Infamies of the Soul and Their Treatments

Translated by Musa Furber.

Infamies of the Soul (ʿUyub al-nafs) is one of Islam’s earliest comprehensive theories for the purification of the soul. In this short guide, the hadith narrator, Shafiʿi legist, and historian of the early sufis, Imam Abu ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Sulami, presents sixty-nine wicked traits and habits of the soul, including anger, laziness, negligence, self-pity, envy, avarice, lying, and pride. Each infamy is described with its common causes and treatments, usually with relevant Prophetic narrations and statements from early Muslim sages. These infamies incline the soul toward evil and self-reproach. Treating them restores its serenity and certainty. With this translation, English readers can now benefit from the simplicity and practicality of Imam al-Sulami’s classic self-help manual that Arabic readers have utilized for the past millennium.