The Soul of Souls

Abdul Al-Rahman Ibn Al-Jawzi
Omer Siddique (translation)
Paperback, 168 pages
9780645037968

This one-of-a-kind work by the erudite Imam Abdul Rahman ibn al-Jawzi is a potent admonition, driving the reader to awake from the slumber of the daily sleep-walk and take full advantage of the opportunity life affords before death takes its aim. Vividly alternating between bitter admonishment and sweet poetry, the author mends the much too forgotten wings of yearning for Allah's love and fear of His wrath so the reader may take flight. But this is not merely a work of religious rhetoric, but a literary world crafted of sublime language and rich parables in a manner only few would dare to try.

"These reminders are as if a garden, adorned with roses. Its knowledge more fragrant than cologne, its branches leaning down, laden with fruits. Its meanings, freshly plucked, are within arm's reach so any mind can grasp them. Its river stretches far, as if drawing wisdom from the ocean's depths. The birds of its eloquence sing upon branches of fine expression. Their songs fill those well-versed in understanding with delight. How many pearls of wisdom are scattered around its edges. How many paths of the esteemed are paved within. Its precious stones have been handpicked, as if fallen from the seal-rings of the intimately righteous (arifeen). Its magnificent jewels of spiritual states have been gathered to aid the seekers. But its most matchless, precious pearls are accessible only to the spiritual elite. Yet it is still aplenty with clear parables of subtle meaning that are antimony even on the eyes of the simple-minded, even if their meanings be deep and elevated."