"Abū Bakr al-Shiblī took Sufism from Abū al-Qāsim al-Junayd ibn Muḥammad al-Qawārīrī. Junayd took it from al-Sirrī ibn al-Mughallis al-Saqaṭī (his uncle). Sirrī took it from Abū Maḥfūẓ Ma‘rūf ibn Fayrūz al-Karkhī, who was a Magian and embraced Islam at the hands of his master Al-Riḍā ‘Alī ibn Mūsā (may his glory be exalted). He accompanied him and took the Sufi path from him."

One day, a crowd gathered at the gate of our Master Al-Riḍā (may his glory be exalted), who was serving as his gatekeeper at that time. They surged against him, breaking his rib, which led to his death. His tomb is located in Baghdad on the Western Side, in the area known as Nahr Tābiq.

He held two distinct paths in Sufism:

The first through our Master Al-Riḍā (may his glory be exalted).

The second through Dāwūd al-Ṭā’ī, from Ḥabīb al-‘Ajamī, from al-Ḥasan ibn Yasār—who is Abū al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī—from our Master Amir Almuminin (may his glory be exalted).

He narrated from many men in his epistle, which is of the utmost soundness. It consists of fourteen chapters, in which he deposited the finest of every art. Due to the man's fame and virtue, we have summarized his biography. He lived—may Allah sanctify him—in Cairo, where he held authority for approximately forty years. He passed away around the middle of the fifth century (450 AH), as his meeting with al-Naysābūrī occurred in 443 AH and he lived for seven years thereafter. This is supported by the statement of Abū al-Khayr: "And I met Prince ‘Iṣmat al-Dawla, may Allah have mercy on him," indicating he had passed away by the time Abū al-Khayr Salāma composed his own epistle in 451 AH. And Allah knows best.