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Steps of the Seekers Madarij Al-Salikin, ibn qayyim books PDF, Translator’s Introduction, ranks of the divine seekers

Steps of the Seekers (Madarij al-Salikin) | Translator’s Introduction

"by Ibn al-Qayyim, translated by Dr Ovamir Anjum. Widely read and admired among contemporary Arabic readers for its piercing spiritual and psychological insight, literary charm and its potential to bridge the Sufi and Salafi divide, Madârij has received little attention in Western…

Dr. Ovamir Anjum, The Crisis of Authority Among Muslims: Rediscovering Islamic Tradition

Translations from Ibn Al-Qayyim’s Madarij Al-Salikin (Steps of the Seekers) | The Station of Goodness (Ihsan) | Tr. Uwaymir Anjum

The Culminating Virtue of Ihsan AMONG THE STATIONS of You alone we worship, and your help alone we seek is the station of goodness (i ḥsân). This station is the essence, the heart and soul, and the perfection of faith. Moreover, it…

Translation from Ibn Al-Qayyim’s Madarij Al-Salikin (Steps of the Seekers) | The Station of the Sought (Al-Murâd) | Part 3

EDITOR’S NOTE: THE Station of the Sought is one of the advanced states of the heart for worshippers who are seriously striving for nearness to Allah, according to Ibn Al-Qayyim. It has three tiered levels, ascending from lower to higher: (1) Allah…

Translation from Ibn Al-Qayyim’s Madarij Al-Salikin (Steps of the Seekers) | The Station of the Sought (Al-Murad) | Part 2

EDITOR’S NOTE: IN Part One of The Station of the Sought, Ibn Al-Qayyim states that this Station has three levels, the first level being Allah’s protection of His servant by way of the servant’s own compulsion against disobedience. Ibn Al-Qayyim further gives three distinct…

Translation from Ibn Al-Qayyim’s Madarij Al-Salikin (Steps of the Seekers) | The Station of the Sought (Al-Murad) | Part 1

The Seeker and the Sought Among the stations of iyyâka naʿbudu wa iyyâka nastaʿîn—You alone we worship and your help alone we seek [Sûrat Al-Fâti ḥah, 1:5]—is the Station of the Sought (Al-Murâd). The people [of sulûk, i.e. travelers upon the spiritual…

Translation from Ibn Al-Qayyim’s Madarij Al-Salikin (Steps of the Seekers) | The Station of Remembrance (Thikr) | Part 4

Heedlessness and Remembrance Dhikr Said The author of Manâzil Al-Sâ’irîn, Shaykh ʿAbdullâh Al-Anṣâri] Al-Harawi (d. 482/1089), said: “Remembrance (Dhikr) is to be rid of heedlessness and forgetfulness.” The difference between heedlessness and forgetfulness is that heedlessness is willful neglect whereas forgetfulness is…

Translation from Ibn Al-Qayyim’s Madarij Al-Salikin (Steps of the Seekers) | The Station of Remembrance (Thikr) | Part1

AMONG THE STATIONS of worship and reliance is the station of remembrance. Remembrance is the great station of the people [of the divine path]. From it, they take [provision] for their journey. In it, they deal. And to it, they constantly return.…

Translation from Ibn Al-Qayyim’s Madarij Al-Salikin (Steps of the Seekers) | The Station of Remembrance (Thikr) | Part 2

The Example of the Focused THE PEOPLE OF remembrance are ahead of all others. This is as Muslim narrated in his Ṣaḥîḥ in the ḥadîth of Al-ʿAlâ’, on the authority of his father, who reported on the authority of Abû Hurayrah that the…

Translation from Ibn Al-Qayyim’s Madarij Al-Salikin (Steps of the Seekers) | The Station of Remembrance (Thikr) | Part 3

On Remembering to Invoke Allah When One Forgets THE AUTHOR OF Manâzil Al-Sâ’irîn, ʿAbdullâh Al-Anṣârî Al-Harawi [d. 482/1089] said: “Allah Almighty said: Yet remember your Lord, if you forget (Sûrat Al-Kahf, 18:24), “that is, when you forget other than Him, and forget yourself…

Translations from Ibn Al-Qayyim’s Madarij Al-Salikin (Steps of the Seekers) | The Station of Adab (Etiquette) – 1

THE AUTHOR OF Al-Manâzil states: Al-Adab is to be wary of the extremities of exaggeration (ghuluww) and neglect (jafâ’), realizing the harm of transgression. This is one of the best definitions, for transgressing to either extremity is lack of adab. Al-Adab is to…