Al-Ghazali: The Book of Contemplation (Book 39 of The Revival of the Religious Sciences)
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Translator
Muhammad Isa Waley
Description
About the Book:
The Book of Contemplation is the thirty-ninth of the forty Books of The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya’ ‘ulum al-din) and the very last to appear in English translation. Abu Hamid al-Ghazali’s purpose in this book is to explain the nature and importance of contemplation, or reflection, as an act that enriches the thinking person with increased knowledge of, and wonder at, the Creator and His creation.
In Part 1, he defines and introduces the subject, explaining its importance with reference to the Qur’an, Hadiths, and sayings of wise and pious Muslims.
In Part 2, he expounds his own highly original views as to the nature and fruits of contemplation.
Part 3 offers detailed guidance on the most appropriate and beneficial subjects for reflection, some relating to human traits and actions and others to Divine Attributes and Actions.
In Part 4, he explores in detail aspects of God’s creation, which, when viewed with an observant eye and considered with a worshipful heart, are full of wonders and offer an inexhaustible scope for reflection—from the artistry of the spider and bee to the unimaginable vastness of the heavens, which themselves are dwarfed by what lies beyond them.
About the Contributor(s)
About the author
al-Ghazali: Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali (450-505 AH / 1058-1111 CE) was born in Tus, in the Khorasan region of Persia, and is remembered as one of Islam's most influential thinkers. Losing his father young, he studied at Nishapur and was appointed, while still in his thirties, to the prestigious Nizamiyya college in Baghdad. He was Shafiʿi in law and Ashʿari in creed, and his contemporaries honored him as Hujjat al-Islam, the Proof of Islam. At the height of his fame al-Ghazali passed through a profound spiritual crisis, recounted in his autobiography al-Munqidh min al-Dalal (Deliverance from Error). He abandoned his teaching post, traveled, and devoted years to the inward discipline of the Sufis before returning to instruction with a renewed purpose. His landmark work, Ihyaʾ ʿUlum al-Din (The Revival of the Religious Sciences), reconstructs the religious life across four parts, acts of worship, social custom, the vices that ruin the soul, and the virtues that save it. In philosophy he wrote Tahafut al-Falasifa (The Incoherence of the Philosophers), a careful critique of the Hellenistic thinkers of his age. Bridging law, theology, philosophy, and mysticism, al-Ghazali shaped the direction of Sunni thought for centuries, and his books remain widely read and translated. His many works are available here in English translation.
About the translator
Muhammad Isa Waley: Muhammad Isa Waley is a British scholar of Islamic manuscripts and Sufi literature, best known for a long curatorial career at one of the world's great repositories of Islamic texts. For some forty-five years he served as Curator for Persian and Turkish, beginning at the British Museum and continuing at the British Library in London. He earned his doctorate on the poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi, and his scholarly interests center on two areas: the classical verse and prose literature of Islamic spirituality in Persian, Arabic, and Turkish, and the paleography, codicology, illumination, and cataloging of manuscripts in Arabic script. His published work reflects both strands. As editor he oversaw the English Tafsir al-Jalalayn and Imam al-Nawawi's Kitab al-Adhkar (The Book of Remembrances), and he contributed to Islamic Codicology: An Introduction to the Study of Manuscripts in Arabic Script. As translator he rendered Jami's forty-hadith collection Chihil Kalima and the Mawlid of Imam al-Barzanji into English. He has also lectured widely on the study and importance of Islamic manuscripts for research into Islamic literature and culture. His more recent A Treasury of Rumi gathers selections from the poet who has occupied him since his earliest research, bringing a lifetime of textual scholarship to a wider readership.
Specifications
EAN 13 / ISBN
9781941610558
Publisher
Fons Vitae
Author
al-Ghazali
Pages
176
Translator
Muhammad Isa Waley
Year Published
2021
Size
W- | H- | D-
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