At a glance
- Roles
- mystic · Scholar
- Era
- The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks
- Region
- Levant & Iraq
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Life in time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Place in the story
sunni-shafii (transmitted)
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
Overview
Shaykh Abu Bakr ibn Qawam ibn 'Ali ibn Qawam ibn Mansur ibn 'Ali al-Balisi, the exemplary ascetic and blessing of Syria, uncle of al-Dhahabi's own shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Umar; born in 534 AH and raised in Balis, a small town in the Aleppo region. 2
His way
He was devoted, scrupulous, quietly constant, rich in spiritual states; humble, ever cheerful, abundant in religion, a follower and caller to the Sunna, sought out for visits — many benefited from his company — while his own shaykh forbade him to speak of the mystical states that came upon him. He died in 658 AH; his son al-Najm was also counted among the righteous youth. 2
Connections
- Buried in
- Damascus
People and things also explored
the Cave of Qasyun (Jibril's Cave)· Qasr Hiraql / Qasr Shams al-Muluk· The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus· The Fitna of the Hafiz Abd al-Ghani in Damascus in 595· al-Afdal besieges Damascus and turns back· al-Adil's seizure of Damascus· al-Ghazali's arrival in Damascus as an ascetic, in 488· al-Ashraf takes Damascus
Sources
- Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 303-304
- Siyar a'lam al-nubala' — al-Dhahabi (Ideas House International edition, 2004) , p.1236
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Abu Bakr ibn Qawam al-Balisi”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/abu-bakr-ibn-qawam/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-21.