style. He composed mostly in Arabic and Persian. His writings are unique because, while they do not include many dates or chronology, he talks about his personal life and his family, while not mentioning other outside events. Baqli was known for his fondness and defense of many early Sufis’ ecstatic sayings (shathiyat) and therefore was dubbed "Doctor Ecstaticus." Baqli completed his book Commentary on Ecstatic Sayings or Sarh al-shathiyyat in 1174. He also wrote The Spirits’ Font in 1184. The Unveiling of Secrets or Kashf al-asrar was completed in 1189 after eight years. It is both an autobiography and a diary of visions and Sufi teachings. Many of his works emphasize the Sufi theories of love, and also defend early Sufi saints in their ecstatic utterances. The Sufi saint Hallaj was a primary example in Baqli's text. While direct literary references to Baqli in later Sufism were not common, perhaps because of the difficulty of the texts, he was known for his love of beauty: fine fragrances, a beautiful face, and sweet voices. His texts were studied, however, by Jāmi of the fifteenth century and a Mughal prince of the seventeenth century. See also List of Persian poets and authors Persian literature References Sources Baqli, Ruzbihan. The Unveiling of Secrets: Diary of a Sufi Master. Trans. Carl W. Ernst. Chapel Hill, NC: Parvardigar, 1997. Ernst, C. "Rūzbihān." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman; , Th. Bianquis; , C.E. Bosworth; , E. van Donzel; and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2011. Brill Online. Augustana. 7 April 2011 . Ernst, C. Ruzbihan Baqli: Mysticism and the Rhetoric of Sainthood in Persian Sufism. Surrey: Curzon, 1996. Ernst, C. "Symbolism of Birds and Flight in the Writings of Ruzbihan Baqli." In The Heritage of Sufism, Volume 2. Ed. Leonard Lewisohn. Oxford: One World, 1999. 353–366. Schimmel, Annemarie (1975). Mystical Dimensions of Islam. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. Shahbazi, A. Shapur, "Shiraz", Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition, 7 July 2004. 1128 births 1209 deaths Iranian Sufis 12th-century Persian-language poets 13th-century Persian-language poets People from Fars Province 13th-century Iranian people 12th-century Iranian people Daylamites Iranian Muslim mystics People under the Salghurids