Al-Ghazali — Lettre à Ibn al-Amil

Thank you very much for your letter containing many things about the spiritual world and the knowledge of Allah, and your sincere faith in Him. I pray to Allah that He may enable you to dig still deeper for the hidden pearls of your heart so that you may become sensitive to spiritual suggestions and have a quick insight into religious questions. The knowledge which provides us with things other than the fulfillment of the commands of Allah and His Messenger, praise and peace be upon him, is harmful to its possessor. Our Holy Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, said: "Whosoever is granted the maximum of knowledge, but is deprived of proper guidance, stands poles apart from Allah." The guiding knowledge leads you from the creatures to the Creator, from this world to the next, from pride to humility, from greed to piety, from hypocrisy to sincerity, from doubt to truth, from the slavery of those who live a life of luxury to the doctrines of the mystics. Many people think that he who is busy acquiring religious knowledge also walks along the true path. Actually, this is not so, which is indeed a pity. It is record in Sahihain that our Holy Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, said: "The Wrath of Allah will descend upon those who seek knowledge of Allah with a view to thereby gaining worldly ends." The trouble with the learned is that they do not realize that to hoard knowledge is more dangerous than the accumulation of wealth, for wealth is intended for use in this world and is exclusively meant for the well being of mankind on this planet, but religious knowledge is devoted purely to religion and the heart of religion is always to be found in close contact with Allah in the fathomless depths of the inner life. If it is exploited to serve our personal ends in this life, it contributes to the gravest of sins.…