What do you think?
Rate this book
Three Spiritual Luminaries of 20th Century Cairo #1
Reassurance for the Seeker: A Biography and Translation of Salih al-Ja'fari's al-Fawaid al-Ja'fariyya, a Commentary on Forty Prophetic Traditions
This book is a unique collection of 40 Prophetic Traditions by one of the most celebrated teachers and spiritual masters of the Azhar Mosque, Sunni Islam's leading institution of knowledge and its most authoritative voice. It provides a glimpse into the scholarly and spiritual traditions of Islam carried forth into our day. Some may have concluded that the saints and sages of Islam ended with such names as Rumi and Ibn Arabi. The knowledge and spiritual depth reached in past centuries does, in fact, continue into the present day. The book includes a biography of the author, a description of his main teachers, and a beautiful treatise by the author's main teacher on a single Prophetic statement in which the Prophet summarizes his own spiritual states. This volume also deals with death, the afterlife, the waking visions of the Prophet, his ability to pray for and intercede for those alive, and nearness to and friendship with God.
260 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
3 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 10, 2016
This book is amazing, subhanallah. The biography made my heart ache, and I wished I could have studied under Shaykh Salih and listened to some of these lectures in person (and understood Arabic, obviously). The stories of Awliya' in general make me yearn for nearness to God more than ever. The hadith commentaries are also very illuminating, and left me feeling like I had new understandings. The appendix featuring a commentary by Shaykh Salih's spiritual ancestor Shaykh Ahmad ibn Idris was also gold. If I have the chance, I'd like to reread this one in the future once I've cleared away a good deal of others I haven't read yet. Until then, the book acts as a great reference. May God reward the Awliya' and the translators for their efforts.
November 9, 2025
Book Review: Reassurance for the Seeker — Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī (Trans. Samer Dajani)
A Biography and Translation of al-Fawāʾid al-Jaʿfariyya — A Commentary on Forty Prophetic Traditions
A Bridge Between the Heart of the Sunnah and the Light of the Saints
Reassurance for the Seeker is far more than a translation of a classical commentary; it is a living encounter with one of al-Azhar’s great inheritors of prophetic wisdom, Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī (1910–1979). Edited and translated by Samer Dajani, the work presents both a biography of the Shaykh and his al-Fawāʾid al-Jaʿfariyya, a commentary on forty prophetic ḥadīth that illuminate the inner path of Islam — faith, remembrance, love, and spiritual refinement.
The biographical opening traces Shaykh al-Jaʿfarī’s lineage to Imam Aḥmad ibn Idrīs, the Moroccan saint whose teachings inspired the Idrīsī and Sanūsī traditions. We are then led through al-Jaʿfarī’s years as an Azhari scholar, teacher, and spiritual guide, known for his luminous durūs at the Mosque of Imam al-Ḥusayn in Cairo — long, melodic lessons that gathered crowds between Jumuʿah and ʿAṣr, blending Qurʾān, ḥadīth, and Sufi poetry into living dhikr.
Overview of the Forty Hadiths
Each of the forty commentaries is a door to a different aspect of spiritual life.
Among them:
Love
Drawing Near
God’s Friends
God’s Fortress
Under His Shade
Fear and Hope
Deep Understanding
Circles of Knowledge
Prayer
The Joy in Prayer
Miracles
The Prophets Are Alive
The Two Graves
The Destined Abode
Visiting Graves
Greeting the Dead
Reciting Yā Sīn for the Dead
Charity for the Dead
Reaping Rewards after Death
Raising the Servant’s Degree
Charity
The Seeds of Goodness
Protection from the Fire
The Traits of the Felicitous
Sacred Matters
Visiting the Righteous
Reverence, Mercy, Recognition
Seeking God through Service
On Account of an Animal
A Garden of Paradise
Blessings upon the Prophet
The Sleep of the Prophets
Visions of the Prophet
The People of Remembrance
Circles of Remembrance
Polishing the Heart
Satan’s Whispers
Formulas of Remembrance
Dealing with God, the Self, and Others
The Three Mosques
Together, they form a spiritual map of Islam’s inner life: faith that tastes sweet (īmān), love that overflows, remembrance that purifies, and mercy that continues even beyond the grave.
Hadith 1: Love — The Essence of Faith
The opening commentary of Reassurance for the Seeker immediately reveals Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī’s method and spiritual depth. Beginning with the hadith narrated by Anas ibn Mālik — that one finds the sweetness of faith when God and His Messenger ﷺ are more beloved to them than all else — the Shaykh unfolds this teaching through a radiant tapestry of Qur’anic verses, classical commentary, and the voices of the saints and lovers of God.
