and others as well—those who gather in the presence of their shaykh and ours, the master and imām, a nation unto himself, a gallant champion (1), the reviver of the Sunnah and the vanquisher of innovation, the defender of ḥadīth and legal authority for the various factions, the one who lifts the veil from realities (2) and grounds them in the Sharʿī principles for every discerning seeker; the one who unites the outward and the inward, judging openly by the truth while his heart dwells in the highest realms.

He is a model of the Rightly Guided Caliphs and the rightly led imāms—men whose lives have faded from the hearts [ق 105], whose community has forgotten their footsteps and ways. The shaykh revived their memory: he walked the path that had been erased, brought to life what had died of their example, and took firm hold of the reins of their foundations. That shaykh and imām is Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās, Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn ʿAbd al-Salām ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah return his blessing to us (3), raise his rank to the loftiest stations, perpetuate success and rectitude for the honoured men whose names opened this address, and grant them an abundant share and ever-increasing bounty.

Peace be upon you, brothers, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. May Allah make us and you among those whose hearts remain firm when the blows of truth strike, who reckon with Allah whatever of themselves they expend in upholding His religion and whatever they gather and safeguard of that (4); who follow the course of the earliest forerunners from the Emigrants and the Helpers, those whom no blame from any blamer deterred for the sake of Allah. Neither those who abandoned them nor those who opposed them harmed them, despite their small numbers at the outset; yet each one of them nevertheless stood as a combatant upholding the religion of Allah.

We hope, by Allah’s generosity, that He will enable us to act as they did and grant