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Ahmad al-'Aydarus, qutb of Tarim

أحمد العيدروس قطب تريم

c. 16 January 1561 CE · 7 Jumada I 968 AH

Ahmad al-'Aydarus — 'qutb, knower of God, master of the way's shaykhs, unveiled by the lights of reality'; he died at Tarim on 7 Jumada I [968]; Ibn al-'Imad's own father elegised him 1.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
mystic
Counted among
Sunni
Era
The Gunpowder Empires
Region
Arabia
Review
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Life in time

145014751500152515501575160016251650 c. c. c. c. c.
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Gunpowder Empires · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era Contemporaries: 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ziyad, mufti of Zabid · 'Abd Allah al-Fakihi, the grammarian · Abu al-Su'ud Afandi · Abu Numayy II, sharif of Mecca · Ahmad Baba al-Timbukti

Spirituality and Sufism

Overview

The qutb, knower of God, Ahmad b. al-Shaykh Husayn b. al-Shaykh 'Abdallah al-'Aydarus; al-Nur says he was among the masters of the Path's shaykhs, the unveiled by the lights of the Real — granted perfection of character and creation, breadth of gnosis, sound intent and true dealing; many virtues, famous states. 1

His death

He died on 7 Jumada I at Tarim, and my father mourned him in a great ode opening: "the fates spent him and moved on — after clear water comes the turbid." 1

People and things also explored

Prophetic adab (proper conduct)· Akhi Baba (title of the guild shaykh and tanners' head)· The angelic and the satanic inspiration (lamma)· Asking people for help (al-masala)· The soul (nafs) and the spirit (ruh)· Tabattul (withdrawal from the world)· Intimacy with God (uns billah)· Certainty and its degrees (yaqin)

Sources

  1. Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 352
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Ahmad al-'Aydarus, qutb of Tarim”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/ahmad-ibn-al-aydarus/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-21.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. Related

Prophetic adab (proper conduct)

The body of proper conduct the believer is commanded in his words, deeds and relations with God and His servants; from the formula 'whoever believes in God and the Last Day' in Abu Hurayra's hadith Ibn Rajab derives that these traits are of the traits of iman and that deeds enter into iman, dividing the hadith's three commands into what belongs to God's rights — speaking good or keeping silent — and what belongs to His servants' rights — honouring the neighbour, withholding harm from him and honouring the guest; he transmits Aswad ibn Asram's report of the Prophet's counsel 'do not say with your tongue except what is good and do not extend your hand except to good', and that the tongue's uprightness is of the traits of iman; Abu Amr ibn al-Salah reports from Abu Muhammad ibn Abi Zayd, the Maliki imam of his time, that the conduct of goodness and all its reins branch from four hadiths: speaking good or keeping silent, leaving what does not concern one, 'do not become angry', and loving for one's brother what one loves for oneself.