The district of Gilan lies in northern Iran south of the Caspian Sea. Here, in a village called Nif (Bahjat al-asrār, 88), ⁸ Shaykh 'Abd al-Qādir was born in 470/ 1077-78. His line of descent is traced to Imam Ḥasan (the grandson of the Prophet). His maternal grandfather, Sayyid 'Abd Allāh Sumā'ī was a pious and saintly person. 'Abd al-Qādir's father having died early, Sumā'ī looked after the orphan's upbringing. It was at the age of eighteen (in 488/ 1095), that 'Abd al-Qādir left Gilan for Baghdad, which was then humming with unprecedented intellectual activity and where the renowned Niẓāmiyyah College, founded in 457/ 1065, was in its full bloom. He did not, however, like to study at this seminary and completed his education with other teachers of Baghdad. His truthful character and the impact that it was to make on those who happened to come into contact with him were evident from his very early years. It is said that when he left his native place for Baghdad, his mother gave him forty gold coins--his share in the patrimony--and safely stitched them in his cloak. Her parting advice to his son was to be always truthful and honest. 'Abd al-Qādir promised to abide by it.

On the way robbers intercepted the caravan and plundered it. One of the robbers asked 'Abd al-Qādir if he had anything with him. He replied that he had forty gold coins. The robber did not believe it and moved on. One after the other robbers asked him and he gave the same reply. The leader of the gang interrogated him further and asked him to show where the money was. He placed his cloak before him and the robber found the money concealed there. Startled and puzzled at this truthfulness, the robber asked him why he had disclosed it; he could say that he had nothing and thus save this money. 'Abd al-Qādir replied that he had made a promise to his mother to be truthful under all circumstances. The revelation came as a terrible shock to the leader of the gang and he fell at his feet and repented for his conduct saying: "You keep the promise you made to your mother and we forget the promise that we made to our Creator." The gang returned the entire plunder to the owners and repented for their sins. 'Abd al-Qādir spent his early years in Baghdad under extremely straitened circumstances, but starvation and penury could not dampen his zeal for knowledge. He studied with particular care Ḥadīth (sayings of the Prophet), fiqh (law), and literature. Names of his sixteen teachers of Hadith and five teachers of fiqh have come down to us from Shaṭṭanawfī ( Bahjat al-asrār, 106). It was in Baghdad that he became attracted to the Ḥanbalite School of Islamic jurisprudence. He received his spiritual training from Shaykh Abu'lKhayr Ḥammād ibn Muslim al-Dabbās (d. 525/ 1131), ⁹ a saint who was illiterate but renowned for his spiritual excellence. His reputation at this time was one of a jurist, and the Sufi circles resented his admission to the mystic fold. But since some of the Ḥanbalite jurists of this period were inclined toward mysticism, this resentment was short-lived. Qādī Abū Sa'īd Mubārak al-Mukharrimī, head of a school of Ḥanbalite law in Baghdad, is reported to have initiated Shaykh 'Abd al-Qādir into the mystic discipline and to have conferred upon him his mystic robe.

Having completed his academic and spiritual training in Baghdad, he took to seclusion and spent eleven years in the ruins near Baghdad away from human company. In the words of Henri Bergson this seclusion of a mystic is "like the repose of a locomotive standing in a station under steam pressure" When he came out, he turned with great vigor and enthusiasm to public speeches. Apart from his own spiritual intuition in the matter, he was advised by Khawājah Yūsuf Hamadānī (d. 534/ 1140) ¹⁰ to preach in public. All contemporary and later writers refer to his extremely powerful role as a preacher. Unlike many mystics who impressed people by individual attention and personal care, the Shaykh addressed huge crowds and brought about a change in their lives. In the long and checkered history of Islamic mysticism, hardly any saint can match him so far as mass appeal and stentorian impact are concerned. In fact, with his advent begins a new phase in the history of Islamic mysticism, when mass activity is inaugurated and the mystic teachers of dā'irahs (small mystic centers of like-minded persons) and zāwiyahs (centers for mystics to live and pray) come out into the open and address huge congregations and convey their message of spiritual and moral enlightenment to the people at large. According to Shaṭṭanawfī, the number of those who attended his sermons reached seventy thousand (Bahjat alasrār, 92). These figures may be exaggerated, but the popular response to his sermons was no doubt tremendous, and people came to him from Mesopotamia, Persia, and Egypt. According to his son, 'Abd al-Wahhāb, he delivered sermons three times a week: on Friday morning and Tuesday evening in his college, and on Sunday morning in his hospice. Four hundred scribes recorded whatever he uttered (Bahjat al-asrār, 95). ¹¹ Jews and Christians also came to his meetings and were so moved by his orations that often they embraced Islam then and there. Speaking about his impact as a preacher, Abu'l-Faraj al-Jawzī, a contemporary writer, says that his hearers sometimes died of emotions. People gave up their sinful activities and adopted the path of morality and virtue as a result of his exhortations (Bahjat al-asrār, 96). The Shaykh's teacher Qāḍī Abū Sa'īd Mubārak al-Mukharrimī was in charge of a large madrasah, which he entrusted to his pupil. The Shaykh took such interest in its development that the area became almost a madrasah town. The Shaykh himself used to instruct in several religious sciences. With the madrasah on one side and the ribāṭ on the other, the Shaykh had all the necessary instruments for the dissemination and propagation of his ideas. He delivered sermons for forty years ( 521/ 1127-561/ 1165) and gave lessons in religious sciences and pronounced religious opinion as muftī for thirty-five years ( Bahjat al-asrār, 95). Thus, in his person he combined the mystical zeal for spiritual life with the adherence of a faqīh (jurist) to Islamic Law. Though his ideological commitment seems to have been with the Ḥanbalite school, he was not exclusive in his approach, and according to a report he acted as the guardian of the tomb of Imam Abū Ḥanīfah.

The doubt cast on his position as a mystic teacher (Ṣūfī) during his lifetime is based on misunderstanding. The Shaykh's entire approach was mystical, and he looked after a community center for giving instruction in mystic discipline. But since the regular organization of silsilas was a later phenomenon, his mystic efforts also did not crystallize into a well-knit system. In his Ghunyat al-ṭālibīn (That which Is Sufficient for Seekers) there is a very profound and penetrating discussion of the mystical ideal.

The Shaykh's family life began at a very advanced age. He married at the age of fifty-one and according to one report had forty-nine children. He was so meticulous in following the laws of the Sharī'ah in every minute detail of his life that even the food prepared for him was strictly according to Sunnah (practice of the Prophet). It is said that even grain was particularly cultivated for him ( Bahjat al-asrār, 104).

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