In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The jurist, scholar, and ḥadith master Shams al-Dīn, Abū ʿAbd Allah Ibn (1) Abī Bakr Ibn Ayyūb al-Zurʿī (2), widely known as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya—may Allah forgive him and raise his rank in Paradise, amen—said:
All praise is due to Allah, who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth so that He might cause it to prevail over every other faith; who supported him with manifest signs and dazzling miracles (3), the greatest of which is the Quran; who reinforced him with the angels of heaven, fighting before him like seasoned horsemen; who aided him with the east wind, which battled on his behalf against the people of deviation and aggression; who likewise granted him victory by casting terror into the hearts of his enemies when a month’s journey still lay between them and him; and who raised up for him troops from the Emigrants and the Helpers, fighting at his side with the sword and the arrow.
(1) Manuscript Z contains the additional wording “Abi Abd al-Rahman” after “bin Abi.” I have deleted it, since none of the author’s biographical sources mentions this name; see Bakr Abu Zayd, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah: His Life, Works and Sources, p. 17. — Manuscripts H and Ma read: “the shaykh, the imam, the erudite scholar, unrivalled in his age and peerless in his time, shaykh al-Islam and of the Muslims, the suppressor of innovation and the innovators, Shaykh Shams al-Din….”
(2) In manuscript H, immediately after “al-Zurʿi” appears the phrase: “Imam of al-Jawziyyah, may God prolong his life and restore his blessings to the Muslims.” — The second edition sponsored by Azza al-Attar and Mahmud Sukkar prints: “(known as Ibn Qayyim al-Madrasah al-Jawziyyah, may God have mercy on him).” — The 1414 AH Khanji Library edition reads: “Imam of al-Jawziyyah, may God prolong his life and restore his blessings to the Muslims.”
(3) Manuscript H has “wa-din al-haqq” (and the religion of truth) instead of “wal-muʿjizat” (and the miracles).