Al-Ghazali letter to Qazis of Maghrib-i-Aqsa
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- No scanning noise detected (automatic measure over the whole text, not checked by hand)
- Extent:
- ~2,950 words · 14 passages
Cite this work
- APAAl-Ghazali. (n.d.). Al-Ghazali letter to Qazis of Maghrib-i-Aqsa. Digital reproduction: SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/al-ghazali/al-ghazali-letter-to-qazis-of-maghrib-i-aqsa
- MLAAl-Ghazali. Al-Ghazali letter to Qazis of Maghrib-i-Aqsa. Digital reproduction, SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/al-ghazali/al-ghazali-letter-to-qazis-of-maghrib-i-aqsa.
- ChicagoAl-Ghazali. Al-Ghazali letter to Qazis of Maghrib-i-Aqsa. Digital reproduction, SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/al-ghazali/al-ghazali-letter-to-qazis-of-maghrib-i-aqsa.
Reference to the edition that SigPhi reproduces: SigPhi is its digital reproduction, not its publisher. The edition's year is not in the metadata (hence "n.d."), and the translator appears only when recorded.
What it is about
A letter to the judges of the far Maghrib, present-day Morocco.
Context and history
It matters for the geography: it shows how far al-Ghazali's moral authority reached across the Islamic world, from Baghdad to the Atlantic, and that judges at one end wrote to the other. It comes from the Fada'il al-anam, the collection of al-Ghazali's Persian correspondence, and appears in the catalogue as a separate piece. **It is none of his major works**: for those, see The Alchemy of Happiness and The Confessions of al-Ghazzali, also here. The original is Persian; this is an English translation.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
Their palaces and houses which now lie in ruins tell their story, and again there are others who have disappeared even from fables. The second medicine prescribed for healing the human heart is to meditate deeply upon the contents of the Holy Koran which contains the best cure and Divine blessings. On his death-bed the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, advised us to keep in touch with two advisors, he said: "I have left two advisors among you, who sometimes speak to you, while on other occasions prefer silence. One is the Koran and the other the Laws of His Messenger." And: "You will not stray as long as you hold fast." People may look alive, yet in reality they are dead, for they have lost interest in the Book of Allah. They read the Koran with their tongues, no doubt, but actually they are dumb. They also hear it being recited to them, but in actual practice they are dead. They see it wrapped up in an expensive silk cloth, and placed in an almirah, yet they are blind to its meanings and mysteries. They explain the meaning of the Book of Allah in their commentaries, yet they themselves are quite ignorant as they do not follow the teachings of the Holy Koran. They know that satan is their enemy, but they do not deal with him as such. I warn you against falling into deception by joining the company of such men as have gone astray from the Right Path and do not perform their obligatory duties. Low desires and passions of the baser self overpower them and they are cut off from the help of Allah. So, if death overtakes them before repentance they become among those who perish.