O Allah! We praise You for having guided us to the straight path. How excellent a Protector and how excellent a Helper You are. We send blessings and peace upon Your great Beloved, our Master Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him), who was sent as a mercy to the worlds, the savior of humanity, the one who led mankind to hudā (guidance), a good example and a perfect leader; and upon his family and Companions (ṣaḥāba), who purified their deeds and attained success, who offered naṣīḥa (sincere counsel) to their brethren and benefited them. Bestow Your generosity upon us through their karāma (saintly wonder). Lead us to their path and unite us with them. Gather us together with them under the banner of Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Surely, You are the most generous and best of those who are sought.
Since the dawn of the sun of Islam, many rebellious enemies have confronted it. They have striven by various methods and different means to destroy its foundations and demolish its structure. Today, we are faced with waves of irreligion coming from both East and West, and with the currents of permissiveness. These currents are leading our youth astray, corrupting our generations, and threatening the future of our faith and thought with a dark end. They frighten our umma with a dangerous collapse and an all-encompassing evil. In this turbulent atmosphere, we can only engage in an intellectual struggle by holding fast to Allah’s firm rope, setting aside subsidiary disagreements arising from ijtihād, and attaching our hearts to Allah. For this, we ask Allah for strength, tranquility, honor, and karāma.
The most important issue for the callers to Islam is to restore the soul of this religion and to open the locks of hearts to it. In every era, the aim of the Sufis (ṣūfiyya) has been to return Muslims to the shade of intimacy with Allah, to the blessings of munājāt (intimate supplication), and to the happiness of nearness.
The enemies of Islam have worked hard to make what Islam teaches appear ugly. They have tried to stain it with passivity and deficiency, and have accused its followers of being behind the times. Thus, they have attacked Islam by various means and prejudiced assaults. Sometimes they have cast doubt upon the reliable schools of fiqh. At other times, in order to undermine Islam’s foundations, they have fabricated baseless statements about the hadith transmitters among the Companions (ṣaḥāba, may Allah be pleased with them). At other times, they have stirred up doubts regarding matters of iman (faith) to corrupt the creed of the umma. We have seen these things in various eras. What is important here is that we remain vigilant and alert in the face of harsh attacks and fabrications directed at Islamic Sufism (taṣawwuf). For it is the essence of Islam, its beating spirit, and its active energy. The liars have sought to make the teachings of taṣawwuf appear ugly. They have depicted it as swimming in a sea of fantasy and philosophy, as weakness, as turning away from the world entirely, as superstition, innovation, and as an escape from the struggle of life. But Allah (glorified and exalted is He) has declared that He will protect and preserve His religion. For this reason, their pens have been broken and their claims have been scattered to the wind. Taṣawwuf has remained as a lantern by which those journeying to Allah find their direction, and as a positive method for spreading Islam and strengthening its structure.
For the reasons I have mentioned, I present this book on taṣawwuf in order to protect it, to separate its essence from its shell, and to manifest the ḥaqīqa (inner realities) related to it, thereby making the Truth manifest and refuting falsehood. I have written it relying upon the Book of Allah, the sunnah of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), the words of the four great imams of the madhhabs, their great scholars and jurists, the usūl scholars and hadith specialists, the imams of taṣawwuf, and the thinkers who have served Islam well. May Allah Most High grant us all the ability to serve Islam and that which He loves and is pleased with. From Him we seek tawfīq (divine enablement) and correctness in word and deed. The beginning is from Him and the end is to Him. My success is in Allah’s hand. In Him I place my tawakkul (reliance), and to Him I turn.
ʿAbd al-Qādir ʿĪsā (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) 24 Ramaḍān 1381 AH / 17 February 1961 CE Aleppo BISMILLAHIRRAHMANIRRAHIM
"In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful"