points another to a good deed will receive a reward equal to that of the one who performs it,” and that he said, “Whoever calls people to guidance will have a reward equal to the rewards of all those who follow him, without those rewards being diminished in the least,” and that he said to ʿAli (may Allah be pleased with him), “By Allah, for Allah to guide a single person through you is better for you than a herd of red camels.”

Therefore I resolved to compile a concise collection of sound hadiths that would serve its reader as a pathway to the Hereafter, gather together both his inward and outward courtesies, and unite encouragement and deterrence along with every variety of etiquette required of the wayfarers: reports on renunciation, disciplines for the soul, refinement of character, purification and treatment of hearts, safeguarding the limbs and correcting their deviations, and other objectives sought by those of spiritual insight.

In this work I pledge to mention nothing but plainly authentic narrations drawn from the celebrated canonical collections. I shall begin each chapter with noble verses from the Glorious Qur’an, and I shall adorn whatever requires precise vocalization or the clarification of a subtle meaning with select explanatory notes.