Abu Abdullah Mohammad Ibn Khafif ,the link between the Iraqi school of mysticism and the Shiraz school of mysticism

Abu Abdullah Mohammad Ibn Khafif is one of the effective Sufis of Shiraz on the path of Sufism. Although his name is widely heard in biography books, but his mystical attitude has not been properly studied and recognized. This misunderstanding is caused his worldview as a reflection of the Iraqi school, especially Junaid and consider him an ambassador for the transmission of Iraqi mystical ideas to Fars. In this research, it was clarified that in Sheikh Kabir's thoughts could be seen traces of teachings of Iraqi Sufis but some of his definitions, opinions, and decisions were inconsistent with the mystical view of the Baghdad school that determined his true stand point. These points of separation from Baghdad school are: accepting the worldview of Hallaj and Rouim, accepting Sama, preferring poverty to riches and preferring working to begging, rejecting God's observation and arrogance with Him, and finally accepting divine love. If we accept that Ibn Khafif's worldview is not a reflection of the Baghdad school of mysticism, we would accept these keywords in his view as beginning of Shiraz school of mysticism: "Moderation in attitude and personality", "preparation for the entry of love" and "making text interpretable". In fact, the importance of Sheikh Kabir is making connection between the Sufis of the classical period of Baghdad and the late Sufis of the Shiraz school. Ibn Khafif can be considered as the link between the Iraqi school and the Shiraz school.