This book consists of 45 discourses that were given by Shaikh "Abd Al-Qadir Al-Jilani in his school in Baghdad. These discourses, like the ones found in some of his other books, would have been transcribed by some of his listener. There are a number of surviving manuscripts of the book. The language of Shaikh "Abd Al-Qadir"s discourses is often permeated by symbolic references, metaphorical images, and poetic expressions. This style, which is characteristic of the Shaikh"s discourses, reflects a number of facts. First, the Shaikh often speaks about spiritual matters that are completely unfamiliar to the layperson and which the language is incapable of describing with accuracy. These, in the Shaikh"s words, are states, stations, visions, and experiences that "no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, and has never occurred to any human being." Second, the Shaikh"s words spring as much from his heart as from his mind, describing feelings as well as thoughts. He is forced to use...