For thirty years I was seeking God; when I looked closely, I found that He was the seeker and I was the sought.
Life and Thought
Abu Yazid Tayfur ibn Isa ibn Surushan Bastami, known as Bayazid Bastami, was one of the great and renowned mystics of the third century AH in Iran. Due to his profound mystical experiences and ecstatic utterances (shathiyat), he is considered the 'Sultan of the Gnostics' and a pioneer of the school of 'Sukr' (spiritual intoxication) in Sufism.
Abu Yazid Tayfur ibn Isa ibn Surushan Bastami (161 – 261 or 264 AH) was a celebrated Iranian mystic and Sufi from Bastam in Qumis (present-day Shahroud). His grandfather, Surushan, was a Zoroastrian who converted to Islam. Bayazid spent most of his life in asceticism, seclusion, self-discipline, and spiritual wayfaring, benefiting from masters such as Abu Ali al-Sindi in his mystical path.
Bayazid Bastami left no written works of his own, but his sayings, teachings, and spiritual states were recorded by his disciples and later reflected in classical Sufi texts, particularly in Attar of Nishapur's 'Tadhkirat al-Awliya', Sulami's 'Tabaqat al-Sufiyya', and the 'Risala Qushayriyya'. His thought represents the most prominent example of the school of 'Sukr' (spiritual intoxication and ecstasy) as opposed to the school of 'Sahw' (sobriety).
The core of Bayazid's thought rests upon 'fana fi'llah' (annihilation in God), the effacement of the illusory self, and the attainment of intuitive unity. His ecstatic sayings and famous shathiyat—which appear outwardly paradoxical—express the experience of passing beyond 'selfhood' and reaching the Absolute Truth. The influence of his thought and character on later mystics, especially Abu al-Hasan Kharaqani, Attar, and Rumi, has been very profound and enduring.