ae ee oot Serrano Set esate Seeyammesdtne oan [Engh Translation with compete Muhammad 0 ce ect nos ” See aounne a IMAM GHAZZAU iene a ou tis th —— Minha) ul "Abidin ‘By Muhammad Saved Sidi’ Yy jannati Rabbil’Alamin 4 Siratun-Nabi (Volumes) Imam Abu ‘nam Yahya mum Abs Baby al-Khassat Rendered Into English BY in Sharad: Rahman i ‘Mughal za : ‘ ‘Adab AL-Qadl i 4 Volumes 2 Rlyad apSalhin@ Volumes ae jal - KAZI PUBLICATIONS LAHORE - PAKISTANbee BC nt ‘ ) 2 ate ¢ 4 ANNAN KIMIYA-I-SA‘ADAT (Alchemy of Eternal Bliss) BY IMAM GHAZZALI Rendered into English by Muhammad Asim Bilal Revised by Justice Dr. Munir Ahmad Mughal KAZI PUBLICATIONS Lahore-PakistanRights Reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Publishers. First Edition, 2001 WORLDWIDE COPYRIGHT © 2001 KAZI PUBLICATIONS LAHORE - PAKISTAN Published by: KAZI PUBLICATIONS 121-Zulgamain Chambers, Ganpat Road, Lahore-Pakistan Fax: 92-42-7117606 E-mail: kazip@brain.net.pk URL: http://www.brain.net pk/~kazip Composed by: BOUNTY ENTERPRISES Imran Park, Outfall Road, Near Saggian Bridge, Lahore Pakistan, Printed at: ‘T’amir-e-Adab Press 43-Baba Farid Road, Lahore Pakistan,ti PUBLISHER'S NOTE Hujat-ublslam Imam Ghazzali (Allah's mercy be upon him) has a distinguished place in Islamic history He was first-rate genius who popularized moral knowledge among the Muslims. According to some well known thinkers and historians of modern world Ghazzali’s greatest achievement consisted in dethroning philosophy from the highest pedestal of knowledge and enthroning spiritualism in its place. He is like a fountain of Islamic history and will be praised till the sun rises. In the course of discussing any subject, he himself formulated the questions, those could arise in the minds of readers and the very next moment he answered the same in the light of Qur'an and Hadith. He will be remembered and appreciated in the hearts of masses by dint of his work, especially who have been persuaded towards the basics of Islam. In some eminent personalities of Islamic period. his name is dazding equally in the East and the West as well. In honour of his services for Islam we have no words to write, which is enough to say. May Allah Almighty accept his efforts and rest his soul in peace in the life Hereafter Amin! Mr. Muhammad Asim Bilal translated this book into English with great care and skill. He has full command on both the languages. Thanks are due to Justice Di. Munir Ahmad Mughal who devoted his precious time to revise the manuscript entirely and correct it wherever necessary giving valuable and precious suggestions which haveadded to the beauty of the translation. May Allah reward him with His blessings in the both worlds Amin! By the Grace of Allah Almighty, we have published more then 200 books on various topics of Islam in English including ‘The Noble Qur'an’ in 9 volmes, ‘Sahih al-Bukhari’ in 9 volumes, ‘Ibn Majah’ in § volumes, ‘Sunan Nasa'i’ in 2 volumes, ‘Lu’ Lu’ wal- Marjan’ in 3 volumes, ‘Mishkat al-Masabih in 1 volume, ‘Riyad as Salihin’ in 2 volumes and ‘Sirat un Nabi’ in 6 volumes, which have: been greatly admired by the readers within and outside the country. The purpose of Publishing important Islamic literature into English language is to give a reach to the original sources to all those who do not understand Arabic by one or the other reason. This book is a sequel to this purpose. We are also thankful to all the persons who Participated in the publication of this book at any stage ‘whose names can not be entered in this page. We have tried our utmost to make the standard of Printing and getup of the book, the best. On our part, we endeavour it possible to print this book without mistakes even then if any one finds out any mistake, please inform us, We will be thankful to him. Arabic text of the verses of the Holy Qur'an and the text of the Ahadith with their translation into English is also given in this book. May Allah Grant us His tayfiq to act upon his commandments and to remain on Sirat-e-Mustagim. The PublishersCONTENTS Introduction .. To Get to Know One's Self. ‘The Hereatter.. Istam and it's Essential Elements. The ‘Ibadat’, Le, ‘Symposium ‘Qudrat’ . Hearing and Sight. ‘Kalam’-Speech . Benefaction (Beneficence). |. Aakhirat: the Hereafter............ The Sirat: the Final Passage Way |. The Prophet se, The Pursuit of ‘lm’: Education... ‘&._ Cleanliness and Purity... seonieinrsee 160 * Namaz: the Prayers Namaz: the Prayers. The Makroohat of ‘Namaz’ Undesirable things in ‘Namaz... oe The ‘Rooh’ i.e., the ee - ‘Nama’ ‘he Prayers.cnrss ren oe sees 195 erraAammMmonRp>wit The ‘Tasbeeh’, ‘Tahlil, Salat-e-Astaghfar and their Benefits... — “Tasbeeh-o-Tahmeed” ........ The Darood Sharif (Salutations, Prayers and Blessings in Reverence to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)........356 * The ‘Astaghfaar’.. se a The “Adaab” of “Dua”... seeeeneenees 360 Some Effective (Dua's) Prayers for Mercy Saying the Rosary: Repertoire Rosaris.....:0.0....374 Rosaries of the Day... The Prayers and Worship at Night.. The Decorum and Manners of taking Food. How to take Food To Eat in Company..... vices ssenreeee OB The Importance of having a Meal with the Friends and the Faithful : 408 ‘The Etiquette of Entertaining a Friend ....-......409 ‘Fazeelate Mezbani’ (Blessedness of being the HOSt) eee 417 Invitation toa Repast and Principles of Accepting it... ee . The Attendance Seeing off the Guests The ‘Nikah’: the Holy Marriage Virtues of ‘Nikah' (the Marriage)...The ‘Aafaat’: Hazards of ‘Nikah’ (Matrimony) .....437 The Wedding Ceremony and its Allied . Matters... 440 ‘The Qualies to Look for in a Woman before Marriage ... 442 Rights and Duties after Nikah. Trade and Vocation for Livelihood Virtues of Trade and Vocation . The Principles Governing the Eaming of One's Livelihood according to ‘Shariat’ Justice and Fairplay in One's Dealings... Being Kind and Considerate in one's Dealings with others .. ‘Shafqat’ Benevolence towards (‘Deen’) Faith in Matters of this World...... To Differentiate between the ‘Halal’ and ‘Hara The Propriety and Blessings of Seeking ‘Halal’ ...514 The Status of Abstinence and Piety in ‘Halal- o-Haram’ How to Differentiate between ‘Halal-o- Haram’ To Pay Servile respects to 2 King and take Daily Allowance and ‘Halal Mal’ from him 526 ‘Amiability and Good Fellowship for Allah .. “The Meaning of Friendship for Allah Fighting Against the enemies of Allah The Code of Conduct in Companionship Love and Companionship The Rights of Muslim Brotherhood, Associates, Neighbours, Assistants :The Rights of the Parents * The Rights of the ‘Children’ a The Rights of the Slaves (both Male and Female)... sessannenssssnnsees Confinement and Solitude... The Harm and Devastation of Solitude. Principles of Retiring into. Solitary Confinement for Worship of Allah... The Decorum of Going on a Journey....... The ‘Niyat’ (intention) of undertaking a Journey and its Purposeful Details... Zahiri ‘Safar’: Normal Travel in Life... The ‘Batini Safar’: the Journey for the Good of the Hereafter... Other Important Aspects of “Safar (Travel Journey)... . ‘Sama’ and ‘ Wei. . Further Details of ‘Sama’ ... s ‘Aadabe Sama’ the Decorum of Sama! aaa “Amre Bil Ma'roof’ and ‘Nahi Anil Munkar’ : to Assert the Right and Oppose the Wrong The Conditions of ‘Ihtisab’: Accountabil ‘The Status of ‘Ihtisab’: Accountability... The ‘Muhtasib’ The Prevailing ‘Munkarat’ (Undesirable 589 591 594 610 618 618 624 632 things)... sro 691, ‘Munkarats of the Mosque 692 “Munkarat’ of the ‘Bazaar’ (Market Place). 