Purification of the heart: signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the heart by: Imam al-Mawlud / Translator: Hamza Yusuf

This present text is based on the poem known as “Matharat al-Qulub,” which offers a means by which spiritual purification can be achieved. It was written by a great scholar, Shaykh Muhammad Mawlud, a brilliant scholar who mastered all of the Islamic sciences, including the inward sciences of the soul.

The spiritual diseases of the heart addressed in this volume include: miserliness, wantonness, hatred, iniquity, envy, ostentation, vanity, fraud, and more. Imam Mawlud directs his attention to each of these diseases, discusses their causes, and offers cures. His teachings imply that purification is a life-long process, not something that is applied once and then forgotten.

Purity of heart never survives a passive relationship. Rather, it requires constant consideration. This book hopes to introduce to readers how that is done.

This book offers an insightful introduction to one of the most ancient of religious concerns: spiritual purification of the heart. It takes the reader through a well-known text from the Muslim tradition, and gives important commentary that is relevant to our day and to people of a variety of religious experiences.