Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Husayn al-Aydarus was a Ba Alawi scholar of Tarim born in 1002 AH. Al-Mashra al-Rawi records that he grew up in a scholarly al-Aydarus household, memorised the Quran and studied a wide range of religious and literary disciplines from an early age.
His teachers included his father and, in hadith, Quranic commentary, Arabic, rhetoric and related subjects, Abu Bakr bin Abd al-Rahman bin Shihab al-Din. Later biographical material also identifies Abd al-Rahman bin Muhammad bin Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf among his teachers. The biography further describes Abdullah as knowledgeable in genealogy, inheritance calculation, Arabic literature, history and the transmitted sciences.
Devotional reputation and karamat
Al-Mashra al-Rawi says that people associated with spiritual perception had spoken of Abdullah before or around his birth. It also says that he did not like displaying karamat and that unusual occurrences attributed to him appeared only in circumstances of necessity. The biographer emphasises his regular conduct, worship and steadfastness as the greater sign of his spiritual standing. These descriptions are preserved as part of the received devotional biography rather than detached from the narrative.
Abdullah was known for extensive reading, study at night, teaching, writing, poetry and prose. A later biographical compilation independently records the same Tarim birth in 1002 AH, many of the same teachers and fields of learning, and his death in 1053 AH at the age of fifty-one.
Lineage and source note
Primary source: Al-Mashra al-Rawi fi Manaqib al-Sada al-Kiram Al Abi Alawi, volume 2, biography beginning with Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Husayn bin Abdullah bin Shaykh bin Abdullah al-Aydarus. The exact subsection records his 1002 AH birth, education, teachers, scholarly life, devotional reputation and death in 1053 AH. Later biographical compilations independently corroborate the identity, chronology and core scholarly record.