Salman the Persian
The Naqshbandi Chain, as different from all other Sufi lineages, is unique in that it stems from the first Caliph, Abu Bakr. From Abu Bakr, the secret of this transmission was then passed to Salman the Persian, then to Qasim bin Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr. From Qasim the transmission passed to Ja'far al-Sadiq. From as-Sadiq, the transmission passed to later sheikhs. Today, there are many Naqshbandi sheikhs, each with his own chain of spiritual transmission.