Imam al-Ghazali 'O Son!' New,
Timeless Advice from Al-Ghazali's,
Ayyuhal Walad 'Letter to his Student'
*[A5] Glossy Colour Paperback - 107 pages,
English & Arabic,
by Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali [d.505h],
Transl. & Notes by Moustafa ElQabbany,
Published by Revival Press
c/o Imam Ghazali Institute, USA.
Now in Stock & Despatching October 2021
Description :
One of Imam al-Ghazali's, may Allah be pleased with him advanced students wrote to the Imam with a question: From all the fields of knowledge, what will benefit us most in the grave? The student clarified that, while he could certainly find the answer to his question within al-Ghazali's longer works, such as the Ihya Ulum al-Din, he wished for his teacher to give him a formal legal opinion, short enough that he could keep it with him at all times and refer to it constantly.
Ayyuhal Walad is the great Imam's response: a personal note from al-Ghazali to his student, and by extension to anyone who desires to follow their way. Imam al-Ghazali elucidates the following for his student, and for the modern reader :
***The precise nature of the relationship between knowledge and action, and the role of each in one's striving for Paradise,
***The significance of the night prayer,
***Some advice from Luqman the Wise to his son, and its enduring meaning and importance,
***A concise definition of obedience and worship, which al-Ghazali states is the quintessence of knowledge,
***The four matters that are required of a spiritual traveler,
***A single hadith that contains the entirety of the knowledge of the ancients as well as the men of latter days,
***Eight lessons that are sufficient for deliverance and salvation.
Ayyuhal Walad is designed to be read and reread, and referred to frequently throughout one's life. The reader must take note that the original recipient of this letter was a top student of Imam al-Ghazali, and therefore a scholar of the highest caliber himself. This book is thus invaluable simply as a record of the interaction between one of the Ummah's greatest teachers and his esteemed disciple. However, al-Ghazali's prescriptions are conveyed with such clarity that any Muslim of high aspiration will benefit from this text.
This edition includes Ustadh Moustafa Elqabbany's meticulous English translation side-by-side with al-Ghazali's original Arabic epistle. This arrangement allows the English-speaking reader to get a taste of al-Ghazali's unique style, while students of Arabic may peruse the Imam's masterful Arabic prose alongside Ustadh Moustafa's elegant English rendition.
This short text provides a rare opportunity to take personal advice directly from Imam al-Ghazali himself.
The Translation and Explanatory Notes by Imam Ghazali Publishing:
For this translation, Imam Ghazali Publishing worked with Ustadh Moustafa Elqabbany, a Canadian translator and researcher living in Amman, Jordan. He is currently a translator-in-residence for the UK-based company Wordsmiths, as well as the Director of Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman.
While the vast majority of notes in our translation relied upon the commentary Ayyuha al-Akh, many additional notes were added at the discretion of Ustadh Moustafa in order to facilitate a deeper and more contextualized understanding of the text. These footnotes should be regarded as clarifying notes rather than an actual commentary; this work should be studied with a teacher. Ultimately, while we recognize these counsels to be timeless, we have strived to add additional clarity on any terminology or phrases we felt may benefit a general audience. It is hoped that by including the vocalized Arabic text that :
---1. Students of Sacred Knowledge will be aided in learning the language of the Qur’an, the Prophet, sallAllahu 'alayhi wa Sallam, and the ‘ulama’,
---2. It will serve as a teaching aid for the ‘ulama’ when teaching this text to reference the original work, and
---3. It will facilitate courses and seminars on this work with renewed interest within the English-speaking world.
Proper punctuation marks have been added to assist with the Arabic reading. Anything indecorous in this rendering is from our ignorance, and anything of benefit is from Allah, the blessing of Imam al-Ghazali, may Allah be pleased with him, and those who transmitted this noble work. May Allah forgive us for our shortcomings.
*Dimensions : 21.7 x 14cm.
