The Rescuer from Error
by Al-Ghazali · al-Munqidh min al-Dalal
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- c. 1108
- Era
- Medieval
- Language
- Arabic
- Length
- Short · 100 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendAl-Ghazali's Path to Sufism: His Deliverance from Error, translated by R. J. McCarthyFons Vitae, 2000McCarthy's translation is the standard one and the one most anthologies excerpt; this reprint is affordable.
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A short spiritual autobiography written near the end of al-Ghazali's life. He describes how a crisis of doubt about the senses and reason led him to examine the four groups who claimed truth in his day, the theologians, the philosophers, the Ismaili followers of an infallible imam, and the Sufis. He finds the first three wanting and concludes that only the Sufi path of direct experience, not argument, gives certainty. He recounts leaving his professorship in Baghdad in 1095 for ten years of retreat and his reluctant return to teaching.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Rescuer from Error are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
