Al Mathal al A‘lā – The Likeness of the One Without Semblance


Al Mathal al A‘lā – The Likeness of the One Without Semblance

A Commentary on Aṣ-Ṣalat al Mashishiyyah
of Mawlai ‘Abd as-Salam Ibn Mashish
by Abu Faydan Faridi

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Al Mathal al A’la is a commentary of the classic Salat al Mashishiyyah, which, is well known in the central and western Islamic World, and is a regular part of the invocative tradi­tions of the Shadhiliyyah and many other Sufi orders.

The compiler of As-Salat al Mashishiyyah, Mawlai Abd as Salam Ibn Mashish, was the master of Imam Abul Hasan Ash-Shadhili, the founder saint of the Shadhiliyyah Sufi Order – may Allah be pleased with them. By his own testimony, this particular salutation was vouchsafed to him by the Noble Prophet Muhammad – ﷺ – in a mystical encounter, and is thus a pearl of incomparable luster from the treasure troves of the gnostic legacy of the Prophet. Anyone who recites it regularly with sincere devotion cannot but derive great spiritual benefit from it.

(Read more about the order/tariqa on Wikipedia.)

With his contemporary commentary on the ancient prayer, Shaykh Abu Faydan Faridi aims at making the gnostic contents of the prayer accessible to spiritually perceptive readers, and introducing it to to those who wish to benefit from it.