Four Gems of Tasawwuf: ibn Ajiba

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Ahmed ibn Ajiba, Four Gems of Tasawwuf : New,
[A5+] Paperback - 301 pages,
by Shaykh Ahmed ibn Ajibah [d.1224h],
Transl. by Aisha Bewley,
Edited by Abdalhaq Bewley,
Published by Diwan Press.

Now in Stock & Despatching : July 2022

Description :

Shaykh Ahmed ibn Ajiba's, may Allah be pleased with him, 'Four Gems of Tasawwuf' comprises of the following texts :

---1. A substantial part of Iqadh al-Himam, Shaykh Ibn ‘Ajiba’s commentary on the Hikam of Shaykh Ahmad ibn ‘Ata’allah al-Iskandari, may Allah be pleased with him, including an introduction to Tasawwuf based on the famous ten introductory principles, as well as as the first twelve aphorisms and their commentaries;

---2. His commentary on the Salat of Shaykh ‘Abd as-Salam ibn Mashish, may Allah be pleased with him, in asking for blessings on the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,

---3. His commentary on the Khamriyya of Shaykh Ibn al-Farid, may Allah be pleased with him,

---4. And his book on the Divine Decree, in which there is a chapter exploring the issues of contagion and plague from both the perspectives of haqiqa and shari’a.

Shaykh Ahmad ibn ‘Ajiba :

He is Ahmad ibn ‘Ajiba al-Shadhili, al-Hasani, may Allah have mercy upon him, (1747–1809) was an 18th-century Moroccan Shaykh in the Darqawa Sufi order. He was born of a Hasani sharif family in the Anjra tribe that ranges from Tangiers to Tetouan along the Mediterranean coast of Morocco. As a child he developed a love of knowledge, memorising the Qur’an and studying subjects ranging from Classical Arabic grammar, religious ethics, poetry, Qur’anic recitation and tafsir.

When he reached the age of eighteen he left home and studied in Qasr al-Kabir under the supervision of Sidi Muhammad as-Susi as-Samlali. It was here that he was introduced to studies in the sciences, art, philosophy, law and Qur’anic exegesis in depth. He went to Fes to study with Ibn Suda, Bennani, and al-Warzazi, and joined the new Darqawiyya in 1208 AH (1793), of which he was the representative in the northern part of the Jbala region. He spent his entire life in and around Tetouan, and died of the plague in 1224 AH (1809). He is the author of a considerable number of works and a Fahrasa which provides interesting information concerning the intellectual center that Tetouan had become by the beginning of the 19th century.

Aisha Abdurrahman Bewley al-Maliki, al-Ash'ari, was born in 1948 in the United States. She holds a BA in French and MA in Near Eastern Languages from the University of California, Berkeley. She spent a year with a fellowship at the American University in Cairo and at the same time attended a seminar on Sufism and Islamic philosophy at Dar al-’Ulum. She is a student of Shaykh Abdalqadir al-Murabit, and also studied Ibn ‘Arabi with the late Sidi Fudul al-Hurawi in Fes, Morocco.

Aisha Bewley converted to Islam in 1968. She is the author and translator of many published and unpublished works, many of which are available at Madani Propagation. She is married to Hajj Abdalhaqq Bewley with whom she often translates and is the mother of three children.

Table of Contents :

Introduction to Iqadh al-Himam,
the Commentary on the Hikam

---Preamble,

---First introduction: The Science of Tasawwuf,
------[1]. Definition,
------[2]. Subject matter,
------[3]. Founder,
------[4]. Name,
------[5]. Sources,
------[6]. Legal Ruling,
------[7]. Understanding its parameters,
------[8]. Degree of Excellence,
------[9]. Relationship to Other Sciences,
------[10]. Benefits,

1. Iqadh al-Himam,
------[1]. A sign of your reliance on action is losing hope,
------[2]. Your desire for divestment,
------[3]. Things aspired to in advance,
------[4]. Give up the management of affairs,
------[5]. Your exertion in respect of what is guaranteed to you,
------[6]. Do not let a delay in the timing of the gift,
------[7]. If something that is promised does not happen,
------[8]. If He opens up a way of making Himself known to you,
------[9]. Types of action are of various kinds,
------[10]. Actions are simply set-up images,
------[11]. Bury your existence in the earth of obscurity,
------[12]. Nothing benefits the heart like a period of seclusion,
------[13]. How can a heart be illuminated.

2. The Prayer of the Qutb Ibn Mashish:
---His Biography,
---The Salat of Ibn Mashish,

3. The Khamriyya of Ibn al-Farid:

4. The String of Pearls Concerning Fate and the Decree:
------[1]. Explanation of Fate and the Decree,
------[2]. Evidence for the Decree from the Book and the Sunna and the words of the righteous Salaf,
------[3]. Elucidation of Wisdom and Power,
------[4]. On the Fallacy of Contagion and Omens,
------[5]. Acquiring Certainty and its elements and places.

---Glossary,
---Selective Biographies.