al-Sari al-Saqati

Al-Sari al-Saqati (born traditionally c. 155 AH / 772 CE, died c. 253 AH / 867 CE) was an early Sufi of Baghdad. "Sufi" (tasawwuf) names the inward, ascetic-mystical current of Islam, and al-Sari is counted among the figures who helped give it a settled vocabulary in the Abbasid capital. His byname al-Saqati comes from his trade as a saqat — a dealer in secondhand goods and small wares — a livelihood later tradition presents as a sign that he combined ordinary work with deep piety rather than withdrawing from society.

He is consistently reported to have been a disciple of the ascetic Maʿruf al-Karkhi (d. c. 200/815) and the maternal uncle and spiritual master of al-Junayd al-Baghdadi, the most influential teacher of the Baghdad Sufi circle; through Junayd much of what is reported about al-Sari reaches us. Later sources credit him with being among the first to teach publicly in Baghdad on tawhid (the absolute oneness of God) and on the love of God (maḥabba), themes that became central to Sufi thought.

Much of his life-story survives only in later devotional collections (the manaqib, or accounts of saints) by Sulami, Abu Nuʿaym, and ʿAttar, which recount his sayings, his scrupulous honesty in trade, and a journey to the Byzantine frontier where he is said to have fallen ill at Tarsus. These accounts are pious tradition rather than documented history. He is said to have died in Baghdad and been buried in the Shunuziyya cemetery, later beside Junayd.