He first anchors the discourse in īmān itself: belief not only as intellectual assent, but as a lived sweetness born of love for God and His Messenger ﷺ. From here, his exegesis expands to the Qur’anic reminders — “If you love God, follow me, and God will love you” (3:31) and “Remember Me, and I shall remember you” (2:152) — showing that divine love is reciprocal: God’s remembrance of His servant surpasses the servant’s remembrance of Him.
From this point, al-Jaʿfarī turns to the voices of the ʿulamāʾ and awliyāʾ, letting each illuminate an aspect of divine love.
Imam al-Ghazālī, “the Proof of Islam,” explains in Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn that love has causes and that its purest cause is gratitude for divine blessings: “Love God for the blessings He gives you.”
Rābiʿa al-ʿAdawiyya, the great early saint, refines this love beyond gratitude into selfless devotion. Her famous words echo through the chapter:
“I love You two loves: a selfish love and a love because You are worthy of it.”
Her selfish love is remembrance and nearness; her selfless love is pure witnessing — the lifting of the veil, the love that expects no paradise but only God Himself.
Shaykh Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn ʿArabī, “the Greatest Master,” contributes from his al-Futūḥāt al-Makkīyya vivid parables of divine and human love — including the story of the swallow who declares before Solomon ﷺ that passionate love speaks in a language beyond intellect, a language known only to lovers.
ʿUmar Ibn al-Fāriḍ, “the Sultan of Lovers,” voices the ecstatic culmination of this discourse. His verses affirm that divine love dissolves all fear and longing in the pure joy of nearness:
“The Beloved of my heart! Love is my intercessor with You...
If that name but enter a man’s mind, gladness shall dwell with him and grief depart.”
Imam al-Būṣīrī, author of the Burda, is also invoked — his poetry carrying the fragrance of Medina and the tears of lovers who remember their Beloved even in absence.
Throughout, Shaykh al-Jaʿfarī weaves the hadith’s teaching into a seamless unity: love as the foundation of īmān, remembrance as its expression, and beauty as its fruit. The chapter closes with verses of longing that bridge asceticism and ecstasy, affirming that true lovers of God are those who “engaged love until they could bear it.”
This first chapter stands as a living portrait of al-Jaʿfarī’s teaching at al-Azhar — devotional, learned, lyrical, and overflowing with mercy. It captures what Reassurance for the Seeker truly is: a meeting place of the sacred and the poetic, where the classical tradition of Islam’s scholars and saints becomes a living discourse on divine love.
Hadith 4: God’s Fortress
Among the most profound narrations is Hadith 4, in which God says:
“I, I am God, there is no god but I. He who admits to My unity enters My fortress, and he who enters My fortress is secure from My punishment.”
Here the Shaykh explains that tawḥīd—the unshakable awareness of Divine Oneness—is not only belief, but protection. Faith itself becomes the fortress that shields the heart from fear. The Arabic text describes ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as Sayyid al-Awliyāʾ (Master of the Saints), a title of luminous beauty that reflects the deep respect given to the family of the Prophet ﷺ and their central role in transmitting spiritual knowledge.
Hadith 17: Reciting Yā Sīn for the Dead
Few passages in the book touched me as personally as this one. The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Recite Yā Sīn over your dead.”
The Shaykh explains that this ḥadīth is a clear encouragement to recite Qur’an on behalf of the deceased. He quotes al-Shinqīṭī:
“The reward of the recitation of the Qur’an reaches the dead if the reader gives it to him as a gift by saying before the recitation, ‘O God, let the reward of what I will read reach so-and-so.’”
This chapter brought me to tears as I read it while remembering my beloved son Omar رحمه الله. The Shaykh continues:
“From this we know that the dead person benefits from the works of the living... like a continuing charity, or the knowledge that he wrote, or the righteous son who succeeds him and prays for him.”
These words struck my heart like light. In them I felt reassurance that every act of remembrance, every recitation, every prayer said for Omar carries reward to him. This single chapter alone is enough to comfort the grieving and remind us that mercy flows continuously between this world and the next.
Hadith 35: Circles of Remembrance
“If you pass by the gardens of Paradise, then eat from them.”
They asked, “And what are the gardens of Paradise?”
He said, “The circles of remembrance.”
In this commentary, Shaykh al-Jaʿfarī recalls hearing this hadith from his shaykh, the gnostic Muḥammad al-Sharīf, son of Aḥmad ibn Idrīs. It is a beautiful continuity of living chains — teachers and students connecting back to the Prophet ﷺ. The Shaykh emphasizes that ḥalaqāt al-dhikr (circles of remembrance) are not mere gatherings, but radiant sanctuaries where God’s mercy descends, echoing the Qur’anic verse, “Remember Me and I will remember you.”
