Al-Ghazālī The Marvels of the Heart Book 21 of the Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm Al-dīn, The Revival of the Religious Sciences

'Marvels of the Heart' is considered to be one of the key volumes of the 40-book Ihya ulum-al Din, Revival of the Religious Sciences, one of the most read works in the Muslim world after the Quran, and considered by many to be the Summa Theologica of Islam. These traditional teaching stories, which use the theme of the heart as a mirror, illustrate key tenets of Islam on the requirements of religion, living in society, and the inner life of the soul.This is a classic Sufi manual on the science of the heart. Ghazali uses a series of traditional Sufi teaching stories to illustrate the theme of the heart as a mirror. The light of the divine sun can only shine in the heart when the seeker recalls the Prophet's teaching that everything has a polish, and the polish of hearts is the remembrance of God. Bad character traits, acquired through faulty upbringing, are like 'a smoke which clouds the heart's mirror'; this is the 'heart's rust' mentioned in the Koran. But the one who has polished his heart is made luminous by God's light, and brings that light to others, which is the quality of sainthood.https://fonsvitae.com/product/al-ghazali-the-marvels-of-the-heart-science-of-the-spirit-book-xxi-of-the-revival-of-the-religious-sciences/