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14
PREFACE

be on other and better evidence than that which is now before us."

At any rate, Ghazzali has been accepted as an orthodox authority by the Muslims, among whom his title is Hujjat-el-Islam, "The Proof of Islam," and it has been said, "If all the books of Islam were destroyed it would be, but a slight loss if only the Ihya of Ghazzali were preserved." The great modern reformer of Islam in India, the late Sir Syud Ahmed, has had some portions of this enormous work printed separately for the purpose of familiarising the young Muslims at Aligarh with Ghazzali.

The Ihya was written in Arabic, and Ghazzali himself wrote an abridgment of it in Persian for popular use which he entitled Kimiya'e Saadat ("The Alchemy of Happiness"). This little book contains eight sections of that abridgment.

Theologians are the best judges of theologians, and in conclusion we may quote Dr. August Tholuck's opinion of Ghazzali: "This man, if ever any have deserved the name, was truly a 'divine,' and he may be justly placed on a level with Origen, so remarkable was he for learning and ingenuity, and gifted with such a rare faculty for the skilful and worthy exposition of doctrine. All that is good, noble, and sublime that his great soul had compassed he bestowed upon Muhammadanism, and he adorned the doctrines of the Koran with so much piety and learning