- BOOK ID
- point
- Publisher’s Note
- Translator’s Note and Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Bondage ('Ubudiyah)
- More on Bondage
- On Lowering the Gaze
- On Walking
- On Knowledge
- Giving Judgement
- Enjoining what is Good and Forbidding what is Evil
- How the Men of Knowledge are Ruined
- Guarding Oneself (Ri'ayah)
- Thankfulness
- On Leaving your Home
- On Reciting the Qur'an
- Dress
- Showing Off
- Truthfulness
- Sincerity
- Precaution
- Fearing Allah
- Social Interactions
- Sleep
- Pilgrimage
- Charity
- Intention
- Remembrance
- The Ruin of the Reciters
- Clarification of Truth and Falsehood
- The Gnosis of the Prophets
- The Recognition of the Imams
- Recognition of the Companions
- The Honour and Sanctity of the Believers
- Dutifulness to Parents
- Humility
- Ignorance
- Eating
- Evil Whispering
- Pride
- Generosity
- Self-Reckoning
- Opening the Prayer
- Bowing in Prayer
- Prostration in Prayer
- The Tashahhud
- Salam
- Repentance
- Retreat
- Silence
- Intellect and Passion
- Envy
- Greed
- Corruption
- Well-being
- Worship
- Reflection
- Rest
- Avarice
- Clarification
- Judgements
- Siwak
- Using the Lavatory
- Purification
- Entering the Mosque
- Supplication
- Fasting
- Abstinence
- A Description of this World
- Reluctance to Act
- Delusion
- A Description of the Hypocrite
- Proper Social Transaction
- Taking and Giving
- Brotherhood
- Consultation
- Forbearance
- Following Another's Example
- Pardon
- Exhortation
- Advice (wasiyah)
- Trustful Reliance
- Respect for One's Brothers
- Striving and Discipline
- Contemplation of Death
- Good Opinion
- Entrusting Oneself to Allah
- Certainty
- Fear and Hope
- Contentment
- Affliction
- Patience
- Sorrow
- Modesty
- Gnosis (ma 'rifah)
- Love of Allah
- Love for the Sake of Allah
- Yearning
- Wisdom
- Making Claims
- Taking Heed
- Contentedness
- Slander
Muzaffar helped in unearthing the meaning of obscure words and phrases. This translation was subsequently reviewed and edited by both Asadullah adh-Dhakir Yate and Christopher Flint.
I am deeply grateful to all of them, not least for all that I learned in the process, especially from my father.
I sincerely hope that those who learn “The Lantern of the Path” it will open up inner delights, as it has done for me.
Muna H. Bilgrami
Introduction
The path of Islam contains a most comprehensive and total system of conduct for the wayfarer. The outer behaviour of a true Muslim reflects what is deep in his inner consciousness.
As creation is based on unity, tawhid as it is called in Arabic, every aspect of human experience reflects an aspect of unity. The Muslim is he who has submitted and surrendered in peace and knowledge to this wholesome and naturally balanced ecology. The outer courtesy of behaviour emanates from an inner equilibrium. Outer certainty emanates from inner submission and contentment. Outer nobility and courage emanate from inner awareness of the immense mercy and compassion of the Creator.
The outer behaviour, courtesies, practices and rituals of Islam are all manifestations of a subtler and finer inner conditioning, and the balanced fusion of the outer and the inner in the journey of this world. If there is an inner attribute there must be a corresponding outer expression, which is a symptom of an inner attribute.
In his teachings, Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq shows the way to equilibrium in a most
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