The Book of Certainty,
The Sufi Doctrine of Faith, Vision and Gnosis,
*[A5] Paperback - 89 + xi (total 100) pages,
by (Martin Lings) aka Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din,
Published by The Islamic Texts Society, Cambridge, UK.
Description :
The Sufi Doctrine of Faith, Vision and Gnosis It came into being because the author was asked by a friend to set down in writing what he considered to be the most important things that a human being can know. He was also asked to make it very easy, and despite the depth of all that it contains, it has in fact a remarkable simplicity and clarity, due no doubt to the constant use of traditional imagery which awakens and penetrates the imagination.
A small extract (Chapter 2, Garden of Spirit) : When the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Prophet on earth, he did so in the form of a man of the most marvellous beauty, for indeed the human eye was not created to receive ally more direct manifestation of the Truth than this, nor could the earth itself have endured the unmitigated presence of any heavenly power. But on the night journey, when the zenith of the seventh Heaven had been reached, all the Prophet’s possibilities had been as it were reabsorbed into his supreme spiritual plenitude which is named the Light of Muhammad (
an-Naru’l-muhammadi); and with the Eye of this Light he was able to look upon that which he had never seen before, and indeed his sight now demanded no less an object of perception than the full unveiled glory of the Archangel. Twice only did he behold this wonder, both times during the night journey. The first vision was just before the Light of Muhammad was reabsorbed into the Light of the Essence, that is, just before his entry into the Divine Presence.
The second vision was on his emerging from the Presence, before he and the Archangel had begun their return journey in descent through the different Heavens, that is, before the two splendours had begun to diminish (just as in ascent they had gradually increased), each in proportion to the diminishment of the other’s capacity for beholding. It is the full vision which is referred to in the following verses from the Chapter of the Star; and these verses express also Universal Alan’s direct consciousness that absolutely nothing is Independent of the Truth and that even the greatest glories of creation, for all their apparently self-sufficient brightness, are not in Reality to he separated from the Glory of the Creator:
'' And verily he saw him at another revelation, beside the lote-tree of the uttermost boundary, whereby is the Garden of Refuge. When there enshrouded the lote-tree That which enshroudeth, the sight wavered not, nor did it transgress. Verily he saw, of the Signs of his Lord, the Greatest.'' Qur’an, LIII: 13-18.
Reviews : ‘This book is an excellent introduction to Sufism, highly intelligent, balanced, lucid, well-written and in places really eloquent.’
---Islamic Culture, Hyderabad.
‘Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din has bestowed upon the world a great benefaction in giving it this very important Sufic treatise, for, belonging as it does to our own time, it is easier for us to assimilate than are the treatises and commentaries of Sufis of old.’
---Islamic Quarterly.
‘A wonderful, short and sweet discussion of symbols and the spiritual world...an important and significant window into the Sufi mode of speech.’
---Journal of Islamic Studies.
- Table of contents :
---Preface;
---[
1]. The Truth of
Certainty;
---[
2]. The Garden of the Spirit;
---[
3]. The Eye of Certainty;
---[
4]. The
Lore of Certainty;
---[
5]. The Gardens of the Heart and the Soul;
---[
6]. The
Fall;
---[
7]. The Symbol;
---[
8]. The Four Worlds;
---[
9]. The Waters;
---[
10]. The Creator
of the Pairs;
---[
11]. The Symbolism of Marriage;
---[
12]. The Sun and the Moon;
---[
13]. The Seal of Solomon;
---[
14]. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil;
---[
15]. The Narrow Gate;
---[
16]. The Covenant;
---[
17]. The Caravan of Winter;
---[
18]. The
Caravan of Summer.
* Dimensions : 19.6 x 12 cm.
