In the Kitâbu l-Adhkâr , An-Nawawi, author of “The Gardens of the Devoted” presents the Invocations to God and the expressions of the Remembrance of Allah ( Dhikr ) traditionally transmitted to be used 'night and day' in every situation, which be it specifically ritual occasions or normal circumstances of existence. There are countless blessings that believers can draw in their traditional life from this book, strictly based on the Sources of the Prophetic Sunna .

page 810

Publisher's Preface

The drafting of the text popularly and for brevity called (even by its author himself) Kitâbu l-adnkâr ('Book of Expressions of the Remembrance of Allah'), but whose real title is Hilyatu l-abrâr wa shi'âru l-akhyâr fi talkhîsid-daawât wa l-adnkâri l-mustahabba fi 1-layli wa n-nahâr ('The ornament of the pious and the emblem of the good in the breviary of the Invocations and expressions of the Remembrance of God recommended by night and day') , was started by Muhiyyu d-Din Abû Zakariya Yahyâibn Sharaf An-Nawawi, then thirty-six years old, on Thursday 24 Ramadan of the year 666 from the Hegira (corresponding to 7 June 1268), and ended a few months later, in the month of Muharra 667 (late September / early October 1268).

We are therefore about three and a half years before the 'Gardens of the Devotees' (in Arabic Riyâdu s-sálihin, finished composing on 4 Ramadan 670, or 4 April 1272), a text with which the Kitâbu l-adhkar has an obvious relationship . Moreover, approximately half of the hadith reported in the Kitâbu l-adhkâr are also present in the Riyâd,' and the two books can be seen as completing each other, to the point of consisting of a doctrinal unicum, so that Najmu d- din Al-Gayti can say: "Hold firmly to the traditional data reported by An-Nawawi, and based on them; and let the eyes of meditation graze freely in the garden of true Wealth! Be constant in frequenting the reserved area represented by his Adnkâr and its Riyâd, and attests to its Way with splendid meaning."

In this preface we refrain from speaking extensively about An-Nawawi, referring to what we have already said about him in our Preface to the Riyâdu s-sâlihîn; we also refer to it for certain general considerations, concerning in particular the sacred and essential character of the prophetic indications, and on the other hand the 'adaptation' sometimes necessary for the implementation of the latter.

As for the content of the Kitâbu l-adnkâr, we will first notice that it is placed within a "strand" conventionally referring to the works of the night and the day, books in which operational indications are given regarding the Invocations and expressions of the Remembrance of Allah to be pronounced on all occasions of the 'traditional life' of believers, who, as An-Nawawi says in his Introduction to the present text, "are committed to obeying Allah, and are assiduous in remembering Him in the evening and in the morning, as states change, and at every moment of the night and day, so that their hearts are illuminated by the splendors of the Lights. More specifically, the reference to the daily cycle including the alternation of night and day, typical of this kind of works, alludes to a diversity of situations (even opposite in a complementary way, such as when rites are being performed in the proper sense of word and when one is instead busy in common life, or when one is in difficulty and vice versa when one is happy, etc.), situations in which the believer finds himself in the flow of existence, an existence which is in fact 'conditioned' and perishable, it is nevertheless consciously subjected to the divine Order (expressed in perfectly timed temporal cycles), and therefore is not at all 'profane'. This conscious conformity to the Order of God also takes place through 'Invocation (duâ) and the Remembrance of Allah (dnikr), which are the object of the Kitâbu l-adnkâr, a book which is therefore eminently and directly 'operational', and thus differentiates itself from the Riyâdu s-sâlihin, which purpose is the pure summary knowledge of the main teachings of the Messenger of Allah.

The terms dua and drikr indicate two different types of ritual expressions: the Invocation of request and the Remembrance of Allah, the first having as its aim the obtaining of some benefit (that which does not escape the dominion of human individuality, being the benefits requested , although largely nothing negligible, essentially relative and contingent), and the second carried out without any earthly objective (expressing a totally disinterested aspiration towards the Absolute, or let's say the Universal). Countless traditional data are reported on the importance of the Remembrance of Allah, such as the Koranic verse in which God says "Remember Me, and I will remember" (1, 152); or again, like the following divine words reported in a hadith qudsiyy: "I am with the thought that My servant has of Me, and I am with him when he remembers Me!" And the Prophet # says: "He who remembers his Lord and he who does not remember Him are respectively like the living and the dead." And moreover, as is said in a verse of poetry reported in one of the editions of the Ki-tâbu l-adnkâr used by us,

"How can the lover forget the memory of a Beloved whose name is written in his heart?"

