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Abu Ali al-Farimi

أبو علي الفارمي

c. November 1197 CE · Muharram 594 AH

Abu Ali al-Farimi the ascetic — al-Hasan b. Muslim the Hanbali of al-Farisiyya, a village on the Isa river; one of the Abdal and the ascetic of Iraq, trained under Abu Dharr al-Araki, a celibate who kept forty years without speaking to any person, ever-fasting, standing the night, finishing the Qur'an daily; lions came to rest at his zawiya while the caliph and men of state walked out to visit him. He told of a poor man who had a wet dream at the zawiya one cold night and went down to the river to wash — a lion came and slept upon his gown, and the man near died of cold and fear, till the shaykh came out, tapped the lion's paw and said 'Blessed one, do not trouble our guest' — and the lion rose and fled. He died at al-Farisiyya in Muharram 594, aged ninety 1.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
sufi
Era
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks
Region
Levant & Iraq
Review
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Life in time

1100112511501175120012251250 c. c. c. c. c. c.
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era · The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era Contemporaries: Muwaffaq al-Din Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi · Abd al-Qadir al-Rahawi · Abd al-Razzaq ibn Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani · Abd al-Salam ibn Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani · Abdallah al-Yunini

Overview

Abu 'Ali al-Farimi the ascetic — al-Hasan b. Muslim, Hanbali, of Farisiyya, a village on the Nahr 'Isa canal; he was one of the abdal and the ascetic of Iraq, hearing and reading fiqh under Abu Dharr al-'Iki; celibate, he lived forty years speaking to no one, fasting the days and standing the nights, completing a Qur'an reading every day and night — wild beasts came to his zawiya and the caliph and men of state walked to visit him. 1

The lion story

It is told that a faqir had a nocturnal emission at his zawiya on a cold night and went down to the river to wash; a lion came and lay on his jubba, and the faqir nearly died of cold and fear — Shaykh al-Hasan came out, struck the lion with his hand and said, "Blessed one, why trouble our guest?" and the lion rose frightened. He died at Farisiyya in Muharram 594, aged ninety. 1

Sources

  1. Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 796
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Abu Ali al-Farimi”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/abu-ali-al-farimi/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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People

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