Zād-e āḵerat is a treatise on everyday religious practices, with some extra sections on theological issues. At the request of a group of religious people, Ghazali wrote Bedāyat al-hedāya (in Arabic) for followers (ʿawāmm) who lacked the intellectual wherewithal to benefit from the Kīmīā-ye saʿādat and the Eḥyāʾʿolum al-dīn. Nonetheless, because they were Persian, it was useless to them. He then translated it into Persian and named it Zād-e āḵerat.Footnote 1
It addresses aspects of daily life such as waking up, dressing, going to the mosque, praying, fasting, and so on, as well as various forms of supplicatory prayer and ways to avoid sin. The treatise concludes with a section on “the proper social conduct toward people.” At the end, Ghazali advises anyone interested in learning more about such topics to read the Kīmīā-ye saʿādat and, for a more in-depth study, the Eḥyāʾʿolum al-dīn.
The treatise was published twice in India in the nineteenth century and once in Iran in the twentieth century. However, none of these versions was reliable. Because the manuscripts they used were invalid, and their editing methodology was unscientific. Sāket and Gāzi decided to create a new edition based on the oldest known manuscripts of the treatise.
After introducing the writer, Ghazali, and the treatise, the editors go on to describe in detail the manuscripts they have access to and their method for editing the text. Following that, the text of the treatise and its variants are presented; the reader can see that this treatise had at least two versions, one short and one longer. The editors have chosen the oldest manuscript, which is a shorter version of the treatise, as the main text. They then provide a detailed commentary on the text, with translations of Arabic citations into Persian and references to Ghazali's other works, particularly the Kīmīā-ye saʿādat and the Eḥyāʾʿolum al-dīn. Appendices contain names, terms, and Qurʾanic verses. The book ends with a bibliography.
This scholarly edition offers a reliable version of one of Ghazali's works in Persian for the first time, which can serve as a foundation for further study and translation into other languages.
