore garments of cotton rather than wool (ṣūf), had little sleep, and spent most of his time in worship and spiritual discipline.²⁵ In his view, the most exalted form of outward devotion was the pilgrimage )ḥajj); thus, he would exhort his companions and disciples to perform the pilgrimage as often as possible—provided they first purified themselves of sin, so that they might return “as if newly born.”²⁶ He shunned fame—something which, according to Sufyān al-Thawrī, is among the obligatory dimensions of asceticism²⁷—and would not purchase bread from the same baker twice, lest he be recognized and honored.²⁸ His insistence on remaining unknown was so great that even those who saw him regularly for twenty years remained unaware of his identity; ‛Abdullāh b. Mubārak reportedly had to exert great effort to find him in Muṣayṣa,²⁹ for he believed that one who truly loves God desires to remain hidden from others.³⁰ ‛Arūs al-Zuhhād defined asceticism as the renunciation of wealth, the reduction of worldly desires, and the pursuit of livelihood only to the extent of necessity.³¹ For him, the ultimate spiritual aspiration was to attain the rank of the God-wary (al-muttaqūn). He held silence in high regard and, for this reason, refrained from transmitting hadith or engaging in argumentation during the later years of his life, lest he fall into vanity or arrogance.³² He considered sorrow (ḥuzn) legitimate only when it arose from witnessing the soul’s base actions, and viewed such sorrow as a sign of a heart still alive.³³ A salient trait of his character was his abhorrence of rancor, which he believed fundamentally incompatible with true piety.³⁴ The foundation of his spiritual worldview was built upon fear (khawf) of divine punishment, the ever-present sense of the nearness of death and the Last Day, and a continual preoccupation with the hereafter; hope (rajāʾ) for paradise had little place in his spiritual life.³⁵

‛Arūs al-Zuhhād passed away in Muṣayṣa in 800/184, before reaching the age of forty.³⁶ He was believed to be spiritually efficacious (mustajāb al-da‛wa) and endowed with charismatic powers and small miracles (karāmāt) that were acknowledged even by thieves and bandits.³⁷ He trained numerous disciples, each known for their exceptional knowledge and asceticism. ‛Abdullāh b. Mubārak, despite being older in age, was counted among his students and was reportedly prohibited by him from transmitting hadiths.³⁸ Among his other students were Yaḥyā b. Sa‛īd Qaṭṭān (d. 813/198), Abū Sufyān Ṣāleḥ b. Mehrān Ḥakīm, Abū Ayyūb Suleymān b. Dāwūd Shādhakūnī (d. 851/236), ‛Abd al-Raḥmān b. Mahdi al-Baṣrī (d. 813/198), Abū Esḥāq Ebrāhīm b. Muhammad Fazārī (d. 804/188), Abū Muhammad Makhlad b. Hussein al-Baṣrī (d. 807/191), Muhammad b. ‛Uyayna al-Fazārī, ‛Āmer b. Ḥammād b. Ḥamdawayh, and Ṣalt b. Zakarīyyā.³⁹ He also had two brothers, ‛Abdul-Raḥmān and ‛Abdul-‛Azīz, both known for their piety and learning.⁴⁰ A woman named Hend is mentioned as his sister and the wife of ‛Eṣām b. ‛Abdul-Majīd al-Anṣārī; their son Aḥmad b. ‛Eṣām* (d. 885/272) became a noted scholar and ascetic of Isfahan.⁴¹

It is reported that ‛Arūs al-Zuhhād possessed two chests filled with his own writings and lecture notes of his masters,⁴² although their precise contents remain unknown. Based on the dominant literary trends of the 8th/2nd century—namely, the compilation of hadiths in the form of Books of Asceticism and heart-softening narratives (kutub al-raqāʾeq) that laid the groundwork for early Sufi literature⁴³—it is plausible to assume that he too authored works under such general titles as ketāb al-zuhd or ketāb al-raqāʾeq.⁴⁴ However, due to his inner transformation, his reclusive lifestyle, and his aversion to fame, it is said that he may have buried all of them,⁴⁵ leaving behind only a few letters to disciples and companions from which ascetic sayings have been preserved in works such as ṭabaqāt al-muḥaddethīn be-Eṣbahān by Abū al-Sheikh al-Eṣfahānī*⁴⁶ and ḥelyat al-awlīyāʾ by Abū Nu‛aym.⁴⁷

It is worth mentioning that Muhammad b. Yūsuf ‛Arūs al-Zuhhād should not be confused with Muhammad b. Yūsuf b. Ma‛dān b. Yazīd, known as al-Bannāʾ (d. 899/286), the maternal grandfather of Abū Nu‛aym al-Eṣfahānī’s father—a mistake made by al-Anṣārī,⁴⁸ and later repeated by al-Dhahabī⁴⁹ and al-Ṣafadī.⁵⁰

