Abu Bakr al-Shibli
Persian Sufi scholar (861–946)
Abu Bakr al-Shibli (Arabic: أبو بكر الشبلي, romanized: ʾAbū Bakr al-Shiblī; 861–946) was an important Islamic scholar and Persian Sufi of Turkic descent, and a disciple of Junayd al-Baghdadi. He followed the Maliki school of jurisprudence (fiqh).
Biography
Imam Abu Bakr Shibli was born in Samarra, although his family was of Iranian origin from the village of Shibliyah in Osrushana, Transoxania. His father was Jafar bin Yunus al-Shibli and of Turkic origin. Abu Bakr al-Shibli was a high official of Baghdad before he embarked on the spiritual path and became a disciple of Junayd Baghdadi. His name was mentioned by the Persian poets such as Attar, Rumi and Sanai. He was also associated with Hallaj. According to one source, he was in a constant state of jazb and was finally committed to an asylum. Others assert that he feigned madness.
Attributed to him is the saying: O people!
“Abu Bakr al-Shibli” enters the record as persian Sufi scholar (861–946). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Bakr, al-Shibli and Persian can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q334865. VIAF identifies the subject as 5852255. The Library of Congress control number is no88002829. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Abu Bakr al-Shibli” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.