As for the Invocation, the Prophet # said: "The Invocation is i-

identifies with ritual Adoration." And he said: "The Invocation is the Weapon of the believer, it is the Support of Religion, and it is the Light of the Heavens and the earth." And again: "It does not reject the Principial Decree if not the Invocation, and it does not prolong life except Piety." or óio

The difference between dua and dhikr as postulated by us, however, takes on a more nuanced aspect if we consider on the one hand that the dua according to Truth is a 'convocation' (since the 'invocation' would not take place if it were not permitted by God, so that in it there is undoubtedly a truly divine and supra-individual element, not to mention how many duâ are handed down directly from the Messenger of Allah #, a beautiful example and prototype of the universal Man, and therefore a Bridge that door from the contingent to the Eternal), and on the other hand that the dnikr has a very real 'use' (representing for example one of the Doors of metaphysical Realisation, so as to be used in this sense by initiatory organisations). Here we are certainly not far from the truth if we maintain that du'â and diikr represent two different but at the same time close modalities; one could also say that these are only two sides of the same coin, that 'Holy Word' that the servant addresses to Allah on the one hand by addressing His most pure Knowledge in incantatory remembrance in an 'ascending' manner, and on the other seeking the blessing and providential "descent" of His Presence with the Invocation, actually carried out by His Order (which explains among other things how it is defined by the Prophet himself in the hadith cited above as "Light of the Heavens and the Earth" ").

The summary title Kitâbu l-adnkâr therefore reveals an unexpected logical coherence: if in fact due to the need to find a synthetic title only the reference to the adnkâr (pl. of dnikr) remains and the one to the da awât (pl. of dưa),' is because the dnikr, in its more properly metaphysical aspect, 'includes' in a certain way the duâ, and logically comes before it, so that the Invocation must be considered, at least from a certain point of view, as a derivation of 'Remembrance', or say as a mode of dhikr.

The Kitâbu l-adnkâr therefore unfolds in the presentation of the main Islamic tradition data (Koranic and prophetic) which contain the fundamental indications relating to the formulas of dua and dnikr to be pronounced in every situation 'of night and day', which constitutes the most important part of the book. An-Nawawi then adds, in the study of the various topics, on the one hand the opinions of the major exponents of his juridical school (the Shafiite) and on the other a certain number of sayings and aphorisms of Muslim scholars and saints (and this unlike of Riyâd, a work almost completely devoid of such additions); of these two additional elements, the first finds its justification in the fact that those who know the Sacred Law rightly draw deductions from the hadith and the Koran (although there is no doubt that such deductions, at least insofar as they proceed from the element ' rational' and not from pure metaphysics, possess a certain margin of arbitrariness, and therefore do not have the same character of infallibility typical of properly "traditional' data), while the latter constitute vice versa the testimony of how men can reach such a spiritual level to fully understand the meaning, or rather the purpose, of the sacred Data, be it the Koran or hadith." From the foregoing, one can easily understand the value and importance of the Ki-tâbu l-adnkâr. As evidence of its usefulness, a well-known saying attributed to certain Islamic scholars will suffice: "Sell the house, and buy [the Book of] the adnkâr". May Allah make it easier for believers and all Muslims to correctly understand and use it in practice. of this text!

