Softening The Heart: Kitab az-Zuhd wa’r-Raqa'iq

About the author

Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak: Abu Abd al-Rahman Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak ibn Wadih al-Hanzali al-Tamimi rahimahullah (118-181 AH / 736-797 CE) was one of the most distinguished scholars of the second Islamic century, celebrated as a hadith master, jurist, ascetic, worshipper, poet, linguist, and man of exceptional generosity. Born in Merv in 118 AH, he was an avid seeker of knowledge who traveled extensively to study under the foremost scholars of his era, including Malik ibn Anas, Sufyan al-Thawri, Abu Hanifa, Layth ibn Sa'd, Awza'i, Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, and Hammad ibn Zayd - many of whom were among the leading tabi'un. He died in Hit at the age of 63, returning from military campaign, in 181 AH. His most celebrated work is Kitab al-Zuhd wa'l-Raqa'iq, preserved as Softening the Heart. Ibn Hibban wrote of him: 'All praiseworthy qualities were found in him. During his time, no scholar in the world possessed such qualities together.' (Thiqat, 7:7-8.)

About the translator

Aisha Bewley: Aisha Bewley (b. 1948 CE) is one of the most prolific and respected translators of classical Arabic Islamic literature into English. Born in the United States, she earned a BA in French and an MA in Near Eastern languages at the University of California, Berkeley, and undertook further study at the American University in Cairo. She embraced Islam in 1968 and has since devoted more than four decades to rendering the texts of the Islamic tradition into clear, accessible English. Her best-known work is The Noble Qur'an, a translation of the meanings of the Qur'an produced with her husband, Abdalhaqq Bewley, and first published in 1999. Among her landmark translations are the Muwatta' of Imam Malik ibn Anas (1989), a foundational early collection of hadith and Maliki fiqh, and the multi-volume Tafsir of al-Qurtubi (2003 onward). Her wider output spans creed, law, and Prophetic biography, including abridgements and renderings of works such as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya's writing on the soul after death and classical descriptions of the noble character and appearance of the Prophet, peace be upon him. WorldCat records her as author or translator of dozens of works across many editions, and in 2023 she was named Muslim Woman of the Year by The Muslim 500, which recognizes the world's most influential Muslims. Her translations are valued for fidelity to the Arabic and readable English, and remain in steady use among English-speaking students of the tradition.

About the editors

Shoaib Shah: Shoaib Shah is a British translator, editor, and author who has devoted his career to making classical Islamic scholarship accessible to contemporary English readers. He graduated from the seminary Jameʿah Uloomul Qurʾan and later earned a Master of Arts from the Markfield Institute of Higher Education. He went on to teach at his alma mater for roughly eighteen years, lecturing especially on the Qurʾanic sciences and tafsir. For around seventeen years he has worked editorially with Turath Publishing, contributing as translator, editor, or author to a long list of titles across the Islamic sciences. His translations include Ibn Jamaʿa al-Kinani's Etiquette of the Learner (an abridgement of the Tadhkirat al-Samiʿ wa al-Mutakallim), the treatise on the virtues and rulings of Salat al-Tasbih, and Life of the Grave, on the states of the deceased until the Resurrection. He served as editor on Softening the Heart, a rendering of Ibn al-Mubarak's Kitab al-Zuhd wa al-Raqaʾiq, and on Imam al-Ghazali's Book of Counsels, among many others. He has also produced devotional compilations such as Our Lord: Forty Rabbana, and authored short works on the life and character of the Prophet, including A Day in the Life of the Beloved. His output reflects a steady commitment to careful, readable renderings of the tradition.

Saalim al-Azhari: Sheikh Dr. Saalim al-Azhari is a British Islamic scholar and educator known for bridging formal religious scholarship with accessible family-oriented Islamic education. He first qualified from St. George's Medical School, University of London, in 2007, before pursuing an intensive course in Islamic sciences. He studied the Arabic diploma in rhetoric (Balagha) from the Egyptian Ministry of Education and enrolled at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, where he completed the Thanawiyya with excellence and graduated from the Faculty of Shariah in 2016 with honors, placing first in his year. Back in the UK, he has become a familiar presence in Muslim communities, regularly delivering khutbas across the country. He co-creates the 'At Home with the Azharis' YouTube channel with his family, a platform combining scholarly content with practical guidance for Muslim households. Through this channel he developed the Juz by Juz Stories video series for children, with matching interactive workbooks covering Qur'anic stories and Islamic fundamentals. He also contributed as an editor to Softening the Heart, the English edition of Imam Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak's classical Kitab az-Zuhd wa'r-Raqa'iq, published alongside Shoaib Shah and Aisha Bewley.