وأما ربع العادات فيشتمل على عشرة كتب كتاب آداب الأكل وكتاب آداب النكاح وكتاب أحكام الكسب وكتاب الحلال والحرام وكتاب آداب الصحبة والمعاشرة مع أصناف الخلق وكتاب العزلة وكتاب آداب السفر وكتاب السماع والوجد وكتاب الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر وكتاب آداب المعيشة وأخلاق النبوة
The Quarter of Customs contains ten books: the Book of the Etiquette of Eating; the Book of the Etiquette of Marriage; the Book of the Rulings on Earning a Living (kasb); the Book of the Lawful and the Unlawful; the Book of the Etiquette of Companionship and of Living with the different kinds of people; the Book of Seclusion (ʿuzla); the Book of the Etiquette of Travel; the Book of Listening (samāʿ) and Ecstasy (wajd); the Book of Commanding the Good and Forbidding the Wrong; and the Book of the Etiquette of Daily Living and the Character of Prophethood.
وأما ربع المهلكات فيشتمل على عشرة كتب كتاب شرح عجائب القلب وكتاب رياضة النفس وكتاب آفات الشهوتين شهوة البطن وشهوة الفرج وكتاب آفات اللسان وكتاب آفات الغضب والحقد والحسد وكتاب ذم الدنيا وكتاب ذم المال والبخل وكتاب ذم الجاه والرياء وكتاب ذم الكبر والعجب وكتاب ذم الغرور
The Quarter of Things that Destroy contains ten books: the Book of Explaining the Wonders of the Heart; the Book of Training the Self (riyāḍat al-nafs); the Book of the Dangers of the Two Appetites, the appetite of the stomach and the appetite of the private parts; the Book of the Dangers of the Tongue; the Book of the Dangers of Anger, Rancour (ḥiqd) and Envy (ḥasad); the Book of Condemning this World; the Book of Condemning Wealth and Miserliness; the Book of Condemning Status (jāh) and Showing Off (riyāʾ); the Book of Condemning Pride (kibr) and Self-Admiration (ʿujb); and the Book of Condemning Delusion (ghurūr).
وأما ربع المنجيات فيشتمل على عشرة كتب كتاب التوبة وكتاب الصبر والشكر وكتاب الخوف والرجاء وكتاب الفقر والزهد وكتاب التوحيد والتوكل وكتاب المحبة والشوق والأنس والرضا وكتاب النية والصدق والإخلاص وكتاب المراقبة والمحاسبة وكتاب التفكر وكتاب ذكر الموت
The Quarter of Things that Save contains ten books: the Book of Repentance; the Book of Patience and Gratitude; the Book of Fear and Hope; the Book of Poverty and Renunciation (zuhd); the Book of Divine Unity (tawḥīd) and Trust in Allah (tawakkul); the Book of Love, Longing, Intimacy (uns) and Contentment (riḍā); the Book of Intention, Truthfulness (ṣidq) and Sincerity (ikhlāṣ); the Book of Watchfulness (murāqaba) and Self-Examination (muḥāsaba); the Book of Reflection (tafakkur); and the Book of the Remembrance of Death.
فأما ربع العبادات فأذكر فيه خفايا آدابها ودقائق سننها وأسرار معانيها ما يضطر العالم العامل إليه بل لا يكون من علماء الآخرة من لا يطلع عليه وأكثر ذلك مما أهمل في فن الفقهيات
In the Quarter of Acts of Worship, I set out the hidden points of their etiquette (ādāb), the fine details of their sunnahs, and the inner meanings (asrār) of what they signify: what a scholar who acts on his knowledge cannot do without. Indeed, whoever is not acquainted with it is not one of the scholars of the Hereafter. Most of it has been neglected in the discipline of jurisprudence (fiqh).
وأما ربع العادات فأذكر فيه أسرار المعاملات الجارية بين الخلق وأغوارها ودقائق سننها وخفايا الورع في مجاريها وهي مما لا يستغني عنها متدين
In the Quarter of Customs, I set out the inner meanings of the dealings that go on between people, and their depths, the fine details of their sunnahs, and the hidden points of scrupulousness (waraʿ) in the way they are carried out. No religious person can do without them.
