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The Alchemy of Happiness

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The Alchemy of Happiness
Alchemy of Happiness.png
Cover of a 1308 Persian copy held in the Bibliothèque nationale de France
AuthorAl-Ghazālī
Original titleKimiya-yi Sa'ādat (Persian: کیمیای سعادت)
TranslatorMuhammad Mustafa an-Nawali, Claud Field, Jay Crook
CountryPersia
LanguageClassical Persian
SubjectIslamic ethics and Philosophy
Publication date
Early 12th century
LC ClassB753.G33
Part of a series on Islam
Sufism
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Tomb of Abdul Qadir Gilani, Baghdad, Iraq
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Kīmīyā-yi Sa'ādat (Persian: کیمیای سعادت English: The Alchemy of Happiness/Contentment) is a book written by Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ghazālī, a Persian theologian, philosopher, and prolific Sunni Muslim author, often regarded as one of the greatest systematic thinkers and mystics of Islam, in Persian.[1] The Kimiya-yi Sa'ādat was written towards the end of his life shortly before 499 AH/1105 AD.[2] During the time before it was written, the Muslim world was considered to be in a state of political, as well as intellectual unrest. Al-Ghazālī, noted that there were constant disputes about the role of philosophy and scholastic theology, and that Sufis became chastised for their neglect of the ritual obligations of Islam.[3] Upon the release of this book, the Kimiya-yi sa'ādat allowed al-Ghazali to considerably cut the tensions between the scholars and mystics.[3] Kimiya-yi sa'ādat emphasized the importance of observing the ritual requirements of Islam, the actions that would lead to salvation, and avoidance of sin. The factor that set the Kimiya-yi sa'ādat apart from other theological works at the time was its mystical emphasis on self-discipline and asceticism.[3]

Discover more about The Alchemy of Happiness related topics

Persian language

Persian language

Persian, also known by its endonym Farsi, is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and used officially within Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan in three mutually intelligible standard varieties, namely Iranian Persian, Dari Persian and Tajiki Persian. It is also spoken natively in the Tajik variety by a significant population within Uzbekistan, as well as within other regions with a Persianate history in the cultural sphere of Greater Iran. It is written officially within Iran and Afghanistan in the Persian alphabet, a derivation of the Arabic script, and within Tajikistan in the Tajik alphabet, a derivation of the Cyrillic script.

Al-Ghazali

Al-Ghazali

Al-Ghazali, full name Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad aṭ-Ṭūsiyy al-Ġazzālīy, and known in Persian-speaking countries as Imam Muhammad-i Ghazali or in Medieval Europe by the Latinized as Algazelus or Algazel, was a Sunni Muslim Persian polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theorists, muftis, philosophers, theologians, logicians and mystics of the Islamic Golden Age.

Philosopher

Philosopher

A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term philosopher comes from the Ancient Greek: φιλόσοφος, romanized: philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek thinker Pythagoras. In the classical sense, a philosopher was someone who lived according to a certain way of life, focusing upon resolving existential questions about the human condition; it was not necessary that they discoursed upon theories or commented upon authors. Those who most arduously committed themselves to this lifestyle would have been considered philosophers.

Structure

The Kimiya-yi Sa'ādat and its subsequent translations begin with citing some councils of the Prophet. Overall, the Kimiya-yi sa'ādat has four principle parts of ten chapters each:

  1. Ebādāt (religious duties)
  2. Monjīāt (salvation)
  3. Mu'amalat (human relations aspect of Islam)
  4. Mohlekāt (damnation)

Sa'āda

Sa'āda (happiness) is a central concept in Islamic philosophy used to describe the highest aim of human striving.[4] Sa'āda is considered to be part of the "ultimate happiness", namely that of the hereafter. Only when a human being has liberated his/her soul completely from its corporal existence, and arrives at what is called "active intellect". Al-Ghazali believed in practical-ethical perfection and that by exercising his God-given capacity for reason man must be drawn to the spiritual alchemy that transforms the soul from worldliness to complete devotion to God. This alone, he believed, could produce ultimate happiness.[3] Ghazālī's teachings were to help man to live a life in accordance with the sacred law, and by doing so gain a deeper understanding of its meaning on the Day of Judgement.[5]

Kimiya

Kimiya or Kimiā (Alchemy) is an applied and mystical science that has been studied for centuries. In its essence, Kimiā represents a complete conception of the universe and relations between earthly beings and the cosmos.[6] Religious philosophers emphasized its importance as a religious discipline. Due to its spiritual dimensions Kimiā is considered the noblest of all occult sciences (i.e. astrology and various kinds of magic). Ghazali was himself a believer that everything on Earth is a manifestation of God's spirit, thus everything belongs to kimiā.[6]

Iḥyā′ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn

It is a common misconception that the Kimiya-yi sa'ādat is a rewrite of the Iḥyā′ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn. Iḥyā′ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn was written by al-Ghazali after abandoning his duties as a professor due to a "spiritual crisis", which led him to live in seclusion for several years. It was composed in Arabic, and was an attempt to show ways in which the lives of a Sufi could be based on what is demanded by Islamic law.[7] There are definite parallels between Iḥyā′ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn and Kimiya-yi sa'ādat, however the four introductory chapters of the Kimiya-yi sa'ādat contain relevant theological discussions that set the two apart. The Kimiya-yi sa'ādat is noticeably shorter than the Iḥyā′ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn, however in the original Persian introduction of the Kimiya-yi sa'ādat, Ghazālī explicitly states he wrote Kimiya-yi sa'ādat to mirror the essence of Iḥyā′ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn and a few of his other theological writings; he wrote it in Persian so that it could reach a broader, popular audience in his homeland.[8]

