Oeuvre

The Known Ghazalian Corpus: an overview

Know O kind reader, as with any author of his period and fame, many of al-Ghazālī’s works are missing or mislabeled; error prone copies and a host of technical problems brought about by the ravages of time and tumultuous political climate, not to mention scrupulous “publishers” have had their effect on what we have today. It is without a doubt that the Ghazalian corpus fared better than many of his contemporaries. fortuna non omnibus aeque.

CONSPECTUS OF GHAZĀLĪ’S AUTHENTIC WORKS

• Jurisprudence (al-fiqhi wa isulihi): [for a more detailed listing see JLT]
  • al-Taʿliqa (The commentary) [M:1; A:1]
  • al-Mankhul min taʿliqat al-iṣul. [M:2; A:2; GAL. no 52; K:11936]
  • al-Basiṭ (The explained) [M:3, A:3, GAL no 48].
  • al-Wasiṭ fi al-mathab (The medium [digest] in the [jurisprudential] school [M:4; A:4; GAL I, 424]
  • al-Wajiz fi fiqh al-imam al-shafiʿi. [M:5?, 36; A:36; GAL I, 424; K:14191]
  • Khulaṣat al-mukhtaṣr wa naqawat al-muʿtaṣr (The nector of the summary and the clarified pulp) [M:6]
  • Kitab tahẓib al-uṣul (Pruning on legal theory)
  • Ghayat al-ghawr fi diryat al-dawar (On the question of divorce) [M:15, 58]
  • al-Mustaṣfa min ʿilm al-uṣul. (The clarified from legal theory). [M:59 ; A:63; GAL,S. I. 754, no 51; K:11936]
  • Asas al-qiyas (Foundation of analogical [reasoning]). [M:67; A:61]
  • Fatawy al-Ghazali (Verdicts of al-Ghazālī)

• Sufism & Ethics (al-taṣuwaf wal akhlaq) :  [for a more detailed listing see SE]
  • Mizan al-ʿamal, (Criterion of Action) [M:21; A:21]
  • Iḥyaʾ ʿulum al-din (Revival of Islamic Knowledge) – [M:28; A:28; GAL, I, 422, S., I, 748] See Ihyaʾ entry below for more information.
  • al-Imalaʾ ʿala Ishkalat al-Iḥyaʾ (Notes on Iḥyaʾs Questionables) [M:61]
  • Bidayat al-hidayah (Beginning of Guidance). [M:35; A:35]
  • al-ʾAraʿbin fi iṣul al-din (the Forty fundamentals of religion) [M:38, 95; A:38; GAL, I, 421, no 1 & S., I, 746]
  • Kimiya-ye saʿadah (Alchemy of Happiness) [M:45; A:45] – Persian
  • Ayah al-wald al-muḥib (O’ Beloved Son) [M:46; A:46; GAL, I, 423; K:6010] – Persian
  • Naṣiḥat al-muluk (Counseling Kings). [M:47; A:47; GAL, I, 423 no 30 & S., I, 750] – Persian
  • Zad akhart (Provision for the hereafter) [M:48] – Persian
  • al-Munqidh min al-ḍalal (Rescuer from Error). [M:56; A:56]
  • Sir al-ʿalamian wa kashf maʾ fi al-darian (Secret of the two worlds and uncovering what is two abodes) [M:60]
  • Minhaj al-ʿabidin (Methodology for the Worshipers) [M:64]
• Theology (ʿilm al-Kalam wa iṣul al-din): [for a more detailed listing see Theology]
  • al-Mustaẓhiri or Fadaʾih al-baṭiniyya wa faḍaʾil al-mustaẓhiriyya (Infamies of the Batinies) [M:22; A:22; GAL, S., I, 747, no 23a]
  • Ḥujat al-ḥaq (Proof of the Truth) [M:23]
  • al-Iqtiṣad fil- ʿitiqad (Median in Belief). [M:24; A:25]
  • al-Risala al-qudsia (The Jerusalem Epistle). [M:25; A:26, 133]
  • Mufaṣil al-khilaf (Clarifer of the Disagreement) [M:31]
  • Qawaṣim al-baṭinyah awa jawab al-masaʾil al-ʾarbaʿ al-lati saʾalaha al-baṭiniya bi-hamadhan (Backbreakers of the Esoterics -aka- Answer to the Four Questions that the Esoterics Queried in Hamadan) [M:32]
  • al-Maqṣad al-ʾasna fi sharah ʾasmaʾ Allahu al-husna (The best means in explaining Allah’s Beautiful Names) [M:33; A:33; K:7475, 12790]
  • Jawahir al-qurʾān wa duraruh (Jewels of the Qurʾān and its Pearls). [M:37; A:37; GAL, I, 421, no 1 & S., I, 746]
  • Fayaṣl al-tafriqa bayn al-Islam wa-l-zandaqa (The Criterion of Distinction between Islam and Clandestine Unbelief) [M:43; A:43; GAL, S., I, 747 no 13]
  • Mishkat al-anwar (The Niche of Light). [M:52; A:52, 257, 258; GAL S., I, 751]
  • Iljam al-ʿawamm ʿan ʿilm al-kalam (Warding off the Masses from Sciences of Theology) [M:63; A:71; GAL. S: I, pp.746-747 no 11 & 12; K:1129]
  • Al-ḥikmah fi makhluqat illah (Wisdom in God’s Creation) [M:74; A:81; GAL no 43]
  • Qanun al-ta’wil (Methodology of Interpretation) [M:162; A:162]

• Philosophy and Logic (falsafa wal manṭiq):  [for a more detailed listing see PL]
  • al-Muntakhal fi al-jadal, (The elect in Dialectics) [M:7; A:7; K:13089]
  • Maqaṣid al-falasifah (Aims of Philosophers) [M:17; A:16; GAL, I, 425, S., I, 755]
  • Tahafut al-falasifa (Incoherence of philosophers). [M:16; A:17; GAL, I, 425, S., I, 754]
  • Miʿyar al-ʿilm fi fan al-manṭiq (Criterion of Knowledge in the Art of Logic) [M:18; A:18]
  • Miḥak al-naẓar fi al-manṭiq (Touchstone of Reasoning in Logic) [M:20; A:20]
  • al-Maḍnun bihi ʿala ghyar ahlihi (On the Soul) [M:39; A:39; K:12214, 13243]
  • al-Qisṭas al-mustaqim (The Correct Balance) [M:42; A:42; GAL, S., I, 749, no 28]
  • Maʿarij al-qudus fi madarij maʿrifat al-Nafs (Ascent to the Divine through the path of self-knowledge) [M:76; A:76; GAL, I, 426 no 64a & 64g, S., I, 751]

• Other Works: [for a more detailed listing see Other]
  • Maktubat imam ghazālī (Correspondences of Imam Ghazālī) [M:325] =? Faḍaʾilul al-anam min rasaʾili ḥujjat al-Islam. [M:346; A:346] Persian
  • Majmuʿt Rasiʾl al-Imam al-Ghazālī – collection of the smaller works (treatises and epistles)