[6] The exact birth date of Abu-l-Qāsim al-Junayd ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Junayd al-Khazzāz al-Qawārīrī (Arabic: أبو القاسم الجنيد بن محمد الخزاز القواريري) is disputed and ranges from 210 to 215 AH according to Abdel-Kader.

[2][3][9] As to the hagiography by Attar of Nishapur, the Tazkirat al-Awliya, had felt the pain of divine separation since childhood.

Hence, he retired to the porch of Sirri Saqti's house and kept himself away from worldly matters, devoting his thoughts only to God.

People need to "relinquish natural desires, to wipe out human attributes, to discard selfish motives, to cultivate spiritual qualities, to devote oneself to true knowledge, to do what is best in the context of eternity, to wish good for the entire community, to be truly faithful to God, and to follow the Prophet in the matters of the Shari’a.

[11] Junayd spend 40 years in his mystic course praying while sacrificing his sleep and any other worldly desires, but then a conceit in his heart arose that he has achieved his goal.

[citation needed] The intensity of ishq poured out of a speech of Junayd such that out of the 40 people he first preached, 18 died and 22 fainted.

[10] Junayd helped establish the "sober" school of Sufi thought, which meant that he was very logical and scholarly about his definitions of various virtues, tawhid, etc.

The elite that he refers to are the elect, or "a tightly knit group of 'brethren' that Junayd designates by such phrases as 'the choice of believers' or 'the pure ones'.