Personal Reflection
I finished this book today. A beautiful brother sent it to me last year, and it has proven to be one of the most beautiful, practical, and blessed commentaries I have ever read. It touched every part of my spiritual life — how to read Qur’an, how to dedicate good deeds to my late son Omar رحمه الله, and how to live remembrance in daily life.
Reading it made me long again for the company of the shuyūkh, for that gentle light of instruction I once knew through my Azhari teachers, especially Shaikh Muhammad Abu Laylah رحمه الله. Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī’s words echo that same grace — teaching without harshness, guiding without ego, reminding us that every act of love and remembrance can be a ladder to God.
Reassurance for the Seeker is not merely a book to read; it is a spiritual companion. Its pages breathe the light of prophetic mercy, its poetry reawakens the heart, and its wisdom reassures the seeker that the path to God is open — through remembrance, through love, and through every prayer whispered for those we love and have lost.
A Biography and Translation of al-Fawāʾid al-Jaʿfariyya — A Commentary on Forty Prophetic Traditions
A Bridge Between the Heart of the Sunnah and the Light of the Saints
Reassurance for the Seeker is far more than a translation of a classical commentary; it is a living encounter with one of al-Azhar’s great inheritors of prophetic wisdom, Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī (1910–1979). Edited and translated by Samer Dajani, the work presents both a biography of the Shaykh and his al-Fawāʾid al-Jaʿfariyya, a commentary on forty prophetic ḥadīth that illuminate the inner path of Islam — faith, remembrance, love, and spiritual refinement.
The biographical opening traces Shaykh al-Jaʿfarī’s lineage to Imam Aḥmad ibn Idrīs, the Moroccan saint whose teachings inspired the Idrīsī and Sanūsī traditions. We are then led through al-Jaʿfarī’s years as an Azhari scholar, teacher, and spiritual guide, known for his luminous durūs at the Mosque of Imam al-Ḥusayn in Cairo — long, melodic lessons that gathered crowds between Jumuʿah and ʿAṣr, blending Qurʾān, ḥadīth, and Sufi poetry into living dhikr.
Overview of the Forty Hadiths
Each of the forty commentaries is a door to a different aspect of spiritual life.
Among them:
Love
Drawing Near
God’s Friends
God’s Fortress
Under His Shade
Fear and Hope
Deep Understanding
Circles of Knowledge
Prayer
The Joy in Prayer
Miracles
The Prophets Are Alive
The Two Graves
The Destined Abode
Visiting Graves
Greeting the Dead
Reciting Yā Sīn for the Dead
Charity for the Dead
Reaping Rewards after Death
Raising the Servant’s Degree
Charity
The Seeds of Goodness
Protection from the Fire
The Traits of the Felicitous
Sacred Matters
Visiting the Righteous
Reverence, Mercy, Recognition
Seeking God through Service
On Account of an Animal
A Garden of Paradise
Blessings upon the Prophet
The Sleep of the Prophets
Visions of the Prophet
The People of Remembrance
Circles of Remembrance
Polishing the Heart
Satan’s Whispers
Formulas of Remembrance
Dealing with God, the Self, and Others
The Three Mosques
Together, they form a spiritual map of Islam’s inner life: faith that tastes sweet (īmān), love that overflows, remembrance that purifies, and mercy that continues even beyond the grave.
Hadith 1: Love — The Essence of Faith
The opening commentary of Reassurance for the Seeker immediately reveals Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī’s method and spiritual depth. Beginning with the hadith narrated by Anas ibn Mālik — that one finds the sweetness of faith when God and His Messenger ﷺ are more beloved to them than all else — the Shaykh unfolds this teaching through a radiant tapestry of Qur’anic verses, classical commentary, and the voices of the saints and lovers of God.
He first anchors the discourse in īmān itself: belief not only as intellectual assent, but as a lived sweetness born of love for God and His Messenger ﷺ. From here, his exegesis expands to the Qur’anic reminders — “If you love God, follow me, and God will love you” (3:31) and “Remember Me, and I shall remember you” (2:152) — showing that divine love is reciprocal: God’s remembrance of His servant surpasses the servant’s remembrance of Him.
From this point, al-Jaʿfarī turns to the voices of the ʿulamāʾ and awliyāʾ, letting each illuminate an aspect of divine love.
Imam al-Ghazālī, “the Proof of Islam,” explains in Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn that love has causes and that its purest cause is gratitude for divine blessings: “Love God for the blessings He gives you.”
Rābiʿa al-ʿAdawiyya, the great early saint, refines this love beyond gratitude into selfless devotion. Her famous words echo through the chapter:
“I love You two loves: a selfish love and a love because You are worthy of it.”
