He was born in 21 Hijri in Madinah during the reign of Hazrat Umar. His father was a freed slave of Hazrat Zaid ibn Thabit, a famous companion of the Holy Prophet. Hazrat Hasan Basri was himself brought up in the house of Ummul Mu’meneen Umm-e-Salmah.

Before turning a Sufi, he was a jeweler. One day he proceeded to Byzantium on business, there he saw that the Caeser, his minister & many other people of the state entered in a magnificient tent & uttered some sorrowing words. Hazrat Hasan asked the minister that what is going on there, who replied that the young & handsome son of the Caiser died & his corps is interred in a tomb on which stands that tent. That event effected Hazrat Hasan Basri's heart so much, and he then decided to search for the truth & eternity, and not to take interest in the material world, which we have to leave one day.

Hazrat Hasan said that four incidents gave him the greatest lessons of life:

1: Once I pulled off the garments of a eunuch in mere fun. He said: "Kindly return them to me, for nobody knows my real state." Immediately the thought crossed my mind: What shall be our condition when on the Day of Judgment, we shall be made naked and all our sins lay bare?

2: A drunkard was struggling in mire. I told him to beware, lest he would sink in it. He replied: "Hasan, if I fall I alone will suffer. However, you take care of yourself. For if you fall, all your congregation will fall with you & stand condemned."

3: A child was one day carrying a lighted lamp. I asked him wherefrom he had brought the light. The child extinguished the light and said, "Tell me, where is the light gone?"

4: A beautiful young woman was running one day along the street with her head uncovered, and was complaining about her husband in harsh terms. I told her to cover her head and face. She said: "The love of my husband has made me lose my senses so much that I am not conscious of my body and of my surroundings. If you had not told me that my head and face were uncovered, I would have never known it. I would have walked like that in the street. However, it is a matter of surprise, O Hasan, that you pretend to be a lover of God, and yet are conscious of everything that crosses your way and retain your senses. What is this love of God like in you?"

It is related that Abu Amr, the leading authority on the reading of the Qur'an, was teaching the Qur'an one day when suddenly a handsome boy arrived to join his class. Abu Amr gazed at the child improperly, and immediately he forgot the whole Qur'an, from the p of "Praise" to the n of "jinn and men". A fire possessed him, and he lost all self-control. In this state he called on Hasan Basri and described to him his predicament. "Master", he wept bitterly, "such is the situation. I have forgotten the whole Qur'an." Hazrat Hasan Basri was most distressed to hear of his situation. "Now is the season of the Hajj (pilgraimage)," he said. "Go and perform the Hajj (pilgrimage). When you have done that, repair to the mosque of Khaif. There you will see an old man seated in the prayer-niche. Do not spoil his time, but let him be until he is disengaged. Then ask him to say a prayer for you." Abu Amr acted accordingly. Seated in a corner of the mosque, he observed a weak elderly man and about him a circle of people seated. Some time passed; then a man entered, clad in spotless white robes. The people made way before him, greeted him, and conversed together. When the hour of prayer arrived, the man departed and the people departed with him, so that the elder remained alone. Abu Amr then approached and saluted him. "In Allah's name, help me," he cried. And he described his predicament. The elder, much concerned ' raised his eyes to heaven. He had not yet lowered his head, Abu Amr recounted, "when the Qur'an came back to me. I fell down before him for joy." The elder asked: "Who recommended me to you?". "Hasan of Basra," Abu Amr replied. "Anyone who has an imam like Hasan," the old man commented, "what need has he of another? Well, Hasan has exposed me. Now I will expose him. That man in the white robes who entered after the afternoon prayer and left before the rest, and the others did him reverence-that man was Hasan. Every day he prays the afternoon prayer in Basra and then comes here, converses with me, and returns to Basra for the evening prayer. Anyone who has an imam like Hasan, why should he ask me for a prayer?"

Hasan had a neighbour named Simeon who was a fireworshipper. Simeon fell ill and was at death's door. Friends begged Hasan to visit him; he called, to find him in bed, blackened with fire and smoke. "Fear God," Hasan counselled him. "You have passed all your life amid fire and smoke. Accept Islam, that God may have mercy on you." "Three things hold me back from becoming a Muslim," the fire-worshipper replied. "The first is, that you speak ill of the world, yet night and day you pursue worldly things. Secondly, you say that death is a fact to be faced, yet you make no preparation for death. In the third place, you say that God's face shall be seen, yet today you do everything contrary to His good pleasure." "This is the token of those who know truly," Hasan commented. "Now if believers act as you describe, what have you to say? They acknowledge the unity of God; whereas you have spent your life in the worship of fire. You who have worshipped fire for seventy years, and I who have never worshipped fire-we are both carried off to Hell. Hell will consume you and me. God will pay no regard to you; but if God so wills, the fire will not dare so much as to burn one hair of my body. For fire is a thing created by God; and the creature is subject to the Creator's command. Come now, you who have worshipped fire for seventy years; let us both put our hands into the fire, then you will see with your own eyes the impotence of fire and the omnipotence of God." So saying, Hasan thrust his hand into the fire and held it there. Not a particle of his body was affected or burnt. When Simeon saw this he was amazed. The dawn of true knowledge began to break. "For seventy years I have worshipped fire," he groaned. "Now only a breath or two remains to me. What am I to do?" "Become a Muslim," was Hasan's reply. "If you give it me in writing that God will not punish me," said Simeon, "then I will believe. But until I have it in writing, I will not believe." Hasan wrote it down. "Now order just witnesses of Basra to append their testimony." The witnesses endorsed the document. Then Simeon wept many tears and proclaimed the faith. He spoke his last testament to Hasan.

"When I die, bid them wash me, then commit me to the earth with your own hands, and place this document in my hand. This document will be my proof." Having charged Hasan thus, he spoke the attestation of faith and died. They washed his body, said the prayer over him, and buried him with the document in his hand. That night Hasan went to sleep pondering what he had done. "How could I help a drowning man, seeing that I am drowning myself? Since I have no control over my own fate, why did I venture to prescribe how God should act?" With this thought he fell asleep. He saw Simeon in a dream glowing like a candle; on his head a crown, robed in fine raiment, he was walking with a smile in the garden of Paradise. "How are you, Simeon?" Hasan enquired. "Why do you ask? You can see for yourself," Simeon answered. "God Almighty of His bounty brought me His presence and graciously showed me His face. The favours He showered upon me surpass all description. You have honoured your guarantee; so take your document. I have no further need of it." When Hasan awoke, he saw that parchment in his hand. "Lord God," he cried, "I know well that what Thou doest is without cause, save of Thy bounty. Who shall suffer loss at Thy door? Thou grantest a Guebre of seventy years to come into Thy near presence because of a single utterance. How then wilt Thou exclude a believer of seventy years?"