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Vol 1 · p 4

Why four quarters, and the Book of Knowledge begins

Book 1 · Knowledge كتاب العلم

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Why four quarters? First, because all knowledge that leads to the Hereafter and is meant to be acted on falls into four parts: worship and customs (what the body does), and bad and good traits (what happens in the heart). Second, because students loved fiqh, whose books had four quarters, so he gave the Ihya the same familiar shape to draw them in. Then the Book of Knowledge begins: its seven chapters, and the first proof from the Quran of how valuable knowledge is.

چار حصے کیوں؟ پہلی وجہ: آخرت تک لے جانے والا وہ علم جس پر عمل کرنا ہے، چار حصوں میں آ جاتا ہے: عبادات اور معمولات (جسم کے کام)، اور بُری اور اچھی خصلتیں (دل کی حالتیں)۔ دوسری وجہ: طالب علم فقہ کو پسند کرتے تھے، جس کی کتابیں چار حصوں میں ہوتی تھیں، اس لیے غزالی نے احیاء کو بھی وہی جانی پہچانی شکل دی تاکہ وہ اس کی طرف کھنچے آئیں۔ پھر علم کی کتاب شروع ہوتی ہے: اس کے سات باب، اور قرآن سے علم کی قدر کی پہلی دلیل۔

Key terms
  • الفقهal-fiqhjurisprudence, knowing the rulings of the Sacred Law
  • الملكوتal-malakūtthe unseen world, known by the heart and not the senses
  • الجوارحal-jawāriḥthe limbs of the body
  • العقلal-ʿaqlthe intellect, reason: the subject of Chapter Seven
  • الكلامal-kalāmhere, theology, reasoned argument about belief
¶ 1 · continued from the previous page

بعلم المكاشفة ما يطلب منه كشف المعلوم فقط وأعني بعلم المعاملة ما يطلب منه مع الكشف العمل به والمقصود من هذا الكتاب علم المعاملة فقط دون علم المكاشفة التي لا رخصة في إيداعها الكتب وإن كانت هي غاية مقصد الطالبين ومطمع نظر الصديقين وعلم المعاملة طريق إليه ولكن لم يتكلم الأنبياء صلوات الله عليهم مع الخلق إلا في علم الطريق والإرشاد إليه

(By the knowledge of unveiling I mean the knowledge in which only the uncovering of what is known is sought.) And by the knowledge of conduct I mean the knowledge in which, along with the uncovering, acting on it is sought. What is intended by this book is the knowledge of conduct only, not the knowledge of unveiling, which there is no permission to set down in books, even though it is the final aim of those who seek and what the truthful ones (al-ṣiddīqūn) long to see. The knowledge of conduct is a road to it. But the prophets, Allah's blessings be upon them, spoke to people only about the knowledge of the road, and guiding them onto it.

¶ 2

وأما علم المكاشفة فلم يتكلموا فيه إلا بالرمز والإيماء على سبيل التمثيل والإجمال علما منهم بقصور أفهام الخلق عن الاحتمال والعلماء ورثة الأنبياء فما لهم سبيل إلى العدول عن نهج التأسي والاقتداء

As for the knowledge of unveiling, they spoke of it only in symbols and hints, by way of parables and in summary, because they knew that people's understanding falls short of bearing it. And the scholars are the heirs of the prophets, so they have no way to turn aside from the path of following their example.

ثم إن علم المعاملة ينقسم إلى علم ظاهر أعني العلم بأعمال الجوارح وإلى علم باطن أعنى العلم بأعمال القلوب والجاري على الجوارح إما عادة وإما عبادة والوارد على القلوب التي هي بحكم الاحتجاب عن الحواس من عالم الملكوت إما محمود وإما مذموم

Then the knowledge of conduct divides into outward knowledge, by which I mean knowledge of the actions of the limbs, and inward knowledge, by which I mean knowledge of the actions of the hearts. What runs on the limbs is either custom (ʿāda) or worship (ʿibāda). And what comes upon the hearts, which, being veiled from the senses, belong to the world of the unseen dominion (ʿālam al-malakūt), is either praiseworthy or blameworthy.

فبالواجب انقسم هذا العلم إلى شطرين ظاهر وباطن والشطر الظاهر المتعلق بالجوارح انقسم إلى عادة وعبادة والشطر الباطن المتعلق بأحوال القلب وأخلاق النفس انقسم إلى مذموم ومحمود فكان المجموع أربعة أقسام ولا يشذ نظر في علم المعاملة عن هذه الأقسام

So of necessity this knowledge divided into two halves, outward and inward. The outward half, which concerns the limbs, divided into custom and worship. The inward half, which concerns the states of the heart and the traits of the self, divided into blameworthy and praiseworthy. The total came to four divisions, and no inquiry in the knowledge of conduct falls outside them.