/Saeid Karimi/

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1. Cf. Ebn Mande, vol. 3, p. 508, where the name appears as “Sulaym”. [↩]
2. One of the old quarters of Isfahan in the Jewish district, now the location of Masjed-e Ḥakīm; see Humāyī, vol. 3, p. 1835.[↩]
3. Abū al-Sheikh Eṣfahānī, vol. 2, p. 21; Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1931–1934, vol. 2, p. 171; ibid, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 237.  [↩]
4. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 230; vol. 10, p. 389; ibid, 1931–1934, vol. 2, p. 172. [↩]
5. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1931–1934, vol. 2, p. 171; ibid, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 237. [↩]
6. Ebn al-Jawzī, 2000/1421, vol. 2, p. 286; ibid, 1992/1412, vol. 9, p. 100[↩]
7. Dhahabī, 2003/1424, vol. 4, p. 968.[↩]
8. Ebn Kathīr, vol. 10, p. 192.[↩]
9. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1931–1934, vol. 2, p. 171; see also Humāyī, vol. 3, p. 1845.[↩]
10. Abū al-Sheikh Eṣfahānī, vol. 2, p. 24; Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1931–1934, vol. 2, p. 171; ibid, 1967/1387, vol. 7, p. 237.[↩]
11. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 228.[↩]
12. Abū al-Sheikh Eṣfahānī, vol. 2, p. 23; Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1931–1934, vol. 2, pp. 171–172; ibid, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 230.  [↩]
13. Sha‛rānī, p. 89; Munāwī, vol. 1, p. 442.[↩]
14. Ebn Mande, vol. 3, p. 508; Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 226; Sha‛rānī, p. 89.[↩]
15. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, pp. 226–227, 229, 231; Taymī Eṣfahānī, p. 516.[↩]
16. Ebn Ḥebbān, vol. 9, p. 74; Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 235.[↩]
17. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 232.[↩]
18. Idem, vol. 8, pp. 225, 228.[↩]
19. Idem, vol. 8, pp. 228, 233; Dhahabī, 2003/1424, vol. 4, p. 968; ibid, 1981–1988/1401–1409, vol. 9, p. 126.[↩]
20. Sullamī, pp. 27, 91; Ebn Shāker Kutubī, vol. 1, p. 13.[↩]
21. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 227; Sha‛rānī, p. 89.[↩]
22. Taymī Eṣfahānī, p. 516.[↩]
23. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 225.[↩]
24. Abū al-Sheikh Eṣfahānī, vol. 2, p. 24; Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1931–1934, vol. 2, p. 173; ibid, 1967/1387, vol. 8, pp. 225, 235; vol. 10, p. 390.[↩]
25. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, pp. 229, 234; Munāwī, vol. 1, p. 443.  [↩]
26. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 232; Munāwī, vol. 1, p. 443; Dhahabī, 1981–1988/1401–1409, vol. 9, p. 126. [↩]
27. Dhahabī, 1981–1988/1401–1409, vol. 7, p. 244.[↩]
28. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1931–1934, vol. 2, p. 172; ibid, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 231.[↩]
29. Abū al-Sheikh Eṣfahānī, vol. 2, p. 22; Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, pp. 226, 232; Taymī Eṣfahānī, pp. 515–516.[↩]
30. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 234; Munāwī, vol. 1, p. 443.[↩]
31. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, pp. 233, 236; Munāwī, vol. 1, p. 443.[↩]
32. Abū al-Sheikh Eṣfahānī, vol. 2, p. 28; Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, pp. 236–237. It appears that the hadiths he transmitted were not musnad, and Abū al-Sheikh (vol. 2, p. 21) only reported a single musnad hadith from him; Dhahabī (2003/1424, vol. 4, p. 968; 1981–1988/1401–1409, vol. 9, p. 126) also considered that single hadith to be weak; see also: Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1931–1934, vol. 2, pp. 171–172; ibid, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 237; Rāfe‛ī Qazvīnī, vol. 1, p. 7. [↩]
33. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1931–1934, vol. 2, p. 173; ibid, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 233; Munāwī, vol. 1, p. 443. [↩]
34. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 234; Munāwī, vol. 1, p. 443.[↩]
35. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, pp. 232–233, 235–236; Ebn al-Jawzī, 2000/1421, vol. 2, p. 285; Munāwī, vol. 1, p. 443.[↩]
36. Abū al-Sheikh al-Eṣfahānī, vol. 2, p. 21; Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1931–1934, vol. 2, p. 171; ibid, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 229; vol. 10, p. 390; Ebn Taghrī Berdī, vol. 2, p. 117; cf. Dhahabī, 2003/1424, vol. 4, p. 968, who suggests he may have lived until 200/815.[↩]
37. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, pp. 228, 230–231, 235; Taymī Eṣfahānī, p. 516; Ebn Taghrī Berdī, vol. 2, p. 117.[↩]
38. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 230.[↩]
39. Abū al-Sheikh Eṣfahānī, vol. 2, pp. 22, 26; Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1931–1934, vol. 1, p. 322; vol. 2, p. 171; ibid, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 230; vol. 10, p. 380; Dhahabī, 2003/1424, vol. 4, p. 968.[↩]
40. Abū al-Sheikh Eṣfahānī, vol. 2, p. 21; Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1931–1934, vol. 2, p. 171.[↩]
41. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1931–1934, vol. 1, p. 87; see also: Humāyī, vol. 3, pp. 1835–1836.[↩]
42. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 227.[↩]
43. Sūrī, p. 17. Nearly one hundred works on asceticism were composed between the mid-2nd and early 5th century, the earliest extant being Ketāb al-Zuhd by ‛Abdullāh b. Mubārak, a student of ‛Arūs al-Zuhhād (see also idem., pp. 36, 38–45).[↩]
44. Ebn Ḥebbān, vol. 9, p. 74.[↩]
45. Abū al-Sheikh Eṣfahānī, vol. 2, p. 23; Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, p. 227; Taymī Eṣfahānī, p. 516.[↩]
46. Abū al-Sheikh Eṣfahānī, vol. 2, pp. 24, 26.[↩]
47. Abū Nu‛aym Eṣfahānī, 1967/1387, vol. 8, pp. 232–233, 235–236.[↩]
48. Anṣārī, p. 130.[↩]
49. Dhahabī, 1981–1988/1401–1409, vol. 9, p. 126; ibid, 2003/1424, vol. 4, p. 968.[↩]
50. Ṣafadī, vol. 5, p. 159.[↩]