The Art of Cultivating Noble Character: Raghib al-Isfahani's Kitab al-Dhari'a ila Makarim al-Shari'a

The Means to the Noble Qualities of the Sacred Law (Kitab al-Dhari'a ila Makarim al-Shari'a) is Imam Raghib al-Isfahani's treatise on ethics, examining how the soul's faculties may be cultivated toward the noble character that the Sacred Law intends. The work weaves Qur'anic principles together with philosophical inquiry into human nature, offering readers a rigorous yet accessible account of moral virtue and spiritual refinement.

The treatise opens with a discussion of the human condition, the soul's faculties, and the distinguishing excellence of the human being among creatures. Imam Raghib al-Isfahani examines the purpose for which man was created, the standing of the human being between the animal and the angelic, and the qualifications for the vicegerency of God on earth. He addresses the purification of the self as a condition for that vicegerency, the contest between reason and desire, and the difference between innate disposition and acquired character—including whether character can be changed and why people differ in their moral formation.

This edition presents Yasien Mohamed's translation of the Arabic original, edited by Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera following a three-year review process. It is well suited to students of Islamic ethics and philosophy, and to readers seeking a deeper grounding in the sources of Islamic virtue.