The Prophetic traditions address all aspects of man’s earthly life, as well as the spiritual life, the path to the world beyond  impermanence. This is a collection of over 200 such  traditions, drawn from the canonical collections of ḥadīth and from other authoritative  traditional sources.
This present work is the first in a European language to collect over two hundred of the most spiritual hadith, drawn from canonical collections and other authorative traditional sources,  published in both the original Arabic and in English to which illuminating commentaries, drawn from the writings of Sufis from Hasan al-Basrī, al-Ghazali, Junayd, and Shaykh al-‘Alawi and his spiritual progeny have been added. 

The Prophet received the initiative power (walāyah) from God and transmitted it to certain Companions, especially ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, and that reality resulted in the establishment and developmentof the Islamic esoteric tradition identified mostly with Sufism. The present collection of ahādīth, therefore, reveals a very important dimension of the Prophet’s being, one that is often neglected in modern studies of him not only by non-Muslim Westerners but also by even many Muslim biographers.

This collection also provides precious knowledge of many aspects of the Islamic esoteric tradition itself.

The author is to be congratulated for makin such a unique work of spiritual value available to the French reader especially at a time when the dark clouds of hatred and suspicion of Islam cover much of the sky of Europe. This two-volume work will surely be of great value both to those in search of authentic esoteric knowledge and to those who seek in all honesty a more complete picture of the inward as well as outward reality of the Prophet of Islam."
                 — Seyyed Hossein Nasr
 
This work will surely be of great value both to those in search of authentic esoteric knowledge and to those who seek in all honesty a more complete picture of the inward as well as outward reality of the Prophet of Islam.
 
 The traditions (ahādīth) of the Prophet of Islam are, after the Quran, the most important source for every aspect of Islamic life and thought, and include subjects ranging from prayer to economic activity, hygiene to politics, ethics to aesthetics, and law to metaphysics.
 
Moreover, beyond concern for all the domains of man’s terrestrial life, they include a number of hādīth that are, properly speaking, initiatic and esoteric and are meant for those who wish to follow, while still in this world, the spiritual path beyond the world of impermanence and becoming, and leading to the abiding Presence of the Divine  (al-tarīqah ila’Llāh).
 
I was sent a copy of this book by computer in Madinah. I happened to be sick and unable to leave my room. I could not stop reading it. By the time I was finished, I was well again. It is a wonderful book, with beautiful insights into the spiritual secrets of our Beloved’s words.
Imam al-Haddad said that the reason Imam al-Ghazali ended his life reading only the Quran and Hadith is that his station was so high and his state so elevated that by then only direct revelation could nourish his soul. This book is a feast with  wonderful explanations ingredients of the soul nourishing Hadiths and their benefits to one’s spiritual health.
-Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson
 
This most precious volume is unique in bringing together original Arabic ahadith, English translations and commentaries from traditional and spiritual luminaries of Islam till our days. This book will be an invaluable resource for teachers and scholars intent on illustrating the foundations of the Islamic cultivation of the soul and contemplative science of the heart in the Prophetic exemplar.
— Patrick Laude, Professor, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Qatar
 
. . . a representative collection of the textual Sunna that has been the central thread of the intellectual heritage of the Muslim world for over fourteen centuries. Each ḥadīth is accompanied with commentaries drawn from the broad expanse of scholarly perspectives that provide a mirror for the essential ideals and values that constitute the cloth of the Islamic community’s social and communal identity.  This well annotated and meticulously worded translation focuses attention upon the mutually complementary facets of the esoteric and exoteric aspects of Islamic thought. 
— Dr. Kenneth Honerkamp, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
 
This is  the best introduction to the nature of the Prophet for the spiritually sensitive Western reader. It is truly indispensable and necessary reading for any serious student of Islam, especially those interested in essential and decisive tassawuf, as its origins may  be discerned in the nascent period of the Tradition. These works reveal the heart of Islamic spirituality, rooted in the nature of things, as Din al-Fitra, or Primordial Monotheism, as it existed prior to hundreds of years of the vicissitudes of history and theological opinions. This book is a splendid complement to mMatin Lings’ biography of the Prophet.
— Barry MacDonald

Tayeb Chouiref is a French scholar, translator and teacher.  He has translated from Arabic into French and commented upon the books Letters on the Prophet and other Letters on the Spiritual Path by Shaykh al-'Arabî al-Darqâwî, The Book of Science and The Book of Patience by al-Ghazâlî, and The Mahdî and his Advisors by Ibn 'Arabî. Tayeb Chouiref also teaches Arabic.
 
Edin Q. Lohja has studied theoretical physics before turning to the study of traditional thought. He has translated and edited over 60 volumes in the field of metaphysics, spirituality, and Islamic intellectual tradition, in Albanian, English, and Bosnian. His latest translations in English include Patrick Laude's Louis Massignon: The Vow and the Oath (London: Matheson Trust Monographs, 2011).
 
Jane Fatima Casewit is a writer, translator, and educator who lives in Morocco. She has a background in linguistics and education and completed her undergraduate and graduate work in France and the United Kingdom.
Her interests focus on comparative religion and traditionalist studies, particularly in the area of West African Islam and Sufism.

Details:

• Editorial ‏ : ‎ Fons Vitae (December 1, 2011) 
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 380 pages 
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1891785856