وأما ربع المهلكات فأذكر فيه كل خلق مذموم ورد القرآن بإماطته وتزكية النفس عنه وتطهير القلب منه وأذكر من كل واحد من تلك الأخلاق حده وحقيقته ثم أذكر سببه الذي منه يتولد ثم الآفات التي عليها تترتب ثم العلامات التي بها تتعرف ثم طرق المعالجة التي بها منها يتخلص كل ذلك مقرونا بشواهد الآيات والأخبار والآثار
In the Quarter of Things that Destroy, I set out every blameworthy trait of character (khuluq) that the Quran calls on us to remove, to purify the self (nafs) of, and to cleanse the heart (qalb) from. For each of these traits I give its definition and its reality; then the cause from which it is born; then the harms that follow from it; then the signs by which it is recognised; then the ways of treatment by which one is freed from it. All of this comes joined with the evidence of the verses (āyāt), the reports (akhbār) and the traditions (āthār).
وأما ربع المنجيات فأذكر فيه كل خلق محمود وخصلة مرغوب فيها من خصال المقربين والصديقين التي بها يتقرب العبد من رب العالمين وأذكر في كل خصلة حدها وحقيقتها وسببها الذي به تجتلب وثمرتها التي منها تستفاد وعلامتها التي بها تتعرف وفضيلتها التي لأجلها فيها يرغب مع ما ورد فيها من شواهد الشرع والعقل
In the Quarter of Things that Save, I set out every praiseworthy trait and every quality worth longing for among the qualities of those brought near (al-muqarrabūn) and the truthful ones (al-ṣiddīqūn), the qualities by which the servant draws near to the Lord of the worlds. For each quality I give its definition and its reality; the cause by which it is gained; the fruit that comes from it; the sign by which it is recognised; and the merit for whose sake it is sought; together with the evidence of the Sacred Law and of reason that has come about it.
ولقد صنف الناس في بعض هذه المعاني كتبا ولكن يتميز هذا الكتاب عنها بخمسة أمور
People have written books on some of these subjects. But this book stands apart from them in five things.
الأول حل ما عقدوه وكشف ما أجملوه
First: untying what they knotted, and laying open what they stated only in brief.
الثاني ترتيب ما بددوه ونظم ما فرقوه
Second: arranging what they scattered, and putting in order what they spread apart.
الثالث إيجاز ما طولوه وضبط ما قرروه
Third: shortening what they drew out at length, and making exact what they laid down.
الرابع حذف ما كرروه وإثبات ما حرروه
Fourth: removing what they repeated, and keeping what they wrote with care.
الخامس تحقيق أمور غامضة اعتاصت على الأفهام لم يتعرض لها في الكتب أصلا إذ الكل وإن تواردوا على منهج واحد فلا مستنكر أن يتفرد كل واحد من السالكين بالتنبيه لأمر يخصه ويغفل عنه رفقاؤه أو لا يغفل عن التنبيه ولكن يسهو عن إيراده في الكتب أو لا يسهو ولكن يصرفه عن كشف الغطاء عنه صارف
Fifth: establishing the truth of obscure matters that were too hard for minds to grasp, and that were never taken up in books at all. For even when all of them walk one path, it is not strange that one traveller (sālik) alone should notice something particular to him, while his companions miss it. Or someone does not miss it, but forgets to put it in books. Or he does not forget, but something turns him away from lifting the cover (kashf al-ghiṭāʾ) from it.
فهذه خواص هذا الكتاب مع كونه حاويا لمجامع هذه العلوم
These, then, are the special features of this book, besides its gathering together the whole of these sciences.
وإنما حملني على تأسيس هذا الكتاب على أربعة أرباع أمران أحدهما وهو الباعث الأصلي أن هذا الترتيب في التحقيق والتفهيم كالضرورة لأن العلم الذي يتوجه به إلى الآخرة ينقسم إلى علم المعاملة وعلم المكاشفة وأعني
What led me to build this book on four quarters is two things. The first, which is the original motive, is that for getting things right and making them understood, this arrangement is almost a necessity. For the knowledge by which one turns toward the Hereafter divides into the knowledge of conduct (ʿilm al-muʿāmala) and the knowledge of unveiling (ʿilm al-mukāshafa). By the knowledge of unveiling I mean the knowledge in which only the uncovering of what is known is sought. (The sentence ends at the top of p4.)