Sadr al-Din was the son and successor of Safi-ad-din Ardabili. His mother was Bibi Fatima, daughter of Zahed Gilani

Zahed Gilani

The mystic Taj Al-Din Ebrahim ibn Rushan Amir Al-Kurdi Al-Sanjani , titled Sheikh Zahed Gilani, was Grandmaster of the famed Zahediyeh Sufi Order at Lahijan....

. Sadr al-Din directed the Safaviyya for 59 years. During this time, the activities of the Safaviyya were viewed with favour by Timur

Timur

Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...

, who provided an endowment for the shrine of Safi-ad-din Ardabili in Ardabil

Ardabil

Ardabil is a historical city in north-western Iran. The name Ardabil probably comes from the Zoroastrian name of "Artavil" which means a holy place. Ardabil is the center of Ardabil Province. At the 2006 census, its population was 412,669, in 102,818 families...

, and allowed Sadr al-Din to collect taxes. Timur also offered Sadr al-Din to request any favour from himself, and Sheikh Sadr al-Din asked for the release of Turkish prisoners captured by Timur from Diyarbakır

Diyarbakır

Diyarbakır is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey...

. Timur accepted this request, and the freed prisoners became Sadr al-Din’s loyal disciples. The descendents of these freed prisoners, emigrating by the thousands into Gilan Province

Gilan Province

Gilan Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It lies along the Caspian Sea, just west of the province of Mazandaran, east of the province of Ardabil, north of the provinces of Zanjan and Qazvin....

, would later aid his family to found a dynasty.

He was buried at Ardabil near his father. His son Khwādja Ali († 1429) succeeded him as leader of the Safaviyya.