KëmëyÃÂ-yi Sa'ÃÂdat ( ) is a book written by Abà « ḤÃÂmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-GhazÃÂlë, a Persian theologian, philosopher, and prolific Muslim author, often regarded as one of the greatest systematic thinkers and mystics of Islam, in Persian. The Kimiya-yi Sa'ÃÂdat was written towards the end of his life shortly before 499 AH/1105 AD. During the time before it was written, the Muslim world was considered to be in a state of political, as well as intellectual unrest. Al-GhazÃÂlë, noted that there were constant disputes about the role of philosophy and scholastic theology, and that Sufis became chastised for their neglect of the ritual obligations of Islam. Upon the release of this book, the Kimiya-yi sa'ÃÂdat allowed al-Ghazali to considerably cut the tensions between the scholars and mystics. Kimiya-yi sa'ÃÂdat emphasized the importance of observing the ritual requirements of Islam, the actions that would lead to salvation, and avoidance of sin. The factor that set the Kimiya-yi sa'ÃÂdat apart from other theological works at the time was its mystical emphasis on self-discipline and asceticism.
The Kimiya-yi Sa'ÃÂdat and its subsequent translations begin with citing some councils of the Prophet. Overall, the Kimiya-yi sa'ÃÂdat has four principal parts of ten chapters each:
Sa'ÃÂda (happiness) is a central concept in Islamic philosophy used to describe the highest aim of human striving. Sa'ÃÂda is considered to be part of the "ultimate happiness", namely that of the hereafter. Only when a human being has liberated his/her soul completely from its corporal existence, and arrives at what is called "active intellect". Al-Ghazali believed in practical-ethical perfection and that by exercising his God-given capacity for reason man must be drawn to the spiritual alchemy that transforms the soul from worldliness to complete devotion to God. This alone, he believed, could produce ultimate happiness. GhazÃÂlë's teachings were to help man to live a life in accordance with the sacred law, and by doing so gain a deeper understanding of its meaning on the Day of Judgement.
Kimiya or KimiÃÂ (Alchemy) is an applied and mystical science that has been studied for centuries. In its essence, KimiÃÂ represents a complete conception of the universe and relations between earthly beings and the cosmos. Religious philosophers emphasized its importance as a religious discipline. Due to its spiritual dimensions KimiÃÂ is considered the noblest of all occult sciences (i.e. astrology and various kinds of magic). Ghazali was himself a believer that everything on Earth is a manifestation of God's spirit, thus everything belongs to kimiÃÂ.
It is a common misconception that the Kimiya-yi sa'ÃÂdat is a rewrite of the IḥyÃÂâ² 'Ulà «m al-Dën. IḥyÃÂâ² 'Ulà «m al-Dën was written by al-Ghazali after abandoning his duties as a professor due to a "spiritual crisis", which led him to live in seclusion for several years. It was composed in Arabic, and was an attempt to show ways in which the lives of a Sufi could be based on what is demanded by Islamic law. There are definite parallels between IḥyÃÂâ² 'Ulà «m al-Dën and Kimiya-yi sa'ÃÂdat, however the four introductory chapters of the Kimiya-yi sa'ÃÂdat contain relevant theological discussions that set the two apart. The Kimiya-yi sa'ÃÂdat is noticeably shorter than the IḥyÃÂâ² 'Ulà «m al-Dën, however in the original Persian introduction of the Kimiya-yi sa'ÃÂdat, GhazÃÂlë explicitly states he wrote Kimiya-yi sa'ÃÂdat to mirror the essence of IḥyÃÂâ² 'Ulà «m al-Dën and a few of his other theological writings; he wrote it in Persian so that it could reach a broader, popular audience in his homeland.
From its original Persian form the Kimiya-yi sa'ÃÂdat has been translated into Urdu, Turkish, Azerbaijani, and German. Husayn-Khadiv-i Jam edited the first half of the Persian text nearly two decades ago. This version is considered to be the most beneficial, as it improves upon the past editions by Ahmad Ahram and Muhammad Abbasi. It was translated into the Bengali language by Mirza Muhammad Yusuf Ali as Soubhaggô Spôrà Âômôá¹Âi in 1895.
In 1910, Claud Field published an abridged translation of the Kimiya-yi Sa'ÃÂdat utilizing the Urdu translation of the Persian text as well as an earlier English paraphrase of a Turkish translation by Muhammad Mustafa an-Nawali. Elton L. Daniel, a professor of Islamic history at the University of Hawaii, compared the texts given to him by Claud Field to the Persian edition and reorganized the sequence of the chapters and paragraph divisions in order to get them to correlate better with the original Kimiya-yi Sa'ÃÂdat. He also added annotations indicating the areas in which Field's translation varies from the original Kimiya-yi Sa'ÃÂdat, where certain texts were omitted/condensed, and identifies many of the individuals and Qur'anic citations found in the text. The most recent translation of Kimiya-yi sa'ÃÂdat was published in 2008 and was translated by Jay Crook. Most scholars agree that nothing can compare to a complete and fresh translation from the original Persian text.
<blockquote> God has sent on Earth a hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets to teach men the prescription of this alchemy, and how to purify their hearts from baser qualities in the crucible of abstinence. This alchemy may be briefly described as turning away from the world, and its constituents are four: Knowledge of Self, Knowledge of God, Knowledge of this world as it really is, Knowledge of the next world as it really is. </blockquote>