Revelations of the Unseen : (Futuh al-Ghaib)

The talks contained in Revelations of the Unseen, short and to the point, are among the most beautiful oratory the world has ever known. Our translations of this and other of the Shakhs works surviving in manuscript form in Oriental collections around the world are intended to make them more widely available and accessible to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

This is probably the best known of Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir's works as there have been previous translations of it in both English and German. These are 78 discourses [majalis] that cover a wide range of topics of great importance to the spiritual traveler and are listed in their entirety below:

The Seventy-eight Discourses

1 On the essential tasks of every true believer

2 On sharing good advice

3 On being tried and tested

4 On spiritual death

5 On the nature of this world, detachment from which is strongly advised

6 On passing beyond the creation

7 On removing the cares of the heart [qalb]

8 On drawing near to Allah

9 On disclosure and contemplation

10 On the self and its states

11 On carnal appetite

12 On the prohibition of love of wealth

13 On submission to Allah's command

14 On following the practice of Allah's own

15 On fear and hope

16 On trust and its stages

17 On how the contact [wusul] with Allah is attained

18 On not complaining

19 On promises

20 On the saying of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace): "Leave anything that makes you doubtful and stick to what arouses no misgivings in you."

 21 On addressing Iblis the accursed

 22 On the testing of the believer's faith

23 On contentment with one's lot from Allah

24 On cleaving to Allah's door

25 On the tree of faith

26 On not unveiling one's face

27 On good and evil as two fruits

28 On the classification of the seeker's state

29 On the saying of the Prophet (Allah Bless him and give him peace): "Poverty is on the verge of slipping into unbelief”.

30 On not saying "What shall I do and how?"

31 On hatred for Allah's sake

32 On not sharing one's love of Allah

33 On the four types of men

34 On not resenting Allah

35 On pious caution [al-wara']

36 On the explanation of this world and the hereafter, and what one must do in them both 37 On censure of envy 38 On honesty [sidq] and sincerity [nisah]

39 On dissension, concord and hypocrisy [nifaq]

40 On when the aspirant truly belongs in the company of spiritual people 41 Illustrating the nature of annihilation [fana']

42 On the two conditions of the self [nafs]

43 On censure of asking from any but Allah

44 On the reason for non-response to the supplication of one who knows Allah [al-'arif bi'llah]

45 On blessings and trials

46 On the Sacred Tradition: "When someone is too busy remembering Me"

47 On closeness to Allah

48 On what the believer must attend to

49 On censure of sleep

50 On how to treat the servant's remoteness from Allah; explanation of how to achieve closeness to Him

51 On abstinence

52 On the reason for the trials borne by certain believers

53 On the commandment to seek contentment with Allah and annihilation [fana'] in Him

54 On those who wish to attain to the contact [wusul] with Allah, an explanation of the nature of that contact

55 On giving up life's pleasures

56 On the servant's becoming extinct [fana'] to creatures, passions, the self, the will and desires

57 On not contesting destiny, and the commandment to keep oneself content therewith

58 On looking away from all other directions, and seeking the direction of Allah's favor

59 On cheerful acceptance of misfortune, and being grateful for blessings

60 On the beginning and the end

61 On pausing before taking any action until its permissibility is clear

62 On love, the beloved, and what is required in respect of both

63 On a kind of inner knowledge [ma'rifa]

64 On death without life, and life without death

65 On the prohibition of resenting Allah for deferring response to supplication

66 On the commandment to make supplication, and the prohibition of omitting it

67 On struggle with the self, and description of its nature

68 On the words of Allah (Exalted is He): "Every day He is about some business."

69 On the commandment to ask Allah for forgiveness, protection from sin, help toward success, contentment and patience

70 On gratitude and acknowledgment of shortcomings

71 On the seeker and the sought

72 On those who are attracted to what they see in the market and those who view it with patient restraint

73 On a party of saints whom Allah makes aware of the faults of others

74 On how the intelligent person should prove to himself the Uniqueness of Allah

75 On spiritual culture [tasawwuf] and what it is based on

76 On advice

77 On staying with Allah and becoming extinct to creatures

78 On the people devoted to spiritual struggle and self-examination and the masters of resolve; explanation of their virtues