O Son! A Translation of Ayyuhal Walad

<p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>One of al-Ghazali's advanced students wrote to the Imam with a question: From all the fields of knowledge what will benefit us most in the grave? The student clarified that while he could certainly find the answer to his question within al-Ghazali's longer works such as the </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Ihya 'Ulum al-Din</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> he wished for his teacher to give him a formal opinion short enough that he could keep it with him at all times and refer to it constantly.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Ayyuhal Walad is the great Imam's response: a personal note from al-Ghazali to his student and by extension to anyone who desires to follow their way. Imam al-Ghazali elucidates the following for his student and for the modern reader:</span></p><p></p><ul><li><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The precise nature of the relationship between knowledge and action and the role of each in one's striving for paradise</span></li><li><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The significance of the night prayer</span></li><li><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Some advice from Luqman the Wise to his son and its enduring meaning and importance</span></li><li><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>A concise definition of obedience and worship which al-Ghazali states is the quintessence of knowledge</span></li><li><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The four matters that are required of a spiritual traveler</span></li><li><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>A single hadith that contains the entirety of the knowledge of the ancients as well as the men and women of latter days</span></li><li><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Eight lessons that are sufficient for deliverance and salvation</span></li></ul><p></p><p><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Ayyuhal Walad</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> translated here as O Son is designed to be read and reread and referred to frequently throughout one's life. The reader must take note that the original recipient of this letter was a top student of Imam al-Ghazali and therefore likely a scholar of the highest calibre himself. This book is thus invaluable simply as a record of the interaction between one of the Umma's greatest teachers and his esteemed disciple. However al-Ghazali's prescriptions are conveyed with such clarity that any Muslim of high aspiration will benefit from this text.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>This edition includes Ustadh Moustafa Elqabbany's meticulous English translation side-by-side with al-Ghazali's original Arabic epistle. This arrangement allows the English-speaking reader to get a taste of al-Ghazali's unique style while students of Arabic may peruse the Imam's masterful Arabic prose alongside Ustadh Moustafa's elegant English rendition.</span></p>