By Imam Abu 'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Taimiyya. Translated by Muhtar Holland
This is a commentary by this famous Imam on the Futuh al-Ghaib, a
collection of 78 discourses by Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani. In it is
to be found the clear approval that the Imam had for the Sufi path,
provided that the commandments of the Sacred Law (Shari'a) are
faithfully observed. In it Ibn Taimiyya extols several of the great Sufi
saints (awliya'), and elucidates many of the discourses of Shaikh 'Abd
al-Qadir. This may surprise those who have been informed that Imam ibn
Taimiyya was opposed to Sufism and was hostile to it. It is a fact that
the Imam himself was a sufi, haven taken the cloak (khirqa) of the
Qadiris from Imam ibn Qudama.