Her selfish love is remembrance and nearness; her selfless love is pure witnessing — the lifting of the veil, the love that expects no paradise but only God Himself.
Shaykh Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn ʿArabī, “the Greatest Master,” contributes from his al-Futūḥāt al-Makkīyya vivid parables of divine and human love — including the story of the swallow who declares before Solomon ﷺ that passionate love speaks in a language beyond intellect, a language known only to lovers.
ʿUmar Ibn al-Fāriḍ, “the Sultan of Lovers,” voices the ecstatic culmination of this discourse. His verses affirm that divine love dissolves all fear and longing in the pure joy of nearness:
“The Beloved of my heart! Love is my intercessor with You...
If that name but enter a man’s mind, gladness shall dwell with him and grief depart.”
Imam al-Būṣīrī, author of the Burda, is also invoked — his poetry carrying the fragrance of Medina and the tears of lovers who remember their Beloved even in absence.
Throughout, Shaykh al-Jaʿfarī weaves the hadith’s teaching into a seamless unity: love as the foundation of īmān, remembrance as its expression, and beauty as its fruit. The chapter closes with verses of longing that bridge asceticism and ecstasy, affirming that true lovers of God are those who “engaged love until they could bear it.”
This first chapter stands as a living portrait of al-Jaʿfarī’s teaching at al-Azhar — devotional, learned, lyrical, and overflowing with mercy. It captures what Reassurance for the Seeker truly is: a meeting place of the sacred and the poetic, where the classical tradition of Islam’s scholars and saints becomes a living discourse on divine love.
Hadith 4: God’s Fortress
Among the most profound narrations is Hadith 4, in which God says:
“I, I am God, there is no god but I. He who admits to My unity enters My fortress, and he who enters My fortress is secure from My punishment.”
Here the Shaykh explains that tawḥīd—the unshakable awareness of Divine Oneness—is not only belief, but protection. Faith itself becomes the fortress that shields the heart from fear. The Arabic text describes ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as Sayyid al-Awliyāʾ (Master of the Saints), a title of luminous beauty that reflects the deep respect given to the family of the Prophet ﷺ and their central role in transmitting spiritual knowledge.
Hadith 17: Reciting Yā Sīn for the Dead
Few passages in the book touched me as personally as this one. The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Recite Yā Sīn over your dead.”
The Shaykh explains that this ḥadīth is a clear encouragement to recite Qur’an on behalf of the deceased. He quotes al-Shinqīṭī:
“The reward of the recitation of the Qur’an reaches the dead if the reader gives it to him as a gift by saying before the recitation, ‘O God, let the reward of what I will read reach so-and-so.’”
This chapter brought me to tears as I read it while remembering my beloved son Omar رحمه الله. The Shaykh continues:
“From this we know that the dead person benefits from the works of the living... like a continuing charity, or the knowledge that he wrote, or the righteous son who succeeds him and prays for him.”
These words struck my heart like light. In them I felt reassurance that every act of remembrance, every recitation, every prayer said for Omar carries reward to him. This single chapter alone is enough to comfort the grieving and remind us that mercy flows continuously between this world and the next.
Hadith 35: Circles of Remembrance
“If you pass by the gardens of Paradise, then eat from them.”
They asked, “And what are the gardens of Paradise?”
He said, “The circles of remembrance.”
In this commentary, Shaykh al-Jaʿfarī recalls hearing this hadith from his shaykh, the gnostic Muḥammad al-Sharīf, son of Aḥmad ibn Idrīs. It is a beautiful continuity of living chains — teachers and students connecting back to the Prophet ﷺ. The Shaykh emphasizes that ḥalaqāt al-dhikr (circles of remembrance) are not mere gatherings, but radiant sanctuaries where God’s mercy descends, echoing the Qur’anic verse, “Remember Me and I will remember you.”
Personal Reflection
I finished this book today. A beautiful brother sent it to me last year, and it has proven to be one of the most beautiful, practical, and blessed commentaries I have ever read. It touched every part of my spiritual life — how to read Qur’an, how to dedicate good deeds to my late son Omar رحمه الله, and how to live remembrance in daily life.
Reading it made me long again for the company of the shuyūkh, for that gentle light of instruction I once knew through my Azhari teachers, especially Shaikh Muhammad Abu Laylah رحمه الله. Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī’s words echo that same grace — teaching without harshness, guiding without ego, reminding us that every act of love and remembrance can be a ladder to God.
Reassurance for the Seeker is not merely a book to read; it is a spiritual companion. Its pages breathe the light of prophetic mercy, its poetry reawakens the heart, and its wisdom reassures the seeker that the path to God is open — through remembrance, through love, and through every prayer whispered for those we love and have lost.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews