in which the Shaykh cited manuscript sources. We have therefore inserted those citations in square brackets, sparing the reader needless effort and making consultation easier.
In the same way, we placed the additional benefits and expansions in the spots we considered most suitable, and we inserted each of the scholarly rejoinders found in the preface to al-Ṣifah in its proper place. We also corrected certain reference numbers that we discovered to be in error, and updated others that pointed to older impressions so that, in most cases, they now correspond to the Shaykh’s newer editions—though we did not pursue every single instance.
Furthermore, we were able to examine the Shaykh’s own copy of Ṣifat al-Ṣalāh issued by Maktabat al-Maʿārif. In it we found a number of corrections and additions; these we have incorporated, drawing attention to some of them, while enclosing the remainder between the two symbols ﴿ ﴾. Everything that appears between those symbols yet is absent from the printed Ṣifah comes from the Shaykh’s personal copy.
There are three subjects that the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, did not cover in this archetype. We have therefore inserted them in full from the printed edition and indicated this beneath each heading. They are: “Praying on the Minbar” (p. 113); “Intention” (p. 174); and “The Permissibility of Reciting Only al-Fātiḥah” (p. 411).
Conversely, we found a chapter present in the archetype but missing from the printed Ṣifah: “Clothing in the Prayer” (p. 145). We wished to draw attention to this here.
We also remind the reader that the Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—often refers in this book to passages already mentioned or yet to come. Some of those passages do not appear as prominent headings; see, for example, “Raising the Hands When Bowing” (p. 708) and similar cases. Let the reader bear this in mind, so that he does not expend effort searching for a heading worded exactly that way; he will certainly recognize it among the main titles.
To make this still easier, we have placed the relevant page number in [ ] wherever we found