Ali al-Khawas

Ali al-Khawas was a 9th-century Muslim Sufi poet and mystic from the ninth century AD. Pope Francis refers to him as a "spiritual writer" in his encyclical letter Laudato si' on the topic of ecology.

Teaching In Laudato si', Francis writes that humanity can "discover God in all things": "in a leaf, in a mountain trail, in a dewdrop, in a poor person’s face". The footnote reads

Aisha Bhoori has noted that it is "unusual for a pope to cite a Sufi poet".