The Biographical Tradition in Sufism

The Ṭabaqāt Genre from Al-Sulamī to Jāmī

An exploration of the major works of Sufi historiography, which takes the form of collections of biographies. It seeks to provide a literary context in which one can appreciate fully the theological significance and historical value of Sufi biographies.

... a student of Hanbalite authorities on hadith and tafsir. Ibn AbT Ya'la finally
attributes two distiches of verse to Ansari, which begin with the statement ana
hanbali ma hayaytu . . . (I'll be a Hanbalite as long as I live . . .).4 No suggestion is
made in this collection of biographies of Hanbalites that Ansari might have also
been a mystic. Ibn Ya'la also informs us that Ansari had two sons, Abd al-HadT
and Jabir, the former of whom was allegedly killed by Ismailis (fa- qatalathu 'l-
Batiniyya).