an-Nawawi - The Book of Remembrances [Kitab al-Adhkar]

Turath Publishing aims to translate important reference works from the Islamic tradition into the English language and to advance the learning, knowledge, and study of the legacy of the great scholars of Islam.

We publish collections of hadith compiled by the first generations of Islam, classical manuals of sacred law, works on the principles of law, Quranic exegesis and other traditional subjects.

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ABOUT THE EDITOR

Dr. Muhammad Isa Waley is Curator of Persian and Turkish Collections at the British Library, London. Born in 1948, he embraced Islam in London in 1974. He holds an m.a. in Oriental Studies from the University of Cambridge and a ph.d. in Persian Literature from the University of London. He is at present head of the Research and Publishing Sub-committee of The Islamic Manuscripts Association. His main research interests are the bibliographic, palaeographic and codicological aspects of Islamic manuscripts, and the classical verse and prose literature of Islamic spirituality in Persian, Arabic and Turkish. He has extensive experience in the field of editing, having worked in this capacity for Dar al-Taqwa, Mountain of Light, Al-Furqan Foundation, Turath Publishing, and a number of eminent Muslim scholars.

The Book of

REMEMBRANCES

KITB AL - ADHKR

Imm Yaya ibn Sharaf an-Nawaw

Revised and edited by

MUHAMMAD ISA WALEY

Copyright: 1435/2014, Turath Publishing,
ISBN: 978-0-9547380-0-6

Published by:
Turath Publishing
79 Mitcham Road
London sw17 9pd
442087673666
www.turath.co.uk

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, without written permission of the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
al-Nawaw, Yay ibn Sharaf
The Book of Remembrances: The Kitb al-Adhkr
I. Title

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DEDICATION

For my grandparents: Ahmad Batha and
Maryam Batha, Qari Mufti Mahmoud Pandor,
Khadijah Pandor and Aisha Pandor.
And for my wifes grandparents who were her inspiration:
Hakim Ismail and Maryam Ismail Hakim.

&

In remembrance of my beloved father
Maulana Muhammad ibn Ahmad Batha
whose constant encouragement
enabled me to stay the course.

May Allah illuminate their place of rest and
raise them up in the company of those
He has completely forgiven, Amn.

Romanization Table

al- (but following sun letters, ad-, ar-, as-, ash-, at-, az-, etc.) In du or dhikr texts, elision is marked with hyphen instead of apostrophe; and long vowels have no macron sign () where pronounced as short ones. Examples: ihdina--irta-l-mustaqm; Allhumma-jaln muflin.

Publishers Preface

I N THE NAME of Allah, most merciful and compassionate. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone without partners; and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. I invoke the blessings of Allah and His peace upon on His final Messenger, Muhammad, his family and companions, along with all those who follow them in goodness till the Day of Rising.

Among the narrations that Imam at-Tirmidh transmits in his collection is a hadith from Anas who relates that the Messenger of Allah said: Du is the very essence of worship.

Worship itself, according to the text of the Qurn, is the meaning of our existence; and du lies at its core and is, in essence, a pure expression of utter neediness. A man resorts to du only when he realises that he has no one to turn to but Allah, and this is the fullest affirmation of tawd, or the Oneness of Allah, in the life of the believer.

In this book, Imam an-Nawaw gathers the dus transmitted from the Messenger of Allah , encompassing every movement and stillness, from the great events of lifebirth, marriage, deathto the seemingly mundanewaking up, dressing, eatingthrough to the distressing eventsillness, danger, loneliness; all of these are presented as opportunities to turn to Allah in ubdiyyah, or submissive dependency, with du. But this book is more than a simple collection of prayers. Interspersed amongst its chapters are passages expounding the etiquette of du, how to guard the tongue from its deadly sins, and the moments of acceptance that the believer can seize upon.

We present the translation of each du in italicised text; this is then followed by the Arabic text of the du cited. Where the text of the du appears within a wider discussion, we present the Arabic at the end of the passage to avoid disrupting the natural flow of the text. A transliteration of the du into roman script appears immediately after the Arabic and we have included a guide to assist the reader in using the system of transliteration. Translations of the Qurn are presented in bold text.

It is my hope that the reader will find in this publication a rich source of spiritual nourishment that will see them through to the Next World in safety and well-being.

I am indebted to my dear friend, Mufti Abdur-Rahman Mangera of White Thread Press, for bringing this work to our attention and for the final layout and design. I also owe thanks to the translators, Idris Esau, Safaruk Zaman Chowdury and Abdassamad Clarke. Many thanks are due to Sheikh Bilal Patel for highlighting portions of the