Hallaj, Hussein ibn Mansur al- [key], 857–922, Arabic-speaking Persian Muslim mystic and poet popularly known among Muslims as “the martyr of mystical love.” Born a Sunni, he traveled in Persia, India, and Turkistan, and experimented with a number of religious philosophies, including Sufism, Manichaeism, and Buddhism. An ecstatic mystic, his notorious description of his union with God, ana al-haqq [Arab.,= I am the Truth], led to charges of heresy. His involvement in political intrigues lead to his arrest in 913 by the authorities in Abbasid Baghdad. Though released shortly thereafter, his enemies succeeded in re-opening the case against him, and he was tortured and executed.
See L. Massignon, The Passion of Hallaj (4 vol., tr. 1982).
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