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The Key to Salvation: A Sufi Manual of Invocation

Ibn Ata Allah al-Iskandari(Auth.) · Mary Ann Koury-Danner (Trans.)
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This is the first English translation of Miftah al-falah, a thirteenth century Sufi text, written by Ibn Ata Allah, one of the great masters of the Shadhili Sufi order.

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The Key to Salvation: A Sufi Manual of Invocation
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Translator
Mary Ann Koury-Danner
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About The Book

This is the first English translation of Miftah al-falah, a thirteenth-century Sufi text, written by Ibn Ata Allah, one of the great masters of the Shadhili Sufi order. It is considered to be one of his most important works because it sets out the principles of actual Sufi mystical practices, shedding light on the sacred invocations, and associated practices, such as the spiritual retreat.

Written in a clear, lucid style, it offers a glimpse into the Sufi world of the 7th Islamic century and allows us to see almost at first hand how the novice was guided by the Sufi Shaykh and, above all, the purpose and preparation involved in engaging in the invocation, dhikhru'llah.

Ibn Ata' Allah sets out to define it, to explain its nature and power, to show its results and to prove that it is part of the Prophet's Sunna, or practice. The author goes to great lengths to point out many Qur'anic verses where dhikru'llah is mentioned and cites many noted authorities.

About the Contributor(s)

About the author

Ibn Ata Allah al-Iskandari: Ibn ʿAtaʾ Allah al-Iskandari (c. 650–709 AH / c. 1252–1309 CE), in full Taj al-Din Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Karim, was an Egyptian jurist and Sufi master honored as the third great teacher of the Shadhili order. Born and raised in Alexandria during the Mamluk period, he was a Maliki in law and at first devoted himself wholly to the religious sciences, with little inclination toward the Sufi path. That changed when he became a disciple of Abu al-ʿAbbas al-Mursi, the close successor of the order's founder Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili. Under al-Mursi he matured into a guide who united outward learning with inward realization, and he went on to teach at the al-Azhar mosque in Cairo. He died in 709 AH and was buried in the Qarafa cemetery beneath the Muqattam hills, where his tomb is still visited. His most famous work, Kitab al-Hikam (The Book of Wisdoms), is a collection of concise aphorisms on reliance upon God, sincerity, and the realities of the spiritual life; its beauty and depth have drawn many commentaries across the centuries. Among his other enduring works are Lataʾif al-Minan, a biography of al-Mursi and al-Shadhili; al-Tanwir fi Isqat al-Tadbir, on surrendering self-direction to God; and Miftah al-Falah, a manual of invocation (dhikr). He remains one of the most widely read voices of the Shadhili tradition.

About the translator

Mary Ann Koury-Danner: Mary Ann Koury-Danner served as Area Specialist for Middle Eastern Studies at Indiana University Library. She is the translator of The Key to Salvation: A Sufi Manual of Invocation, a Sufi text on the practice of invocation (dhikr), for which she received two translation awards. Her work at Indiana University Library placed her within one of the leading Middle Eastern studies collections in the United States.

Specifications
EAN 13 / ISBN 9780946621279
Publisher Islamic Texts Society
Author Ibn Ata Allah al-Iskandari
Pages 270
Translator Mary Ann Koury-Danner
Year Published 1996
Size W-6 in | H-9.2 in | D-0.9 in
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