Description
Book SynopsisWinner of the 2021 Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding (category: translation from Arabic into English) This is an unabridged, annotated, translation of the great Damascene savant and saint Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya’s (d. 751/1350) Madārij al-Sālikīn. Conceived as a critical commentary on an earlier Sufi classic by the great Hanbalite scholar Abū Ismāʿīl of Herat, Madārij aims to rejuvenate Sufism’s Qurʾanic foundations. The original work was a key text for the Sufi initiates, composed in terse, rhyming prose as a master’s instruction to the aspiring seeker on the path to God, in a journey of a hundred stations whose ultimate purpose was to be lost to one’s self (fanāʾ) and subsist (baqāʾ) in God. The translator, Ovamir (ʿUwaymir) Anjum, provides an extensive introduction and annotation to this English-Arabic face-to-face presentation of this masterpiece of Islamic psychology.
Trade ReviewWinner of the 2021 Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding (category: translation from Arabic into English)
Table of Contents5 The Station of Oft-Returning 1 Reform 2 Fulfillment 3 State 6 The Station of Remembrance 1 Conditions of Benefitting from Admonition 2 Contemplating the Qurʾan 3 Five Things that Corrupt the Heart 4 Endless Desires for Worldly Things 5 Attachment to Things Other Than God 6 Gluttony 7 Sloth 7 The Station of Holding Fast 1 The Meaning of Holding Fast 2 The Holding Fast of the Elite 8 The Station of Fleeing 1 Fleeing from the Ego 2 Fleeing from All Other Than the Truth 9 The Station of Disciplining 1 The Disciplining of the Elite of the Elite] 10 The Station of Listening 1 Against Music 2 The Prohibition of Singing and Music 3 The Arguments of Those Who Permit Singing 4 First Principle: Scripture is the Judge of Mystical Knowledge 5 Second Principle: All Disagreements Are Judged by Scripture 6 Third Principle: The Weighing of Harm and Benefit 7 Spiritual Taste 8 Levels of Audition 9 The Audition of the Elite 10 The Audition of the Elite of the Elite 11 The Station of Grief 1 Levels of Grief 12 The Station of Fear 1 Kinds of Fear 2 Fear of Self-deception 2 Balancing Fear and Hope 13 The Station of Trembling 14 The Station of Humility 1 Putting Out The Fire of Ego 2 Recognizing the Lesions of One’s Soul and Deeds 3 The Third Level 4 Humility and Attentiveness in Prayers 15 The Station of Meekness 1 Being Blind to People’s Opinions 16 The Station of Renunciation 1 Is Renunciation Possible in These Times? 2 Parting from All Longings 3 Renunciation of Renunciation 17 The Station of Scrupulousness 1 Levels of Scrupulousness 2 The Web of Divine Stations 18 The Station of Devotion 19 The Station of Hope 1 The Excellence of Hope 2 Levels of Hope 20 The Station of Desire 21 The Station of Shepherding 1 Levels of Shepherding 2 Shepherding of Time 22 The Station of Watchfulness 1 Ranks of Watchfulness 2 Watchfulness of the Elite of the Elite 23 The Station of Venerating God’s Prohibitions 1 Is God Worshipped for Fear of the Fire and Love for the Garden? 2 Conditions of Displaying One’s Good Deeds 3 Venerating Scripture on Divine Attributes 4 Protecting the Divine Opening 24 The Station of Purification 1 Levels of Purification 2 The Second Level 2 Purification and Truthfulness 25 The Station of Refinement and Correction 1 Second Level 2 Third Level 26 The Station of Standing Firm 1 Exclusivity 2 The Soul of All States 3 Levels of Steadfastness 4 The Second Level 5 The Third Level 27 The Station of Trusting Reliance 1 Meaning of Tawakkul 2 Levels of Reliance 3 The Level of Joyful Contentment 4 Separating Relegation from Inaction and Negligence 5 Relating Reliance in God to the Beautiful Divine Names 6 Limiting Reliance to Unworthy Pursuits 7 Returning to al-Harawī on Trusting Reliance 8 The First Level according to al-Harawī 9 The Blemish of Asking of Creation 10 Third Level 28 The Station of Relegation 1 Second Level 2 Third Level 29 The Station of Trust in God 1 First Level 2 Second Level 3 Third Level 30 The Station of Submission 1 The Defects of Submission 2 Second Level 31 The Station of Patience 1 The Literal Meaning 2 Kinds of Patience 3 Patience according to al-Harawī 4 First Level 5 Third Level 6 Patience and God 32 The Station of Joyful Contentment 1 Contentment versus Patience in Suffering 2 Contentment and Tranquility 3 Three Levels of Contentment 4 The Three Conditions of Contentment 5 Second Level 6 Differentiating Normative and Ontological Commands 7 God’s Wisdom in Creating the Devil 8 Sixty-Two Virtues of Contentment and Indifference to Pleasure and Pain 9 Returning to al-Harawī 10 Third Level Index
