Al-Ghazali — Lettre à tous ceux qui désirent mener une vie paisible et pieuse

To all those who wishing to achieve a peaceful and pious life, One has to cross many difficult stages and surmount apparently insurmountable difficulties before one attains to spiritual height by completing one's onward march. The most important of these stages could be summed up in a few words: Social affair and gnosis. Social affair is an introduction to gnosis and begins with eating a mouthful of simple food earned by halal labor and ends in the sincerity of one's actions and deeds. When this stage is reached the chapter on gnosis written by the pen of Allah in His own Book flashes before our sight and we find that the chapter is entitled: "There is no god except Allah." The Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, said: "The first words which Allah wrote in His first Book were: "There is no god except Me, My Kindness/Mercy exceeds My Anger." The chapter on social affairs also bears the same words, but since it covers only one aspect of faith, it cannot reflect the virtues contained in gnosis. It is unwise to give a detailed account of gnosis, for the more one seeks words to express it, the more one feels the impossibility of describing the thing by any of our usual images. A hint of this connection may be of some use to those who are interested. Gnosis or ma'rifat is knowledge given in ecstasy peculiar to saints who behold Allah with their hearts. This knowledge differs altogether from intellectual and traditional knowledge. On the other hand, the more one seeks to discuss social affairs in detail the more one feels it is easily understood by listeners, and as such it is beneficial to them. I have already said that social affairs start with eating a mouthful of halal-earned food. There are four kinds of piety and devotion meant for those who eat halal food. One in which the observance of justice is essential. According to the verdict of religious teachers, pious people are required to avoid forbidden things.…