طريق · ṭarīq · road, path, way

• Met in: V1 p2 ¶1: «...والخطر عظيم والطريق سد...» and «وسلوك طريق الآخرة»
• Dictionary form: طَرِيق (corpus lemma, 4 times in the Quran); also طَرِيقَة (way, manner) ×5
• Pattern: فَعِيل (faʿīl).
• Meaning here: The road to the Hereafter (ṭarīq al-ākhira): Ghazali's image for the whole spiritual life, which needs a guide, a companion and provisions.

Ibn Faris, Maqāyīs al-Lugha, root طرق, vol 3, p 449

الطاء والراء والقاف أربعة أصول، أحدها: الإتيان مساء، والثاني: الضرب، والثالث: جنس من استرخاء الشيء، والرابع: خصف شيء على شيء

Four origins: coming by night; striking; a kind of slackness; and laying one thing over another. He places الطريق under the root only tentatively, saying himself «والله أعلم» (Allah knows best), so we do not claim an etymology.

Urdu bridge

Watch the shift: Urdu طریقہ means method, way of doing; Arabic طريق means road, and طريقة means way, manner. The Ihya uses both. (to be confirmed)

Quran

11 words from this root (Quranic Arabic Corpus): طَرِيقَة ×5, طَرِيق ×4, طَارِق ×2.

قَالُوا۟ يَٰقَوْمَنَآ إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا كِتَٰبًا أُنزِلَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مُوسَىٰ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ يَهْدِىٓ إِلَى ٱلْحَقِّ وَإِلَىٰ طَرِيقٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ

They said, "O our people, indeed we have heard a [recited] Book revealed after Moses confirming what was before it which guides to the truth and to a straight path.

Surah Al-Ahqaf (46), ayah 30 · Saheeh International

Why this ayah: The jinn describe the Quran as guiding "to a straight path" (طريق مستقيم).

In the Ihya

طريق: 627 times in the Ihya.