Name:
Muhammad Yusuf ibn Abd Allah; some sources mention his name as ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah.
Title:
al-Tarsusi, a nisbah denoting his association with Tarsus, Turkey, which was his place of migration and residence.
Kunya:
Abu al-Faraj
Birthplace:
Tarsus, historically part of the Syrian region, currently located in modern-day Turkey.
Sufi Order:
The ‘Aliyya Path, which he received from Sheikh ‘Abd al-Wahid al-Yamani.
Contemporaries:
Sheikh ‘Abd al-Wahid al-Yamani and Abu Bakr al-Shibli.
Life:
He was renowned for his scholarship in hadith and jurisprudence and was among the ascetic imams and learned, practicing sheikhs.
Death:
He passed away in 440 AH, reportedly in Baghdad, though some sources mention Tarsus as the place of his death.
Notes:
- Ibn al-Mulqin, Tabaqat al-Awliya, p. 495.
- Tarsus is a Turkish city on the frontier of the Levant between Antioch and Aleppo and the lands of the Romans, traversed by the Berdan River. It was a refuge for pious ascetics as it was among the Muslim frontier towns, conquered by the Arabs in 626 AH after Heraclius evacuated it and relocated to Constantinople. It is considered one of the four marvels of Islam (the horse parade in Egypt, Ramadan in Mecca, Eid in Tarsus, and Friday prayers in Baghdad). It is also the burial place of the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma’mun. This city is distinct from Tartus (his birthplace), a Syrian port facing Arwad Island near Latakia. The two are geographically close and face each other across the Mediterranean Sea, which accounts for the common confusion between the two cities.
Sources:
- Mu‘jam al-Buldan, vol. 3, pp. 526–528.
- Al-Munjid fi al-Lugha wal-A‘lam, p. 356.
- Ahmad ‘Atiyyat Allah, Al-Qamus al-Islami, vol. 4, pp. 495–496.
- Butan Ma‘ruf, Al-Nafahat al-Kasnazaniyya, p. 63.
- Husayn Fawzi, ‘Uqud al-Jawahir fi Salasil al-Akabir’, p. 39.
