Martino Fine Books The Alchemy of Happiness

This book is totally a masterpiece. It is like a road map to your soal. Al-Gazzali (R. A) has put all his indept understanding of the soul and God in this wonderful work. May Allah have mercy on his soul. Once you start reading this book, it grabs the attention of the reader in such a powerful way that it is almost impossible to think about anything else. Gazzali (ra) makes the use of allegories to grab the attention and to give a bigger picture of the things that otherwise would be difficult to understand. I can't summarise what is written in this book. But anyone who could have summarised this book in a beautiful manner was Al-Gazzali himself. And we can easily see the summary of this book ( and of all his work) in his own last words before death. ************************************************ Imam Ghazali woke up one early morning and as usual offered his prayers and then enquired what day it was, his younger brother, Ahmad Ghazali replied,"Monday." He asked him to bring his white shroud, kissed it, stretched himself full length and saying "Lord, I obey willingly," breathed his last. And underneath his head rest they found the following verses; composed by him, probably, during the night. "Say to my friends, when they look upon me, dead Weeping for me and mourning me in sorrow Do not believe that this corpse you see is myself In the name of God, I tell you, it is not I, I am a spirit, and this is naught but flesh It was my abode and my garment for a time. I am a treasure, by a talisman kept hid, Fashioned of dust, which served me as a shrine, I am a pearl, which has left it's shell deserted, I am a bird, and this body was my cage Whence I have now floron forth and it is left as a token Praise to God, who hath now set me free And prepared for me my place in the highest of the heaven, Until today I was dead, though alive in your midst. Now I live in truth, with the grave - clothes discarded. Today I hold converse with the saints above, With no veil between, I see God face to face. I look upon "Loh-i-Mahfuz" and there in I read Whatever was and is and all that is to be. Let my house fall in ruins, lay my cage in the ground, Cast away the talisman, it is a token, no more Lay aside my cloak, it was but my outer garment. Place them all in the grave, let them be forgotten, I have passed on my way and you are left behind Your place of abode was no deweling place for me. Think not that death is death, nay, it is life, A life that surpasses all we could dream of here, While in this world, here we are granted sleep, Death is but sleep, sleep that shall be prolonged Be not frightened when death draweth night, It is but the departure for this blessed home Think of the mercy and love of your Lord, Give thanks for His Grace and come without fear. What I am now, even so shall you be For I know that you are even as I am The souls of all men come forth from God The bodies of all are compounded alike Good and evil, alike it was ours I give you now a message of good cheer May God's peace and joy for evermore be yours."

Anyone into the religious sciences and an interest in Sufism or imam ghazali works should absolutely read this book. Written in the medieval era yet evidently so applicable to the 21st century! Gives a real insight and thought provoking nature of the heart. Very easy to read and not so many pages like the Ihya. Would definitely recommend.

One of the great medieval thinkers; Islam's answer to the Greek philosophers. He even foreshadows Freud and Jung in some places. This is actually el Ghazali's own sampler of his much larger work on Greek philosophy.

Classic Al-Ghazali. Loved this book!

je trouve que la traduction manque de précision, notemment les concepts de Aql, Nafs, Rouh. en plus de la confusion, des passages entiers sont retirée de l'oeuvre originel dans cette traduction. pour un public étranger à la pensée islamique, cela reste une introduction peu juste mais passable à ce grand maitre spirituel.