The Alchemy of Happiness - Softcover

Al Ghazali, Abu Hamed

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1908388439 ISBN 13: 9781908388438

Publisher: Aziloth Books, 2011

Synopsis

Abu Hāmed Mohammad Al-Ghazzālī was born in the city of Tus, Persia, in the year 1058. Al Ghazali was a polymath and wrote authoritatively on jurisprudence, theology and philosophy. But his world-view was decidedly mystical and he soon joined the Sufi Brotherhood - an esoteric group viewed with suspicion by orthodox Muslim clerics of his day. Following a spiritual crisis at the age of 37, he resigned from his professorship in Baghdad, and retired from the world to practice sufi spiritual disciplines. It was during this time Al Ghazali wrote his masterwork, 'Ihya'ul ulumuddin' (The Revival of the Religious Sciences) which finally won acceptance for Sufism in Islam, and the respect of Medieval western scholars such as St Thomas Aquinas. 'The Alchemy of Happiness' is Al Ghazali's own abridgement of this colossal work. Full of wisdom and compassion, 'The Alchemy of Happiness' is replete with telling comparisons and penetrating allegories. It is a book that works upon the innermost soul, forcing the reader to view his True Self with all its inadequacies, and offering a path to Union with God through Love.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Gazzali's own abridgement, in Persian, of his masterwork The Revival of Religious Sciences . This excellent English version is designed for the ordinary reader.

From the Back Cover:

One of the great works of mystical religious literature, the Kimiya-i-Sa'adaat strove to bring man closer to understanding God by helping him understand himself. These excerpts from that work, by a strikingly original thinker on Islam who lived and wrote in the 11th century, were first published in 1910, and serve as a potent reminder of how powerful an influence Al-Ghazzali had upon religious philosophers of the Middle Ages, both Christian and Islamic. With its wise and warmly humanistic outlook, this little book may well foster a new measure of understanding in the current philosophical battle between the religious traditions of East and West.

About this edition

• Publisher: Aziloth Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1908388439
• ISBN 13: 9781908388438
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 98