This book of ours is but a glimpse of this religion and those morals. “The greatest of matters in importance and value, and the most comprehensive in benefit and support, is that by which religion and this world are established, and by which the welfare of the Hereafter and this world is regulated; because with the integrity of religion, worship is sound, and with the welfare of this world, happiness is complete.” (1)
The book has been printed many times, and is well-known and widely circulated. At the beginning of this century (around 1920 AD), the Egyptian Ministry of Education had designated it for reading in secondary schools, due to its refined literature and wonderful wisdom. The author gathered evidence for it from the Holy Qur’an, the Sunnah of the Messenger and his family, the works of the Companions and their Successors, the etiquette of the eloquent, the sayings of poets, and the wisdom of the Arabs and other nations. He formulated all of this in a harmonious style, combining “the investigation of the jurists and the refinement of the literary men.” (2) He addressed the Muslim individual who is aware of the reality of life, in order to awaken in him the mind and thought, more than he arouses in him emotion and feeling, and in order to guide him towards the straight path and the path of guidance, and to elevate him from his limited reality. And his small experience, to a wider world, and a greater experience.