Ma'ruf al-Shibi, qutb of Shabwa

Abu Muhammad Ma'ruf ibn Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Ahmad al-Shibi, the great shaykh, the well-known exemplar, a knower of God. In al-Nur it is said: he was born at Shibam on the night of Friday, the eleventh of Ramadan 893 AH. He was of great standing, with clear marvels and striking signs, and some learned men wrote a separate work on his virtues. He had great rank and was accepted by the elite and the common people alike. ¹.

The cause of his departure from his town of al-Du'an was that he was reported to the sultan, Badr al-Kathiri, for various things, among them the people's excessive belief in him and their obedience to his commands and prohibitions. The sultan ordered him to be expelled from the lands after citing his awe-inspiring influence. It was said to him: "This is your god, people of Shibam," and he was given a rope around his neck and paraded about. ¹.

By a strange coincidence, the sultan ordered one of his emirs to carry out this act, and that emir was one of the shaykh's believers, so he hesitated. The shaykh sent to him: "Do what you have been ordered to do, and I stand surety for you before God for paradise." He died on the night of Saturday, the fifteenth of Safar, at Du'an, in 970 AH. ¹.