The Arabic text of the Kitâbu l-adnkâr was established by us on the basis of four printed editions: 1) the one published without date by Dâru I-Argam ibn Abi l-Argam; 2) the critical edition published in 2005 by DâruI-minhâj, based on the oldest manuscript, written in 695 by Hegira following the dictation of one of An-Nawawi's students, Ibn Al-'Attâr; 3) the text entitled Lawâmiu l-adnkâr, published in 2014 by the publishing houses Dâru bni Kathir and Dâru l-kalimi t-tayyib, with some commentary notes by Mu-hiyyu d-Din Mestû; 4) the one entitled Al-futûhâtu r-rabbâniyya alâ l-adnkâri n-nawâwiyya, with a complete commentary by Muhammad ibn'Allân.Publisher's Preface
The drafting of the text popularly and for brevity called (even by its author himself) Kitâbu l-adnkâr ('Book of Expressions of the Remembrance of Allah'), but whose real title is Hilyatu l-abrâr wa shi'âru l-akhyâr fi talkhîsi
d-daawât wa l-adnkâri l-mustahabba fi 1-layli wa n-nahâr ('The ornament of the pious and the emblem of the good in the breviary of the Invocations and expressions of the Remembrance of God recommended by night and day') , was started by
Muhiyyu d-Din Abû Zakariya Yahyâ