¶ 3

الباعث الثاني

The second motive.

¶ 4

أني رأيت الرغبة من طلبة العلم صادقة في الفقه الذي صلح عند من لا يخاف الله سبحانه وتعالى المتدرع به إلى المباهاة والاستظهار بجاهه ومنزلته في المنافسات وهو مرتب على أربعة أرباع والمتزيي بزي المحبوب محبوب فلم أبعد أن يكون تصوير الكتاب بصورة الفقه تلطفا في استدراج القلوب

I saw that the desire of students of knowledge for jurisprudence (fiqh) is genuine: the jurisprudence that has become fine in the eyes of whoever does not fear Allah, glorified and exalted is He, who wears it like armour to boast, and to get the upper hand in rivalries through its prestige (jāh) and standing. And it [jurisprudence] is arranged in four quarters. Whoever dresses in the clothes of the beloved is beloved. So I did not think it far-fetched that shaping the book in the form of jurisprudence would be a gentle way of drawing hearts in, step by step.

ولهذا تلطف بعض من رام استمالة قلوب الرؤساء إلى الطب فوضعه على هيئة تقويم النجوم موضوعا في الجداول والرقوم وسماه تقويم الصحة ليكون أنسهم بذلك الجنس جاذبا لهم إلى المطالعة

This is why someone who wanted to win the hearts of the leading men over to medicine used a gentle device: he laid medicine out in the shape of an almanac of the stars, set in tables and figures, and named it The Almanac of Health (Taqwīm al-Ṣiḥḥa), so that their familiarity with that kind of book would draw them to read it.

والتلطف في اجتذاب القلوب إلى العلم الذي يفيد حياة الأبد أهم من التلطف في اجتذابها إلى الطب الذي لا يفيد إلا صحة الجسد فثمرة هذا العلم طب القلوب والأرواح المتوصل به إلى حياة تدوم أبد الآباد فأين منه الطب الذي يعالج به الأجساد وهي معرضة بالضرورة للفساد في أقرب الآماد

And gentleness in drawing hearts to the knowledge that gives everlasting life matters more than gentleness in drawing them to medicine, which gives nothing but the health of the body. For the fruit of this knowledge is the medicine of hearts and souls, through which one reaches a life that lasts forever and ever. How can the medicine that treats bodies compare with it, when bodies are bound to decay in the shortest of times?

فنسأل الله سبحانه التوفيق للرشاد والسداد إنه كريم جواد

We ask Allah, glorified is He, for success in following right guidance and what is correct. He is Generous, Bountiful.

¶ 5

كتاب العلم

The Book of Knowledge

¶ 6

وفيه سبعة أبواب الباب الأول في فضل العلم والتعليم والتعلم

It has seven chapters. Chapter One: on the excellence of knowledge, teaching and learning.

¶ 7

الباب الثاني في فرض العين وفرض الكفاية من العلوم وبيان حد الفقه والكلام من علم الدين وبيان علم الآخرة وعلم الدنيا

Chapter Two: on which sciences are an obligation on every individual (farḍ ʿayn) and which are an obligation on the community (farḍ kifāya); how far jurisprudence (fiqh) and theology (kalām) reach within the knowledge of the religion; and the knowledge of the Hereafter and the knowledge of this world.

¶ 8

الباب الثالث فيما تعده العامة من علوم الدين وليس منه وفيه بيان جنس العلم المذموم وقدره

Chapter Three: on what the common people count among the sciences of the religion but is not from it, with an account of which kind of knowledge is blameworthy, and how much of it.

¶ 9

الباب الرابع في آفات المناظرة وسبب اشتغال الناس بالخلاف والجدل

Chapter Four: on the harms of debate (munāẓara), and why people busied themselves with disputed questions (khilāf) and argument (jadal).

¶ 10

الباب الخامس في آداب المعلم والمتعلم

Chapter Five: on the etiquette of the teacher and the student.

¶ 11

الباب السادس في آفات العلم والعلماء والعلامات الفارقة بين علماء الدنيا والآخرة

Chapter Six: on the harms that befall knowledge and scholars, and the signs that tell the scholars of this world from the scholars of the Hereafter.

