EBRĀHĪM B. ADHAM

 

EBRĀHĪM B. ADHAM b. Manṣūr b. Yazīd b. Jāber ʿEjlī (d. 166/777-78), prominent Sufi and ascetic of 2nd/8th century. Ebrāhīm was born to a notable Kufan family in Balḵ, migrated with his tribe from Khorasan to Syria before 137/754, and was killed in a military expedition against Byzantium in about 160-66/777-83. In Sufi legends various glamorous tales are attributed to Ebrāhīm’s repentance and abdication from the governorship of Balḵ and his conversion to asceticism (e.g., Abū Noʿaym, VII. pp. 367-95; VIII, pp. 3-58; Ebn Asāker, II, pp. 167-96). In Persian Mystic literature further exalted legendary anecdotes and mystical miraculous deeds were attributed to Ebrahīm. Aṭṭār portrayed the most embellished image of Ebrāhīm in his Taḏkerat al-awlīāʾ (I, pp. 85-106).

For a music sample, see Ebrāhīm b. Adham.

Bibliography:

Abū Noʿaym Eṣfahānī, Ḥelyat al-awlīāʾ, Cairo, 1937-38.

Farīd-al-Dīn ʿAṭṭār Nīšāpūrī, Taḏkerat al-awlīāʾ, ed. R. A. Nicholson, London, 1905.

Ebn ʿAsāker, al-Taʾrīḵ al-kabīr, Damescus, 1330.

Abu’l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. ʿOṯmān Hojvīrī, Kašf al-maḥjūb, ed. V. A. Zhukovkiy, Leningrad, 1926, repr., Tehran, 1336 Š./1957, pp. 128-30.

R. Jones, “Ibrāhīm b. Adham” in EI ² III, 1968, pp. 985-86.

F. Mojtabāʾī, “Ebrāhīm-e Adham” in DMBE II, pp. 403-07.

R. A. Nicholson, “Ibrāhīm b. Adham,” ZA 26, 1912, pp. 215-20.

Idem and C. van Arendonk, “Ibrāhīm b. Adham” in EI1 II, pp. 432-34.

H. Ritter, Das Meer der Seele, Leiden, 1955. Solamī, Ṭabaqāt, pp. 13-22.

(EIr)

Originally Published: December 15, 1997

Last Updated: December 6, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. VIII, Fasc. 1, pp. 62-63