About The Book

The eighth of thirty-seven books of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s magnum opus al-Futūḥāt al-Makkīyah, translated and conveyed by Shuʿayb Dr Eric Winkel

In Book 8 we learn the prayer for choosing the best course of action for us. Other aspects of the prayer are presented, ending Chapter 69. Then begins Chapter 70, on the mysteries of the third pillar of Islam – charity – where we are prepared to receive charity’s mysteries, from the obligatory alms-tax to the voluntary gift.

‘Let us say you are told: “Give a loan to God and you will take on in the otherworld a multiplier, multiplying not a third and not a half; no, the profit and the principal of the wealth, all of it, will be yours! You only have to be a little bit patient, but you can be sure of getting it back, all of it.” But the self refuses, and people give only a little bit.’