This paper considers Ahmad b. Abd al-Halim Ibn Taymiyya’s multi-layered criticism and polemical strategies, which he directs against any attempts to attribute the Ash’arite theological teachings to the main figures of classical Sufism. Ibn Taymiyya construes Sufi teachings as ontologically irreconcilable with speculative theology, and in so doing, tries to construct his own history of Sufism by engaging in the recollection of the memory of its main historical figures. Focusing mainly on his Kitab al-Istiqama, which contains a commentary on a major source for the early history of Sufism - Epistle on Sufism by Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Karim al-Qushayri, this paper shows how Ibn Taymiyya confronts al-Qushayri’s theological interpretations of Sufi utterances with his own exegesis based on his intimate familiarity with Sufi literature and concepts. Ibn Taymiyya’s commentary to the Epistle reveals the polyphony and multi-layered nature of his polemical narrative. Criticizing al-Qushayri, the famous Hanbali scholar utilizes and reinterprets Sufi images and sayings in order to wage two debates simultaneously - one against the author of the Epistle, and the other against his contemporaries – Ash’arite theologians and philosophically minded followers of the monistic teachings of Ibn Arabi. On the one hand, Ibn Taymiyya tries to prove that the authoritative figures of early Sufism have never engaged in speculative theology. On the other hand, the utterances of the famous Sufis, which al-Qushayri interpreted in accordance with the Ash’arite theology, Ibn Taymiyya creatively represents as refutations of the monistic ideas of Ibn Arabi, which have been evidently widespread in his era. Using the Epistle to develop a broader theological discussion, Ibn Taymiyya speaks through his criticism with both: Ash’arite theologians of the past (like al-Qushayri) and those of them who fiercely debated him in Cairo and Damascus. The goal of his critical project is to prove that his contemporary mutakallims have no ideational connection with authoritative Sunni scholars and Sufis of the first centuries of Islam. The analysis of Ibn Taymiyya’s commentary on al-Qushayri’s epistle shows that his relationship to various trends in Islam was much more complicated than the dichotomy “pro/contra”. It could be said, that he tried to harness the Sufi archive – using Foucauldian terminology – for his own ideological purposes – in order to win a struggle over a much larger archive – the “Sunni canon”, from the rival theological school of Ash’arism.