Al-Ghazali on Disciplining the Soul & on Breaking the Two Desires

'Al-Ghazali on Disciplining the Soul' is a translation of the twenty-third book of the 'Revival of the Religious Sciences' (Ihya Ulum al-Din), which is widely regarded as the greatest work of Muslim spirituality. In 'Al-Ghazali on Disciplining the Soul', Abu Hamid al-Ghazali illustrates how the spiritual life in Islam begins with `riyadat al-nafs', the inner warfare against the ego. The two chapters translated here detail the sophisticated spiritual techniques adopted by classical Islam in disciplining the soul. In Chapter One, 'Disciplining the Soul', Ghazali focuses on how the sickness of the heart may be cured and how good character traits can be acquired. In Chapter Two, 'Breaking the Two Desires', he discusses the question of gluttony and sexual desire-being the greatest of mortal vices-concluding, in the words of the Prophet, that 'the best of all matters is the middle way'. The translator, T. J. Winter, has added an introduction and notes which explore Ghazali's ability to make