Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad b. Muhammad b. al-Mahdi Ibn ‘Ajibah al-Hasani, known simply as Ibn ‘Ajibah, was born in 1160 AH (1746 CE) in Khamis, a coastal Moroccan town located between Tangier and Tetouan. He was a Sharif, a noble descendant of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace).
From his infancy, he felt an attraction to the faith and the religious sciences. He first studied in his town, then in Tetouan and finally in Fez. In Fez, he was granted various licenses to teach from different teachers. When he was around thirty years old, he returned to Tetouan, where he began to study the Sacred Law and composed works on jurisprudence [fiqh] and Hadiz.
Some time after that, he read the Hikam and, as he said in his autobiography, he dedicated himself completely to the spiritual path. In 1208 AH (1794 CE), he became a disciple of Shaykh Muhammad al-Buizidi, the direct inheritor of Shaykh Mawlay al-‘Arabi al-Darqawi, the founder of the Darqawi branch of the Shadhili path. At that time, Ibn ‘Ajibah changed his life completely, resigning from his post and renouncing all his possessions in order to don the patched cloak and become a faqir. He was even imprisoned for some days with other fuqara’ who were accused of heresy.
After this difficult, testing period, in to which Ibn ‘Ajibah entered voluntarily, he achieved the goal of the path and became a Shaykh of the Darqawi Shadhili path. During the following years, he dedicated himself to being a spiritual guide. He founded various zawiyahs on the northern coast, near to Tangier and Tetouan.
He passed away in 1224 AH (1809 CE). The Darqawi ‘Ajibiyyah hold a festival around his tomb every year in the month of September, to honor and remember his life.
Ibn ‘Ajibah wrote 43 works, which he listed, nearly exhaustively, in chronological order in his “Fahrasah.” Among these works, there is an Exegesis of the Qur’an- from which this work has been taken, an Exegesis of the Fatihah and various commentaries, especially on works by great Shadhili Masters or Sufi poetry. He also has some brief mystical treatments of the teachings of Ibn ‘Arabi (al-Hatimi).