He studied under various teachers and travelled extensively in Arabia and Syria. Wisdom sayings & poems, which are extremely dense & rich in sufi imagery, emphasize knowledge or gnosis [m'arifah] more than fear [makhafah] or love [mahabbah], the other two major paths of spiritual realization in Sufism. No written work has survived, but a vast collection of poems, sayings & aphorisms attributed to him continues to live on in oral tradition.
A number of early Sufis such as RABI'AH AL-ADAWIYAH evinced a sophistication of aesthetic expression and theoretical speculation that laid a solid foundation for later work by Sufi mystics. Pivotal figures such as Dhul Nun al-Misri were poetic stylists and theoreticians. He was master of the epigram and an accomplished poetic stylist in Arabic. The full force of his literary talent comes to light , however in his prayers.
The child of Nubian parents , Dhul-Nun was born in Upper Egypt at the end of the eight century. While many of the factual details of his life are often indistinguishable from pious fiction , a reliable kernel of historical data emerges. Although he lived in Cairo, Dhul-Nun traveled extensively, and during one of his sojourns in Baghdad, he ran afoul of the caliph al-Mutawakkil (r.847-861). The confrontation was sparked by his refusal to accept Mu'tazili doctrine of the createdness of the Qur'an. For his act of defiance, Dhul-Nun was imprisoned; during his heresy trial, however, he so affected the caliph with his apologia for the Sufi life that al-Mutawakkil released him unharmed.
The preserved sayings of Dhul-Nun attest to the profundity of his mystical insight and to the skill with which he developed terminology and structures to analyze the mystical life. He excelled at elucidating the nuances of the various stages (maqamat) and states (ahwal) encountered by the mystic along the Sufi path. To him is attributed the first construction of a coherent theory of ma'rifah , spiritual gnosis, which he contrasts with 'ilm, the more traditional path of discursive reason.
A pivotal aspect of Dhul-Nun's mysticism is the coincidentia oppositorum, the "conjunction of opposites ." the God who pours out his love upon the faithful Sufi wayfarer is, in Dhul-Nun's view, the same God who afflicts his lover with pain and torment. God is, at one and the same time, al-Muhyi "the giver of life," and al-mumit , "the one who kills." Legend has it that at his death the following words were found inscribed on his forehead;
This is the beloved of God,
Who died in God's love.
This is the slain of God,
Who died by God's sword
Who died in God's love.
This is the slain of God,
Who died by God's sword
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