Dear Beloved Son

To counsel others is an easy matter, the difficulty is accepting advice since it is bitter for those who follow their own inclination and desire. They love the forbidden from the depth of their hearts. This is more applicable to seekers of knowledge and students of learning, those of them who are busy with the benefits of this world. They believe that mere abstract knowledge, without proper action, will rescue them. This is the belief of the philosophers. Praise and Glory be to Allah, the Greatest of all. They do not know this much, that when they acquire knowledge, if they do not work according to it, the indictment against them is certain. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said "The person most severely punished on the Day of Judgment is the learned one who did not follow Allah's guidance and did not benefit from his knowledge"

Table of contents

 Foreword XI

Translator’s Introduction XV

1st Counsel Revelation 1

2nd Counsel Time 2

3rd Counsel Knowledge 3

4th Counsel Allah’s Mercy 5

5th Counsel Evaluation 8

6th Counsel Intention 10

7th Counsel Death 11

8th Counsel Hypocrisy 12

9th Counsel Action 13

10th Counsel The Grave 14

11th Counsel Sleep 16

12th Counsel Dhikr 17

13th Counsel Tahajjud 19

14th Counsel Obedience 20

15th Counsel Shariah 21

16th Counsel Aqidah 23

17th Counsel Companionship 25

18th Counsel Spiritual Guide 30

19th Counsel Referral 35

20th Counsel Rationale 36

21st Counsel Devotion 37

22nd Counsel Da’wah 38

23rd Counsel Contemplation 48

24th Counsel Du’a 50

Arabic Edition 53