Dhū n-Nūn al-Misrī

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Tomb of Dhu n-Nun in the City of the Dead in Cairo

Dhū n-Nūn al-Misrī , actually Abu l-Faid Thauban ibn Ibrahim  /أبو الفيض ثوبان بن إبراهيم / Abū l-Faiḍ Ṯaubān b. Ibrāhīm (* 796 in Achmim ; † 859 ), was a Sufi ( Islamic mystic ) from Egypt , that's why he is often called Dhu n-Nun al-Misri  /ذو النون المصري / Ḏū n-Nūn al-Miṣrī  / called 'Dhu n-Nun of the Egyptians'. His parents were Nubians from Upper Egypt .

The nickname Dhu n-Nun means "the one with the fish". In addition to being revered as a mystic, he was also accused of being a magician for authoring books on alchemy . Around the year 840 he was incarcerated in Baghdad during the persecution of the "Old Believers" .

Through his poetic prayers , he introduced a new style to the serious and ascetic piety of the Sufis of the day. He heard - true to the Koranic word - the praise of God from everything created and thus influenced the later descriptions of nature by Persian and Turkish Sufis.

Dhu n-Nun are also given some definitions of Ma'rifa (knowledge of God).

A well-known anecdote from his life tells of the fact that when the Muslim pious were searching for the greatest name of God, he is said to have said: "Show me the smallest!"

literature

personal data
SURNAME Dhū n-Nūn al-Misrī
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Egyptian Sufi
DATE OF BIRTH 796
PLACE OF BIRTH Ahmim
DATE OF DEATH 859