Abu al-Hassan Ali ibn Ahmad (or ibn Ja’far) ibn Salmān al-Kharaqāni or Shaikh Abul-Hassan Kharaqāni [also written Kherqāni] is one of the master Sufis of Islam. He was born in 963 CE (352 Hijri) from Persian[1] parents in Khorasan in a village called Kharaqan (today located in Semnan province of Iran, near Bustam) and died in the day of Ashura (10th of Muharram) in 1033 CE (425 Hijri)
He was the disciple of Shaikh Abul-Abbas Qassab Amili in tariqah but had deep spiritual relation with Bayazid Bastami,
a well-known Sufi Master who died almost a century before him but had
spoken about the personality and state of Abul Hassan Kharaqani.
Farid al-Din Attar, a famous Persian poet and sufi, devoted a large part of his book Tadhkiratul-Awliya (Biography of the Saints) about the personality, state and stories of Abul Hassan Kharaqani. Attar has called him as Sultān-e Salāteen-e Mashāyekh (The King of the kings of Sufi Masters), Ocean of the spiritual knowledge, Sun of the Lord, Mystery of the Lord and Qibla (focus of attention) of his people.
Abul Hassan Kharaqani was the Master or Shaikh of the famous Persian sufi and poet, Khwajah Abdullah Ansari. Avicenna (Ibn Sina), Shah Mahmood of Ghazna, Abu-Saïd Abul-Khair and Nasir Khusraw had traveled to Kharaqan to meet him and expressed their deep admiring feelings and respect for him.
Mewlānā Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (Rumī), Farid al-Din Attar, Khwajah Abdullah Ansari, Jami and others have narrated many poems about Shaikh Abul Hassan and have reported his several stories.
He was illiterate but had wide inspirational knowledge about the Quran and Hadith; his sayings and speeches are significantly magnificent due to their philosophical views. He practiced Shafi`i sect, a school of Sunnite Islam.
The book Noorul-Uloom (The light of Sciences) is dedicated to Shaikh Abul Hassan Kharaqani. It is believed to have been written by his disciples (murids) after his death. Its single manuscript copy is currently held in the British Museum.
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