“Life is short, time is precious, death near; and the distance to travel great, while the moment of standing before God to account for everything, however insignificant, is daunting and hard,” writes Imam al-Haddad.

This volume contains 40 short essays that revolve around or touch upon the topic of the Hereafter, the ultimate destination of all people. With these essays, Imam al-Haddad offers concise reminders about what the spiritual aspirant needs to focus on in the moments and days of his or her brief life, all in preparation for the Last Day and the eternal abode that follows. For the last two centuries, this book has been a popular spiritual treatise of Muslims throughout the Islamic World.

About The Author

Imam Abd Allah ibn Alawi al-Haddad was born in 1634 CE (1044 Hijri). He lived his entire life in the town of Tarim in Yemen’s Valley of Hadramawt and died there in 1720 CE (1132 Hijri). In Islamic history, he was considered one of the great Sufi sages. He was an adherent to the Ashari Sunni Creed of Faith (Aqeedah), while in Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh), he was a Shafi’i.

He lived at Tarim in the Hadramaut valley between Yemen and Oman and is widely held to have been the ‘renewer’ of the twelfth Islamic century. A direct descendant of the Prophet, his sanctity and direct experience of God are clearly reflected in his writings, which include several books, a collection of Sufi letters, and a volume of mystical poetry. He spent most of his life in Kenya and Saudi Arabia where he taught Islamic jurisprudence and classical Sufism according to the order (tariqa) of the Ba’Alawi sayids.