Mansur Al-Hallaj

Mansur Mansur al-Hallaj was born in the province of Fars in Persia in 858. His father was a cotton carder, which is the meaning of the word hallaj. He was the close follower of several well-known Sufis of his time, including Sahl at-Tustari of Basra, Amr al-Makki and Imam Junayd of Baghdad. However, later on, on account of his saying "Ana’l Haqq", meaning "I am the Truth", he was accused of propagating an unacceptable and dangerous religious claim for which he was executed by the orthodox establishment in 922. From the surviving fragments of his work, we surmise that he was a Sufi intoxicated with divine love. His poetry is a very tender and intense expression of spiritual yearing and love. For example, he sang:

"Kill me, O my trustworthy friends,
For in my being killed is my life."

Love is, in fact, the central theme of Mansur al-Hallaj’s prayers and sayings. Describing divine love, he says:

"Love is that you remain standing in front of your Beloved:
When you are deprived of all your attributes,
Then His attributes become your qualities."

The later Sufis, until our own time, have quoted Mansur al-Hallaj as being the epitome of those intoxicated by divine love.

Hallaj (Mansur al-Hallaj)

Timeline (9th Century)

Mansur al-Hallaj is one of the more controversial figures of Sufism. Considered by many to be a great poet-saint, he was executed for blasphemy and sorcery.


The name al-Hallaj means "wool carder," probably a reference to his family's traditional occupation. Al-Hallaj was born in the province of Fars, Persia (Iran). He later moved to what is now Iraq, where he took up religious studies, particularly the Sufi way.

He was married and stayed with his wife all his life.

Orthodox religious authorities took offense at his poetry and teachings, particularly the line in one of his great poems "Ana 'l-Haqq," which translates as "I am the Real," but can also be translated as "I am the Truth" or "I am God" -- acknowledging the mystical realization of unity with the Eternal. He was condemned by a council of theologians, imprisoned for nine years, and eventually put to death. He is revered today as a martyr for truth by many Sufis and mystics.