About The Book
Spiritual Insights presents five classic treatises from the illustrious tradition of the Bā ‘Alawī Sayyids, scholars and spiritual masters of Ḥaḍramawt in southern Yemen, expertly translated with full commentaries.
The various aspects and levels of the ‘Alawīs’ teaching activity are amply reflected in this selection. ‘The Threaded Pearls’ describes how their methodology combines the complementary approaches of Imam al-Ghazālī and Imam Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhilī. ‘Insights for the Brethren’ expounds the bases of the religion as 'The Four Circles’: Islām, Īmān, Iḥsān, and ‘Irfān. ‘Unveiling the Truth’ answers four questions from correspondents about the legitimacy of certain individuals’ actions and sayings. ‘Prayer of the Drawn-Near’ discusses the difference between rational knowledge and deep cognition gained through direct, experiential ‘witnessing’. Lastly, ‘The Seven Stages of a Human Being’ explains the correspondences between the sensory and the Unseen and between the different hierarchical levels of Existence.
About The Translator
Dr. Mostafa Badawi was born in Cairo in 1948. He graduated from Cairo University Medical School in 1971 and thereafter completed his postgraduate training in the United Kingdom in 1985. He has been practicing as a consultant psychiatrist since then. Dr. al-Badawi has authored several books in English, including Man and the Universe: An Islamic Perspective, The Prophetic Invocations, and Sufi Sage of Arabia: Biography of Imam al-Haddad.
He is a distinguished authority on the history and teachings of the Ba 'Alawi Sayyids. He studied under many shaykhs, foremost among whom is the late Habib Ahmad Mashur al-Haddad.
Dr. Badawi is one of the leading contemporary translators of Islamic books from Arabic to English and has authored several books in Arabic. In addition, he has translated from the original Arabic into English several of Imam Abdallah ibn Alawi al-Haddad's works, including The Book of Assistance, The Lives of Man, Gifts for the Seeker, Wisdom and Knowledge, Good Manners, and Mutual Reminding. He also translated into English Habib Ahmad al-Haddad's Key to the Garden as well as Shaykh Abd al-Khaliq ash-Shabrawi's Degrees of the Soul.