Sharaf An-Nawawi, then thirty-six years old, Thursday 24 Ramadan of the year 666 from the Hegira (corresponding to 7 June 1268), and ended a few months later, in the month of Muharram
667 (late September / early October 1268).
We are therefore about three and a half years before the 'Gardens of the Devotees' (in Arabic Riyâdu s-sálihin, finished composing on 4 Ramadan 670, or 4 April
1272), a text with which the Kitâbu l-adhkar has a clear relationship. Moreover, approximately half of the hadith reported in the Kitâbu l-adhkâr are also present in the Riyâd,' and the two books can be seen as completing each other, to the point of consisting of a doctrinal unicum, so that Najmu d- din Al-Gayti can say:
"Hold fast to the traditional data reported by An-Nawawi, and based upon them; and let your meditative eyes graze freely in the garden of true Wealth! Be constant
in frequenting the reserved area represented by his Adnkâr and his Riyâd, and attests to his Way with splendid meaning."
In this preface we refrain from speaking extensively about An-
Nawawi, referring to what we have already said about him in our Preface to the Riyâdu s-sâlihîn; we also refer to it for certain general considerations, concerning in particular the sacred and essential character of the prophetic indications, and on the other hand the 'adaptation' sometimes necessary for the implementation of the latter.
As for the content of the Kitâbu l-adnkâr, we will first notice that it is placed within a "strand" conventionally referring to the works of the night and the day, books in which operational indications are given regarding the Invocations and expressions of the Remembrance of Allah to be pronounced on all occasions of the 'traditional life' of believers, who, as An-Nawawi says in his Introduction to the present text,
"they are committed
in obeying Allah, and are assiduous in remembering Him in the evening and in the morning, in changing states, and in every moment of the night and day, so that their hearts are illuminated by the splendors of the Lights. "2
More specifically, the reference to the daily cycle
understanding
of the alternation of night and day, typical of this type of work, alludes to a diversity of situations (even opposite in a complementary way, such as when one is performing rites in the proper sense of the word and when one is instead busy with common life , or when one is in difficulty and vice versa when one is happy etc.), situations in which the believer finds himself in the flow of existence, an existence which if in fact 'conditioned' and perishable, is not less consciously subjected to divine Order (expressed in perfectly timed temporal cycles), and therefore not 'profane' at all.
This conscious conformity to the Order of God also takes place through the Invocation (duâ) and the Remembrance of Allah (dnikr), which are the object of the Kitâbu l-adnkâr, a book which is therefore eminently and directly 'operational ', and thus differentiates itself from the Riyâdu s-sâlihin, whose aim is the pure summary knowledge of the main teachings of the Envoy of
Allah幾.
The terms dua and drikr indicate two different types of ritual expressions: the Invocation of request and the Remembrance of Allah, the first having as its aim
obtaining
some benefit (what
it does not escape dominion
of human individuality, the benefits requested being, although largely negligible, essentially relative and contingent), and the second carried out without any earthly objective (expressing a totally disinterested aspiration towards the Absolute, or let's say the Universal).
Countless traditional data are reported on the importance of the Remembrance of Allah, such as the Koranic verse in which God says "Remember Me, and I will remember" (1, 152); or again, like the following divine words reported in a hadith qudsiyy: "I am with the thought that My servant has of Me, and I am with him when he remembers Me!" And the Prophet # says: "He who remembers his Lord and he who does not remember Him are respectively like the living and the dead." And moreover, as is said in a verse of poetry reported in one of the editions of the Ki-tâbu l-adnkâr used by us,
"How can the lover forget the memory of a Beloved whose name is written in his heart?"
As for the Invocation, the Prophet # said: "The Invocation is i-
identifies with ritual Adoration." And he said: "The Invocation is the Weapon of the believer, it is the Support of Religion, and it is the Light of the Heavens and the earth." And again: "It does not reject the Principial Decree if not the Invocation, and it does not prolong life except Piety."
The difference between dua and dhikr as postulated by us, however, takes on a more nuanced aspect if we consider on the one hand that the dua according to Truth is a 'convocation' (since the 'invocation' would not take place if it were not permitted by God, so that in it there is undoubtedly a truly divine and supra-individual element, not to mention how many duâ are handed down directly from the Messenger of Allah #, a beautiful example and prototype of the universal Man, and therefore a Bridge that door from the contingent to the Eternal), and on the other hand that the dnikr has a very real 'use' (representing for example one of the Doors of metaphysical Realisation, so as to be used in this sense by initiatory organisations). Here we are certainly not far from the truth if we maintain that du'â and diikr represent two different but at the same time close modalities; one could also say that these are only two sides of the same coin, that 'Holy Word' that the servant addresses to Allah on the one hand by addressing His most pure Knowledge in incantatory remembrance in an 'ascending' manner, and on the other seeking the blessing and providential "descent" of His Presence with the Invocation, actually carried out by His Order (which explains among other things how it is defined by the Prophet himself in the hadith cited above
# "Light of the Heavens and the Earth'").
The summary title Kitâbu l-adnkâr therefore reveals an unexpected logical coherence: if in fact due to the need to find a synthetic title only the reference to the adnkâr (pl. of dnikr) remains and that to the
from awât (pl. of dưa),'
it is because the dnikr, in its more properly metaphysical aspect, 'understands' in a certain way the duâ, and comes logically before it, so that the Invocation must be considered, at least from a certain point of view, as a derivation of the 'Remembrance', or let's say as a mode of dhikr.
The Kitâbu l-adnkâr therefore unfolds in the presentation of the main Islamic tradition data (Koranic and prophetic) which contain the fundamental indications relating to the formulas of dua and dnikr to be pronounced in every situation 'of night and day', which constitutes the most important part of the book. An-Nawawi then adds, in the study of the various topics, on the one hand the opinions of the major exponents of his juridical school (the Shafiite) and on the other a certain number of sayings and aphorisms of Muslim scholars and saints (and this unlike of Riyâd, a work almost completely devoid of such additions); of these two additional elements, the first finds its justification in the fact that those who know the Sacred Law rightly draw deductions from the hadith and the Koran (although there is no doubt that such deductions, at least insofar as they proceed from the element ' rational' and not from pure metaphysics, possess a certain margin of arbitrariness, and therefore do not have the same character of infallibility typical of properly "traditional' data), while the latter constitute vice versa the testimony of how men can reach such a spiritual level to fully understand the meaning, or rather the purpose, of the sacred Data, be it the Koran or hadith."
From the foregoing, the value and importance of the Ki-tâbu l-adnkâr can easily be understood. As evidence of its usefulness, a well-known saying attributed to certain Islamic scholars will suffice: "Sell the house, and buy [the Book of] the adnkâr". May Allah make it easier for believers and all Muslims to correctly understand and use it in practice. of this text!
The Arabic text of the Kitâbu l-adnkâr was established by us on the basis of four printed editions: 1) the one published without date by Dâru I-
Argam ibn Abi l-Argam; 2) the critical edition published in 2005 by Dâru
I-minhâj, based on the oldest manuscript, written in 695 by the Hegira following the dictation of one of An-Nawawi's students, Ibn Al-'Attâr; 3) the text entitled Lawâmiu l-adnkâr, published in 2014 by the publishing houses Dâru bni Kathir and Dâru l-kalimi t-tayyib, with some commentary notes by Mu-hiyyu d-Din Mestû; 4) the one entitled Al-futûhâtu r-rabbâniyya alâ l-adnkâri n-nawâwiyya, with a complete commentary by Muhammad ibn
'Allân.