About The Book
Abu Zakariyya Muhyi'd-din Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi (631 AH/1233 CE – 676 AH/1277 CE) was an exemplary scholar of the hadith, Ash'ari kalam and the Shafi'i madhhab, noted for his commentary on Sahih Muslim, his collection of Forty Hadith, the Riyad as-Salihin, the Adhkar, which is a collection of dhikr and du'a from the Qur'an and the hadith, and a number of other significant works.
The Garden of the Gnostics (Bustan al-'Arifin) is Imam an-Nawawi's work on taṣawwuf, drawing as is his wont on the Qur'an, with careful choice of hadith, and the sayings of the first generations (salaf) and eminent later people.
About Imam Nawawi
Imam Muhyi ddin Abi Zakariyya Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi known simply as Imam Nawawi was Born in the village of Nawa in Southern Syria. He spent most of his life in Damascus where he lived in a simple manner, devoted to Allah, engaging single-mindedly in worship, study, writing and teaching various Islamic sciences.
Although best known for his works in hadith, Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (d. 676/1277) was also the Imam of the later Shafi'i school of Jurisprudence, and widely acknowledged as the intellectual heir to Imam Shafi'i. He was a renowned scholar and jurist who dedicated his life to the pursuit of Islamic learning.
Imam Nawawi died at the young age of 44 years, leaving behind him numerous works of great efforts and knowledge. He is well know for books which are easy to understand.
About The Translator
Aisha Bewley is the translator of a large number of classical works of Islam and Sufism, often in collaboration with Abdalhaqq Bewley, notably
- The Noble Qur'an – a New Rendering of Its Meanings in English;
- Muhammad Messenger of Allah – the translation of Qadi 'Iyad's ash-Shifa';
- the Muwatta' of Imam Malik ibn Anas; and
- Imam an-Nawawi's Riyad as-Salihin.
