Ibn 'Abbad al-Rundi

Ibn Abbad al-Rundi (Arabic: ابن عباد الرندي) (in full, Abu 'abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Abi Ishaq Ibrahim An-nafzi Al-himyari Ar-rundi) (1333–1390) was one of the leading Sufi theologians of his time who was born in Ronda. Attracted to Morocco by the famous madrasahs, Ibn Abbad emigrated there at an early age. He spent most of his life in Morocco, living in different cities (Salé, Marrakesh, Fes...), and was buried in Bab al-Futuh (south-eastern gate) cemetery in Fes.

Ibn Abbad has been suggested as a key influence on and precursor to St. John of the Cross, in particular his account of the dark night of the soul, in the work of Miguel Asín Palacios.^[1]

References

• "Saint-Jean de la Croix, Ibn ‘Abbâd de Ronda et la survivance en Espagne de la mystique musulmane en langue castillane jusqu’à la fin du XVIe siècle", a Horizons Maghrébins. L'héritage de l'Espagne des trois cultures, n° 61 (2010), pp.63-69, from Xavier Casassas Canals.
• Ibn ‘Abbâd, modéle de la Shâdhiliyya a (La Shâdhiliyya -- Une voie soufie dans le monde, éd. E. Geoffroy, Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose, 2004.), from Dr. Kenneth L. Honerkamp.