5. Khurásán (where now is the shadow of God’s favour).
The Shaykh and Mujtahid Abu ´l-`Abbás was the heart of spiritualism (sirr-i ma`ání) and had a goodly life.
Khwája Abú Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alí al-Ḥawárí is one of the eminent theosophists of this sect.
Khwája Abú Ja`far Turshízí was highly esteemed.
Khwája Maḥmúd of Níshápúr was regarded as an authority by his contemporaries. He was eloquent in discourse.
Shaykh Muḥammad Ma`shúq had an excellent spiritual state and was aglow with love.
Khwája Rashíd Muẕaffar, the son of Abú Sa`íd, will, it may be hoped, become an example to all Ṣúfís and a point to which their hearts will turn.
Khwája Shaykh Aḥmad Ḥammádí of Sarakhs was the champion of the time. He was in my company for a while, and I witnessed many wondrous experiences that he had.
Shaykh Aḥmad Najjár Samarqandí, who resided at Merv, was the sultan of his age.
Shaykh Abu ´l-Ḥasan `Alí b. Abí `Alí al-Aswad was an excellent successor to his father, and was unique in the sublimity of his aspiration and the sagacity of his intelligence.
It would be difficult to mention all the Shaykhs of Khurásán. I have met three hundred in that province alone who had such mystical endowments that a single man of them would have been enough for the whole world. This is due to the fact that the sun of love and the fortune of the Ṣúfí Path is in the ascendant in Khurásán.