Muḍīḥ al-Ṭarīq: The Clarifier of the Path: On the Wayfaring of the Stations, the Divine Names, and the Origin of Verification (Al-Buni Manuscripts Collection)

The first complete English translation of Mudih al-Tariq wa-Asl al-Tahqiq (The Clarifier of the Path and the Origin of Verification), a comprehensive treatise on the divine names attributed to the thirteenth-century Sufi master Ahmad ibn Ali al-Buni. This work stands among the most detailed expositions in the Arabic theurgical manuscript tradition, guiding the seeker through the meanings, spiritual properties, and practical applications of more than eighty divine names.The treatise opens with an extended counsel to seeking wayfarers, establishing the principles of spiritual wayfaring through the stations of preparedness, the ascents of elevation, and the mysteries of the divine names. Al-Buni explains that the path to realization passes through sincerity, confirmation, and the enumeration of the names according to the inner reality of trustworthiness.The central body of the work is organized into numbered chapters, each devoted to a single divine name. For every name, al-Buni provides: an explanation of its hidden meaning and theological significance; its relation to the ordering of existence and the spiritual hierarchy; instructions for drawing near to God through the name, including specific litanies, recitation counts, and conditions of practice; and the spiritual fruits promised to the sincere practitioner.Throughout, the text preserves the three-layer format standard for Islamic esoteric manuscripts: English translation, ALA-LC transliteration, and the original Arabic script for every prayer, Quranic verse, and invocation. Anecdotes from the lives of the early Sufis — including Ibrahim ibn Adham, al-Junayd, and others — illustrate the principles of repentance, contraction, expansion, and spiritual realization. Read more