Zayn al-Din al-Dashtuti

Shaykh Zayn al-Din Abd al-Qadir ibn Ahmad al-Dashtuti al-Misri, named after Dashtut, a village in Upper Egypt. He was known among the saints as "the lord of Egypt" and was famous for his marvels. Ibn al-Imad quotes Shaykh Abd al-Ra'uf al-Manawi in his biographical dictionary as saying that he was known for extraordinary signs, for general unveiling and for complete acceptance by rulers and others. He used to restore the mosques of Egypt and its villages and to place many endowments on them. He was sober and barefoot, bareheaded, and wore a silk robe ².

It is told of him that during the flood of the Nile he held back the water by three cubits. He then waded into the river and said: "I will rise, by God's leave." He rose at once, and people fought to reach him for blessing. He made the pilgrimage on foot and barefoot, and when he reached the Gate of Peace he laid his cheek on the threshold and did not recover for three days. Qaytbay, when he visited him, would rub his face on his feet. He died in the year 924, and was prayed over in absence in the Umayyad mosque in Damascus on Friday, the twelfth of Ramadan ¹.