The Secret of Secrets

Translated by Shaykh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi al-Halveti.

The Secret of Secrets, considered one of the greatest works of classical Sufi mysticism and interpreted here for the first time in English by Shaykh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi, was written by ‘Abd al Qadir al-Jilani (1077-1166), the eponymous founder of the Qadiriya order, the first of the great Sufi brotherhoods which radiate throughout the Islamic world.

The Secret of Secrets reveals in a brief compass the very essence of Sufism, showing how outward practices such as prayer, fasting and almsgiving contain a wealth of inner dimensions which must be discovered and enjoyed if external actions are to be performed in a manner pleasing to God. When this is achieved the soul finds true peace and the spiritual life becomes complete. The book forms a bridge between two of the author’s more famous works, Wealth for the Seekers (Ghunyat al-Talibin), and his Openings of the Unseen (Futuh al-Ghayb).