Translation Notes
This is a full, unabridged translation of the original text of Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya’s Madārij al-Sālikīn. The English translation of the Qurʾanic verses is my own, given the exegetical nature of the text. I have consulted primarily Marmaduke Picktall’s The Noble Qurʾan in addition to other widely-used translations, such as those by Yusuf Ali and Saḥīḥ International.
Since this translation is being published face-to-face with the original Arabic text, all Arabic words have been rendeed into their English equivalents, including those that are commonly left in Arabic, such as Allah (God); the names of the Qurʾanic Sūras (e.g., al-Fātiḥa as The Opening), Sharīʿa as “Law”, etc. The exceptions are as follows. Only those words that have no widely accepted English equivalent or might otherwise be confusing have been kept in Arabic, such as ‘Sunna’ to denote the practice or role model of the Prophet; ‘Sūra’ to denote the chapters of the Qurʾan and avoid conflation with chapters of the treatise being translated. Another case where the Arabic has been left untranslated is where the original text addresses the linguistic aspects of the term in question (such as the meanings of the word ‘Allāh’). There are other obvious exceptions, such as proper names. Where the Arabic original had to be maintained the transliteration scheme employed has been that recommended by the International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies.
Literal fidelity has been maintained wherever possible. Repetition and rhyme are standard devices in classical Arabic, and among other literary purposes, served to preserve the meaning and self-correction in a world where manuscript copyists frequently erred. I have kept the original meaning and repetition; only in cases where the original Arabic terms are synonymous, at least in the given context, or where subtleties would be too distracting and unidiomatic to translate, have I preferred conciseness over literal fidelity.
The Manuscripts and the Arabic Editions
The complete title of the original text is Madārij al-sālikīn bayna manāzil iyyāka naʿbudu wa-iyyāka nastaʿīn (Ranks of Divine Seekers between the Stations of ‘You alone we worship and You alone we seek for help’; the last phrase being the Quranic verse, 1:4). Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya’s earliest biographers, in particular Ibn Rajab, identify his commentary on Manāzil as Marāḥil al-sāʾirīn (Stages of the Travelers) instead of Madārij al-sālikīn. The primary edition used here is Madārij al-sālikīn, edited by Nāṣir al-Saʿawī, ʿAlī al-Qarʿāwī, Ṣāliḥ al-Tuwayjirī, Khālid al-Ghunaym, and Muḥammad al-Khuḍayrī, al-Riyāḍ and al-Qaṣīm (Dār al-Ṣumayʿī, 1432/2011). Henceforth, this edition is referred to as Madārij(Ṣ).
Rashīd Riḍā (d. 1934) declared Madārij to be the finest work on Sufism and ethics that he had known, and edited the first modern edition (Cairo: Maṭbaʿat al-Manār, 1912–1915). The editions that I have consulted and extensively used prior to the availability of M1 are as follows: one was edited by ʿImād ʿĀmir, 3 vols. (Cairo: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1996), based on Muḥammad Ḥāmid al-Fiqī’s original edition (Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1392–1393/1972–3), which reproduced al-Fiqī’s gloss. Al-Fiqī’s edition is available online:
Conventions
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As noted in the introduction, Madārij is Ibn al-Qayyim’s critical commentary on an earlier text, al-Harawī’s Manāzil al-sāʾirīn (referred to as al-Manāzil in the text). Ibn al-Qayyim first quotes al-Manāzil and then proceeds to comment on it; these quotations have been set off from the commentary.
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Qurʾanic references appear as [sūra number:verse number] throughout. E.g. the third verse of the first Sūra, al-Fātiḥa [1:3]. However, if the context is not obvious, the standard format [Q. 1:3] is employed to indicate a Qurʾanic sūra and verse number.
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The Hadith found in the major canonical collections are referred to in the footnotes in an abbreviated manner, with only the abbreviated name of the compiler and the ḥadith number, e.g., Bukhari #2121.
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In the case of well-known Arabic words, strict transliteration has been avoided; e.g., Muhammad, Qurʾan, Islam, etc., rather than Muḥammad, Qurʾān, Islām, except when these words are parts of a proper name, e.g., Abū Muḥammad.
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All section numbers as well as headings have been inserted by the translator and are not part of the original text. As the author’s (or the copyists’) use of section-marker faṣl is not always consistent, the translator has omitted it and replaced with numbered headings.
An image from the main (Syrian) manuscript:
Translation of the same passage:
whereas our Shaykh [Ibn Taymiyya] has preferred the opinions of Mujāhid and al-Ḥasan in all three cases.
1.4 The Meaning of God being on the Straight Path
The straight path is the path of God, yet He declares that the path is on Him, the Exalted, as we have mentioned, and also that the Exalted is on the straight path, and this appears twice in the Qurʾan, once in Sūra Hūd and once in The Bee; in Hūd He says, “There is no creature that crawls, but He takes it by the forelock. Surely my Lord is on a straight path” [11:56], and said in
Abbreviations
These are the most commonly used sources in the footnotes and glossary, and hence are cited in an abbreviated form. The full corresponding references can be found in the bibliography.
| Aḥmad |
Ibn Ḥanbal, Aḥmad. Musnad al-imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal |
| Bukhārī |
al-Bukhārī, al-Jāmiʿ al-musnad al-ṣaḥīḥ al-muktaṣar |
| Muslim |
Muslim, al-Musnad al-ṣaḥīḥ al-muktaṣar |
| Tirmidhī |
al-Tirmidhī, Sunan al-Tirmidhī |
| Madārij(Ṣ) |
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Madārij al-Sālikīn (Riyadh: Dār al-Ṣumayʿī) |
| MF |
Ibn Taymiyya, Majmūʿ al-fatāwā |
| Siyar |
al-Dhahabī, Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ |
| Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī |
Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-bayān |
| EI2 |
Encyclopedia of Islam, Second Edition (Brill). |