Litanies of the Path

About the translator

Rizwana Sayed: Rizwana Sayed is a contemporary translator and compiler who has rendered into English a body of devotional and instructional texts from the Ba 'Alawi tradition, the Sufi path of the sada (descendants of the Prophet) of Hadramawt in Yemen. Much of her work appears through Sakina Publishing in the United Kingdom, prepared under the guidance of Shaykh Muhammad Sadiq al-'Alawi, and centers on making the litanies, supplications, and poetry of this path accessible to English-speaking readers while preserving the Arabic text alongside.\n\nHer translations include "A Means for the Devout to the Ratib al-Haddad," an abridged commentary on the celebrated litany of Imam 'Abdallah ibn 'Alawi al-Haddad, as well as collections of salutations, daily litanies, and the "Qasa'id of Tariqa Sada Ba 'Alawi," a selection of the more celebrated devotional poems of the path presented with translation and introduction. Her two-volume compilation "The Guide to the Path of Righteousness" sets out the history, development, principles, and leading figures of the Ba 'Alawi tariqa, drawing on the counsel of its classical masters such as Imam al-Haddad. Across these works her aim is consistent: to convey the ethics, doctrine, and daily spiritual practice of this Yemeni lineage faithfully for a modern readership. Biographical detail about her beyond this published output is limited.