And when your resolve for seclusion has become firm, to render to the Truth what is due from the self,
And the taking hold of it by the hand, so let knowledge be your agent over it,
And be searching for the hidden treasures of its desire, that perhaps you may be saved,
And beware that you follow the path of either of two men:
A scholar who was known for disputation in jurisprudence, so he became content with his leadership,
Or he attained the judgeship and strove to preserve his position,
Or he embellished the admonitions and narrowed the meshes of his net.
Or an ascetic who keeps shifting his corrupt opinion in his ignorance,
And he seeks closeness by kissing his hand, becomes accustomed to his blessing, and acts according to his whims instead of God's law and His Sunnah.
Thus these two have strayed from the path of truth,
They are content with the outward shells of deeds, away from the pure core,
Two deceivers of beginners with the gleam of the mirage,
And their path is apart from the practices of the pious predecessors,
which is the straight path of uprightness, and a small portion of safety.
God willing, I will include in this book for you from their accounts,
what guides you to their traces.
And this book of ours is needed by the advanced student,
Just as the beginner needs it,
For it contains the inner secrets of the acts of worship,
and warning against the ills of dealings,
And I have brought it to you arranged according to the order of the Book of Revival,
because of my knowledge of your preference for that arrangement.
My success is only by God.
I put my trust in Him and turn back to Him in repentance.
I named this my book "The Guide for the Seekers and the Benefit of the Sincere."
And I ask God, Glorified and Exalted, to benefit us by it.
And whoever reads it, or hears it, or looks into it,
And make it purely for His Generous Face,
and that He grant us a good ending,
And enable us to do what pleases Him in our speech, deeds, and intentions,
and that He forgive us for our shortcomings and carelessness,
and do not leave us to ourselves even for the blink of an eye,
and not to any of His creatures,
He is sufficient for us, and the best disposer of affairs.
