Abu Talib al-Makki

Abu Talib al-Makki, Muhammad ibn 'Ali (d. 386/996 in Baghdad). A hadith scholar, Maliki jurist and a Sufi Mystic, set down the foundation of Sufi practices and author of the book "Qut al-qulub fi mu'amalat al-mahbub wa wasf tariq al-murid ila maqam al-tawhid" (The nourishment of hearts in dealing with the Beloved and the description of the seeker's way to the station of declaring oneness). Al-Ghazali used this book as a source for some of the chapters of his magnum opus "ihya' 'ulum al-din' (Revival of Islamic Knowledge).

A brief history of Abu Tali al-Makki is written in KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IN CLASSICAL SUFISM byJohn Renard. Maybe someone can take the initiative to make this profile of al-Makki better. Sorry im not a whiz on the computer but here is the link.

http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=sFgOLk4WpnYC&pg=PA201&dq=Shayban+ar-Ra%27i&sig=ACfU3U2N7m-O-GjnpaKZZVYOnB0ywmPW0A#PPA34,M1 Page 33 of John Renard's Book.

References

* Massignon, Louis. "Encyclopedia of Islam (Second Edition)". ed. Kramers, J. H., Gibb, H. A. R., et al. Leiden, 1954, Vol. 1 p. 153.
*Böwering, Gerhard. "The Mystical Vision of Existence in Classical Islam: The Qur'anic Hermeneutics of the Şufi Sahl al-Tustari (d. 283/896)." Berlin and New York, 1980, pp. 25-7.
*"Qut al-qulub fi mu'amalat al-mahbub wa wasf tariq al-murid ila maqam al-tawhid" (The nourishment of hearts in dealing with the Beloved and the description of the seeker's way to the station of declaring oneness). ed. Basil 'ayun al-sud, Dar al-kutub al-'ilmiyah, Beirut, 1997. 2vols.
*"Knowledge of God in Classical Sufism: Foundations of Islamic Mystical Theology", Paulist Press (2004), ISBN 0-8091-4030-6.