¶ 12

الباب السابع في العقل وفضله وأقسامه وما جاء فيه من الأخبار

Chapter Seven: on the intellect (ʿaql), its excellence, its divisions, and the reports that have come about it.

الباب الأول في فضل العلم والتعليم والتعلم وشواهده من النقل والعقل فضيلة العلم

Chapter One: on the excellence of knowledge, teaching and learning, and its evidence from what is transmitted (naql) and from reason (ʿaql).

The Excellence of Knowledge

¶ 13

شواهدها من القرآن قوله عز وجل ﴿شهد الله أنه لا إله إلا هو والملائكة وأولو العلم قائما بالقسط﴾ فانظر

Its evidence from the Quran: the words of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, "Allah witnesses that there is no deity except Him, and [so do] the angels and those of knowledge - [that He is] maintaining [creation] in justice" (3:18, Saheeh International). So look… (The sentence goes on at the top of p5.)

Study this page · not Ghazali's text

Quran on this page1 ayah

¶13 ﴿شهد الله أنه لا إله إلا هو والملائكة وأولو العلم قائما بالقسط﴾: the first proof in the Book of Knowledge. Ghazali quotes the ayah up to «بالقسط»; the ayah goes on.

شَهِدَ ٱللَّهُ أَنَّهُۥ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ وَأُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْعِلْمِ قَآئِمًۢا بِٱلْقِسْطِ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ

Allah witnesses that there is no deity except Him, and [so do] the angels and those of knowledge - [that He is] maintaining [creation] in justice. There is no deity except Him, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

Surah Aal-i-Imraan (3), ayah 18 · Saheeh International

Words of the day2 words
  • المعاملة (al-muʿāmala), conduct, dealing: ain-mim-lam
  • المكاشفة (al-mukāshafa), unveiling: kaf-shin-fa
Sentence breakdown

«فثمرة هذا العلم طب القلوب والأرواح» (¶4). Vowelled, as we read it: فَثَمَرَةُ هٰذَا العِلْمِ طِبُّ القُلُوبِ وَالأَرْوَاحِ. (Our analysis. Forms checked against the Quranic Arabic Corpus, Lane and Ibn Fāris.)

Word Root What it does Meaning
فَ links to what came before for, so
ثَمَرَةُ ث م ر: "a thing that is born from a thing, gathered together; then other things are called by it as a figure of speech" (Ibn Fāris, vol 1 p 388) subject, and the first half of a "possession pair" (iḍāfa) the fruit (corpus lemma ثَمَرَة; "of", in "fruit of", is carried by the pair itself)
هٰذَا points, "this" this
العِلْمِ ع ل م (our card) second half of the pair: "the fruit of this knowledge" knowledge
طِبُّ ط ب ب: "knowledge of a thing and skill in it" (Ibn Fāris, vol 3 p 407) what is said about the subject, and the first half of a second pair medicine: Lane gives طِبّ as the noun from طَبَّ, "he treated medically"
القُلُوبِ ق ل ب (today's card) second half of the pair: "the medicine of hearts" hearts: the plural of قَلْب, on the pattern فُعُول (as in قُلُوبِهِمْ, 2:7)
وَ joins and
الأَرْوَاحِ ر و ح: "wideness, openness and flowing on" (Ibn Fāris, vol 2 p 454) joined to القلوب, so it is also "of" souls: the plural of رُوح (corpus lemma, 21 times in the Quran), on the pattern أَفْعَال, as Lane gives it

How it works. Again a sentence with no verb: "the fruit of this knowledge: the medicine of hearts and souls." Its skeleton is two iḍāfa pairs. Arabic has no word for "of" here; putting two nouns side by side, the first without ال and the second in the -i ending, says it: ثَمَرَةُ العِلْمِ "the fruit of knowledge", طِبُّ القُلُوبِ "the medicine of hearts". Urdu does the same job with "کا" and "کی": علم کا ثمرہ، دلوں کا علاج. The picture carries the argument of the page: medicine for the body lasts a lifetime; this medicine lasts forever.

Open questions
More on the hadith

None on this page.

Echo, not a note: «والعلماء ورثة الأنبياء», "the scholars are the heirs of the prophets" (¶2), the same words as on p2. Here they carry an argument: the prophets spoke of unveiling only in hints, so the scholars, as their heirs, must do the same. Al-ʿIrāqī adds nothing here; he traces the words where Ghazali quotes them as a hadith, on V1 p5 ¶7b (note 2). Grading: not yet found (see the Open questions on V1 p2).