Translation and editing

From its original Persian form the Kimiya-yi sa'ādat has been translated into Urdu, Turkish, Azerbaijani, and German. Husayn-Khadiv-i Jam edited the first half of the Persian text nearly two decades ago. This version is considered to be the most beneficial, as it improves upon the past editions by Ahmad Ahram and Muhammad Abbasi.[2]

In 1910, Claud Field published an abridged translation of the Kimiya-yi Sa'ādat utilizing the Urdu translation of the Persian text[3] as well as an earlier English paraphrase of a Turkish translation by Muhammad Mustafa an-Nawali.[2] Elton L. Daniel, a professor of Islamic history at the University of Hawaii,[3] compared the texts given to him by Claud Field to the Persian edition and reorganized the sequence of the chapters and paragraph divisions in order to get them to correlate better with the original Kimiya-yi Sa'ādat. He also added annotations indicating the areas in which Field's translation varies from the original Kimiya-yi Sa'ādat, where certain texts were omitted/condensed, and identifies many of the individuals and Qur'anic citations found in the text. The most recent translation of Kimiya-yi sa'ādat was published in 2008 and was translated by Jay Crook. Most scholars agree that nothing can compare to a complete and fresh translation from the original Persian text.[8]

God has sent on Earth a hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets to teach men the prescription of this alchemy, and how to purify their hearts from baser qualities in the crucible of abstinence. This alchemy may be briefly described as turning away from the world, and its constituents are four: Knowledge of Self, Knowledge of God, Knowledge of this world as it really is, Knowledge of the next world as it really is.[9]

Discover more about Translation and editing related topics

Urdu

Urdu

Urdu or Standard Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan, where it is also an official language alongside English. In India, Urdu is an Eighth Schedule language whose status and cultural heritage is recognized by the Constitution of India; it also has an official status in several Indian states. In Nepal, Urdu is a registered regional dialect and in South Africa it is a protected language in the constitution. Urdu is also spoken as a minority language in Afghanistan and Bangladesh, with no official status.

Turkish language

Turkish language

Turkish, also referred to as Turkish of Turkey, is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant smaller groups of Turkish speakers also exist in Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Greece, Cyprus, other parts of Europe, the Caucasus, and some parts of Central Asia, Iraq, and Syria. Cyprus has requested the European Union to add Turkish as an official language, even though Turkey is not a member state. Turkish is the 13th most spoken language in the world.

Azerbaijani language

Azerbaijani language

Azerbaijani or Azeri, also referred to as Azeri Turkic or Azeri Turkish, is a Turkic language from the Oghuz sub-branch spoken primarily by the Azerbaijani people, who live mainly in the Republic of Azerbaijan where the North Azerbaijani variety is spoken, and in the Azerbaijan region of Iran, where the South Azerbaijani variety is spoken. Although there is a very high degree of mutual intelligibility between both forms of Azerbaijani, there are significant differences in phonology, lexicon, morphology, syntax, and sources of loanwords.

German language

German language

German, or more precisely High German, is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Western Europe and Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a co-official language of Luxembourg and Belgium, as well as a recognized national language in Namibia. Outside Germany, it is also spoken by German communities in France (Bas-Rhin), Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary (Sopron).

Elton L. Daniel

Elton L. Daniel

Elton L. Daniel is a historian and Iranologist.

Source: "The Alchemy of Happiness", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2022, November 30th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Alchemy_of_Happiness.

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Further Reading

Jami

Islamic sciences

Ayn al-Quzat Hamadani

Qadi Baydawi

Ruku

Sufi literature

Ahmad Ghazali

Maqam (Sufism)

The Revival of the Religious Sciences
See also
References
  1. ^ Bowering, Gerhard. "ḠAZĀLĪ, ABŪ ḤĀMED MOḤAMMAD, I." Encyclopædia Iranica. Print
  2. ^ a b c Bowering, Gerhard. "[Untitled]." Rev. of The Alchemy of Happiness Translated by Claud Feild and Revised by Elton L. Daniel. Journal of Near Eastern Studies July 1995: 227-28. Print
  3. ^ a b c d e f Bodman Jr., Herbert L. "(untitled)." Rev. of The Alchemy of Happiness Translated by Claud Feild and Revised by Elton L. Daniel. Journal of World History Fall 1993: 336-38. Print.
  4. ^ Daiber, H. "Saʿāda." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2010. Brill Online. Augustana. 8 April 2010 http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=islam_SIM-6361>
  5. ^ Schimmel, Annemarie. "The Period of Cinsolidation: From Shibli to Ghazali." Mystical Dimensions of Islam. North Carolina: Chapel Hill, 1975. 94-97. Print.
  6. ^ a b Pierre, Lory. "KIMIĀ". Encyclopedia Iranica.
  7. ^ Watt, Montgomery. "Ghazali, /Abu /Hamed /Mohammad, ii, iii." Encyclopedia Iranica. 1-12. Print.
  8. ^ a b Netton, Ian R. "(Untitled)." Rev. of The Alchemy of Happiness Translated by Claud Field. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Apr. 1993: 117-18. Print.
  9. ^ Ghazzālī, and Claud Field. The Alchemy of Happiness. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1991. Print. here
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