694 ‘Munkarats' of the Road Side..... 695,The ‘Munkarat’ of ‘Hammam’ (Public Bathing Places). . The “Munkarats of ‘Mehman? Ener toa Meal) : The Ruler, the Subjects and Rule (the Government). The Stages in Man's Life which Imp his ‘Akhirat’ the Blessings of ‘Akhlage Hassana’ (Veritable Conduct) More about the Excellences of ‘Akhlage Hassana’.....732 Itis Possible to Create Virtuous Traits. The Treatment of the Felons How to Diagnose the Diseases of the ‘Nats’... Good Conduct: ‘Akhlage Hassana’..... The Bringing up and Nurturing of “Aulad? (One's Children) 761 The Disciple and ‘Riza. 767 How to Forestall Sensual Urges; Stomach rand i it's Ravenous Desires 776 The Verity of Hunger sn TTT The Advantages of Remaining Hungry and Disadvantages of a Full Stomach «x... The Manners of a ‘Murid’ in Eating Less...... Virtue of Abstinence from Food: Gluttony and its Evil verse TB The Hazards of giving up Eating altogether .....796 ‘The Dangers of Sexual Depravity wn 797 The Excellence of the Person who Opposes Adultery... : 1799 The Cue of ‘Nazre Haram’ (ain) at the Women. : 805xi The Curse of Talking too much Aimlessly: the Dangers of the Tongue.. : The Blessing of Silence ‘Gheebat’ (Backbitina) under Extenuating Conditions . The ‘Kaffara’ (the Recompense) of ‘Gheebat Anger, Spite, Jealousy and their Treatment. ‘Hassad’ - Jealousy and its Dangers. Jealousy and its Harms Reality of Jealousy Remedy against Jealousy. Section.. The Cure of the Love of World and Explanation of the Statement that the Love of the World is Real Root of All Sin ‘The Traditions in Condemnation of the World ....898 The Reality of the Evil World ... The Remedy for Love of Wealth and Harms of Miserliness and Greed and Excellences of Generosit The Abhorance of Wealth......... The Benefits and Harms of Wealth .. Harms of Wealth... Disadvantages of Templation and Greed and Advantages of Contentment Narration ... . Cure of Greed and Temptation........ ‘Superiority and Reward of Generosity. Story... SoyeeCondemnation of Miserliness........ 954 Rewards of Giving Preference to others... 958 Who is Generous and who is Miser. ee oo 963, The Cure of Miserliness.. 967 The Cure of the Poison of Wealth 972 The Cure of Love of Esteem and the Harms of ESt€€M sone cen 981 The Nature of Esteem ese 985 Section... 988 Section... 991 The Cure of Lowe of Esteem 992 The Cure of the Love of Peoples ‘Appreciation and Abhorance of their Complaint... 995 The Different Levels of People in the Matter of Praise and CondemnationBismillaahirrahmaanirraheem ‘Nahmaduhu wa nusalli“alaa rasulihi Kareem INTRODUCTION Countless gratitude equal to the number of stars in the sky, drops in the rainfalls, leaves of the trees, particles of sand of deserts and the atoms in the heavens and the earth is befitting only for Allah, Whose attribute is His Oneness and All Majesty, Greatness, Highness and Excellence is specific for Him. No servant is aware of the perfection of His Majesty. No one has the way in the reality of His gnosis. Rather to admit inability to get gnosis of reality’is the climax of the most truthful and to admit lacking in His praise and hymn is the climax of the praise and hymn recited by the angels and the prophets To.become astonished on the first ray of His Majesty is the climax of the intellect of the intelligents. To become wonder struck in search of the proximity of His Grace is the climax of the wayfarers of the mystic way. Its basis is the leaving of the hope of gnosis and to leave the desires of one’s own self. The claim of perfection in the matter of His gnosis is to think of similarity and likeness, By glancing the grace of His Being, all eyes lot is but dazzling. By seeing His strange works the fruit borne by all intellects is the necessary gnosis. No one should be such who should ponder into the greatness of His Being that is how and why He is. No heart should be such that may remain inattentive to the strange works of His. What those are and with whose power that work. It is so that it may recognise that all are definitely the signs of Hisxvilt O° my dear! You should know that as the alchemy of gold is not found in the cottage of every old lady rather it is found in the treasures of the highly rich persons and the kings. Likewise the alchemy of eternal bliss is also not found everywhere. Rather it is found in the Divine treasure, The Divine treasure in the heavens is the beings of the angels and on the earth the hearts of the Prophets. Whosoever will search them anywhere except the court of Prophethood he will go astray and ultimately will be defrauded. He will be getting nothing but vain fancy. His poverty will become apparent on the Day of Judgment. The whole creation will know his false coins and everyone will come to know that he had no sense. He will hear the voice: We have removed from the thy veil so thy eye is like the steel today. The biggest mercy of the Most Merciful of all the mercifuls is that He sent one lack twenty four thousand Prophets (peace be upon all of them) in the world to teach the device of this alchemy and to tell them to put the cash coin of heart in the anvil of hardship and to teach them the way of reformation of the bad morals that cause density and impurity of heart and the way of filling the heart with the good morals. As Allah Almighty praised Himself by His: “own Glorification. and Sovereignty so He dectared His attribute of sending of the Prophets [and the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)] and referred it as an obligation of Him on the creation. Allah Almighty says: Glorifies all that is in the heavens and on the earth for Allah, the King, the Sacred, the Mighty, the Wise. It is He Who sent among the unlettered a Messenger (peaceand blessings of Allah be upon him) from“! among themselves who recited to them His. revelations and purified them and taught them the Book and the Wisdom. And prior to it they were definitely in ignorance manifest. (62 : 1,2) ‘The word “yuzakkihim” refers to the same bad morals which are the quality of the animals and from which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gets them released. The words Yu‘allimuhurnul kitaaba wa''-hikmata refer to it that he should make them wear the dress of the attributes of angels. And the object of the Alchemy is that a man should become pure from all harmful and uncalled for things and should be adorned with the attributes of perfection. The biggest of all the alchemy is that one should tum his face from the world and become attentive to Allah Almighty as has been taught to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): Wazkurisma rabbika wa tabattal ilayhi tabteelaa. So remember the name of thy Lord and devote thyself with a complete devotion. (73:8) Tabteelaa means the disconnection from all besides Allah Almighty and to leave oneself completely surrendered before Allah Almighty. This is the brief description of this alchemy. Its details are lengthy and know no bounds. But its title is to know four things, its essential elements are to know four dealings, and each essential element has got ten basic rules. The four titles are:(). (2). (3). (4). Knowing one’s own self; Knowing the Almighty Allah; Knowing the reality of the world; and Knowing the reality of the Hereafter.’ To know the above four things is in fact the title of knowing the Islam of a man. But the affairs of the essential elements of Islam are four. The two essential elements relate to the outerself (zahir) and the two are related to innerself (batin). The two essential elements relating to the outerself are: (). (2), To obey the commands of Allah Almighty. These are called the acts of worship (‘Ibadat). To keep them in view in the matter of one’s movements and livelihood. These are called the dealings (Mu‘amalaat). The two essential elements relating to the innerself (batin) are: (uy). (2). To keep the heart purified from all bad morals like anger, miserliness, arrogance, pride, self- appreciation etc. These morals’ are called muhlikaat and ‘aqaboat (the dark and narow places where people become victim of robbers) in the way of faith. To adom the heart with good morals like patience, gratitude, love, hope, confiding, etc. ‘These morals are called munajiiyaat. The first essential element in which there is mention of ‘ibadat consists of ten foundations. They are: (i) _ In the matter of beliefs of Ahl al-Sunnah; (ii) In the matter of seeking knowledge;