Al-Ghazali letter to Shihab-ul-Islam
- 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:
- ~840 words · 4 passages
Cite this work
- APAAl-Ghazali. (n.d.). Al-Ghazali letter to Shihab-ul-Islam. Digital reproduction: SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/al-ghazali/al-ghazali-letter-to-shihab-ul-islam
- MLAAl-Ghazali. Al-Ghazali letter to Shihab-ul-Islam. Digital reproduction, SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/al-ghazali/al-ghazali-letter-to-shihab-ul-islam.
- ChicagoAl-Ghazali. Al-Ghazali letter to Shihab-ul-Islam. Digital reproduction, SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/al-ghazali/al-ghazali-letter-to-shihab-ul-islam.
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 Shihab al-Islam.
Context and history
Four fragments. There is another in the catalogue spelled 'Shahabul-Islam': transliteration of Arabic and Persian into English is not standardised and the same name appears two ways. They are different pieces. 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.
Man is given a limited will, it depends upon him. Either he identifies his being with his selfness and its interests, or throws aside his selfness and thereby identifies himself exclusively with the Divine within and without. This is the path of enlightenment. Allah has raised you to the high rank of the premiership of the Seljuq empire. The time has now come when you should wish for a rank higher than this. When you reach it and feel satisfied with it, it is then that you will be transferred from this stage to another which is higher than this. It is then that you will be turned towards a rank which is more honorable and rewarded with a feeling of self- sufficiency at which time the doors of salvation will be opened to you as explained in the sayings of the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him. I have written this letter to you for a specific reason and that is to introduce you to one of my old friends. Both his inspiration to his disciples and his dedication to a noble life are due to signs from beyond which seems to him to be the domain of his own self. He is the father of religious society, a mystical society. He is an elderly man and too weak to earn a livelihood. He has faced not only hardship but arduous labor, and ill treatment, all of which have contributed to his ill-health. Besides, Abu Bakr Abdullah, who is so favored that the hidden things of Paradise are shown to him, has asked me to introduce him to you with a request that you may help ease his financial difficulties. I pray to Almighty Allah to open the doors of His everlasting kingdom to your soul so that it may behold all that happens on this earth and may He enable you to renounce your own worldly advancement for the sake of the Divine which is better. Your Excellency's humble servant, Al Ghazali