Ḥusayn ibn Manṣūr al-Ḥallāğ

Ḥusayn ibn Manṣūr al-Ḥallāğ

Ḥusayn ibn Manṣūr al-Ḥallāğ (858-922), a Persian mystic of Arabic expression, is probably the most successful author of the formative period of Sufism, the mystical dimension of Islam. Admired for his ecstatic and sapiential poetry, collected in the Dīwān or his complete work, Ḥal·lāğ is the poet of mystical union and divine love. Popular preacher, tireless traveler and pilgrim, wandering missionary through the lands of the East, all his mystical philosophy is summarized in the famous theopathic phrase "Anā al-ḥaqq", "I am the truth", which cost him the death sentence by the religious authorities of that time. Cruelly executed for his spiritual teaching, Ḥal·lāğ is considered the martyr par excellence of Islam: a martyr of mystical love that is only due to the passion for truth, the essential desire that moves every spiritual being.