Bayazid Bastami

One of the first great Sufis; he is called “Sultan al-'arifin” (Sultan of the Gnostics) and pir-i Bistam. His full name is Abu Yazid Tayfur b. 'Isa b. Surushan. In the history of Sufism he is known for his sayings and ecstatic utterances (shathiyyat) on intoxication, annihilation, blame, divine unity, gnosis, love, ascension and self-sacrifice.

Almost all the books of Sufism and of biographical classes speak of him; but what they give concerns mostly his legends, sayings and ecstatic utterances, and very little of it concerns his life. According to this limited information he was born in the town of Bistam in the Iranian province of Khurasan. His grandfather Surushan (Sarushan) had been an Iranian Zoroastrian cleric who became a Muslim. His father 'Isa, known for his piety, had two daughters and three sons — Adam, Tayfur and 'Ali — all three devout ascetics; Tayfur, who became famous as “Bayazid”, was the middle one. The source notes that Jami recorded his name wrongly as “Abu Yazid Tayfur b. 'Isa b. Adam b. Surushan”, which is in fact the name of the grandson of his elder brother Adam; to keep the two apart the first is called the Elder Bayazid and the second the Younger Bayazid.

'Attar says that he benefited from 103 masters; Harawi states that he was at first a Hanafi. That Sarraj counts him among the Sufis who performed the pilgrimage only once in their lives shows that he did not travel much for learning and gnosis; indeed he himself told Ahmad b. Khadrawayh that much wandering was not a good thing.

According to Sarraj, his master in Sufism was a certain Abu 'Ali al-Sindi: Bayazid taught this unlettered shaykh as much religious law as was needed to perform the obligatory duties, and in return learned from him the knowledge of divine unity and annihilation. 'Attar says that he reached this station through severe austerities and hard spiritual struggles. Judging by some of his sayings, he believed that he received his mystical knowledge directly from God.

Since he lived in the formative age of Sufism, there are legends connecting him with many of his contemporaries; the most important concern Shaqiq al-Balkhi, Hatim al-Asamm, Ahmad b. Khadrawayh, Dhu'l-Nun, Abu Turab al-Nakhshabi, Yahya b. Mu'adh and Sahl b. 'Abd Allah. The source records that most of these events are not reliably attested, and that it is striking that no legend is related between him and Ma'ruf al-Karkhi, Harith al-Muhasibi, Sari al-Saqati, Abu Hafs al-Haddad and Hamdun al-Qassar, although they lived in the same period.

Even in his lifetime he was visited by many; a considerable number of them attached themselves to him and adopted his views, and some were of his own family. Abu Musa, son of his elder brother Adam, Abu Musa's son Musa b. 'Isa, known as 'Umayy, and Tayfur b. 'Isa, known as the Younger Bayazid, were Sufis attached to his views. Among them Abu Musa was a loyal pupil and servant whose purity of heart he esteemed and to whom he confided secrets he disclosed to no one else. Ibrahim al-Harawi, Hasan b. 'Alawiyya, Abu 'Abd Allah al-Maghribi and Abu Musa al-Dubayli are among his well-known disciples and deputies.

The hadith scholar Husayn b. 'Isa al-Bistami, alleging that he had said “Like the Prophet, I too have an ascension”, expelled him from Bistam. Bayazid then went on pilgrimage and afterwards returned to Jurjan, and was able to come back to Bistam only after that man's death.

The date of his death is disputed: the sources give the years 234 (848) and 261 (875); the heading of the entry records 234/848 with a question mark (details under Multiple Perspectives). His grave is in Bistam.

His Circle of Influence — Through his rapturous conduct, overflowing words and sincere state he left a deep mark on those around him and gathered a select group around his views. His followers were called Tayfuris, and his path Tayfuriyya or Bistamiyya; the source specifies that this was not an order in the usual sense but a current within Sufism. Great Sufis such as Hallaj, Shibli, Kharaqani, Abu Sa'id-i Abu'l-Khayr, Niffari, Sana'i, 'Attar, Jami, Ibn al-'Arabi, Ibn al-Farid and Rumi are recorded as having remained attached to this current; the Shattariyya and 'Ishqiyya orders took him as their founding master. He holds a place as the head of a branch in the chains of several orders; the source finds it particularly striking that the Naqshbandiyya gives him an important place in its chain and sometimes counts him an Uwaysi. The words of Abu Sa'id-i Abu'l-Khayr as he visited his grave — “This is a place where everyone can find what they have lost” — show that his influence continued after his death; and the later practice of praising a saint by calling him “the Bayazid of the age” shows his standing among the people.

His Poetry and Sufi Line — According to the source, he held that the wayfarer must pass beyond himself (intoxication, sukr) and extinguish his ego (annihilation, fana') to reach God; this degree is attained only through constant austerity, hard struggle with the self, deep reflection and attentive vigilance. He relates that when he asked how he could reach God, he received the answer “Leave your self and come”, whereupon he slipped out of his ego like a snake out of its skin. To convey the length of the road to God he said: “After leaving thousands of stations behind, I saw that I was in the word of God, not in its meaning.” He describes God's essence in negative terms; he often uses the terms I-ness, you-ness and He-ness (ana'iyya, antiyya, huwiyya), and depicts passing beyond his own self to reach God as an ascension (mi'raj); 'Attar's Tadhkirat al-awliya' and Sahlagi's Kitab al-Nur give ample space to this spiritual ascension. The source characterizes him as a Sufi of love; he described his state in the words: “I came out upon a plain where love rained down; its ground was soaked; here the foot sinks into love as into snow.” Although many miracles and unveilings are related of him, he did not want extraordinary states to be given importance, and said that what matters is to hold to the rules of the sacred law: when told “So-and-so crosses distances in an instant” he said “Satan and the carrion-eating crows do the same”, and when told “So-and-so walks on water” he said “So do the fish.” He would say that God does not entrust the secret of sainthood to one who breaks any of the proprieties of the law; setting out to visit a man believed to be great, he saw from afar that the man blew his nose towards the qibla, and gave up the meeting. It is recorded that he never once spat on the road from his house to the mosque, and that even when alone he always sat on his knees, thinking himself in God's presence. He loved people greatly; once he said: “O God! Cast me into hell and make my body so large that there is no room left in hell for anyone else.”

His Works — The source records no independent work. He is one of the first Sufis to express his mystical views in Persian; these sayings were later translated into Arabic. It is related that part of his ecstatic utterances was translated for Junayd al-Baghdadi by his nephew Abu Musa. Sahlagi collected his ecstatic utterances in Kitab al-Nur, and Baqli explained an important part of them in Sharh-i shathiyyat. Some treatises said to contain his sayings and poems were published by 'Abd al-Rahman Badawi in Shatahat al-sufiyya (Cairo 1949).

His Tomb and Complex — His tomb stands in Bistam, in the very middle of the place where the historic buildings are gathered together, free of ornament and splendour. The tomb built by Öljeitü has been visited throughout history by many sultans and statesmen.