Every once in a while one comes upon a book that is so beautiful, so precious, and so valuable that it becomes like a companion almost, cherished and frequently consulted for its pearls of wisdom and the comfort it brings. Dear Beloved Son is just such a book, the kind of book that has pride of place on your bookshelf, the kind of book you want to gift to all your friends and family, the kind of book often found on your bedside table. It’s a tiny book, the size of my hand, and only 52 pages long (100 pages if you count the arabic version included in it). You could easily read it on the bus, on your way to and from work, in one day.

So what is so special about it? Well, every page of this book contains such priceless gems that you will probably read each page again and again during your lifetime. The book is basically a letter written by Imam Ghazali to one of his students, upon the latter’s request for advice that would suffice him for the remainder of his life; even though this student had been with the Imam for many years, and had learned much from him, he still felt the need for a kind of ‘pocketbook’ that he could refer to time and again at different stages of his life. This request gave birth to the contents of Dear Beloved Son, one of the last pieces of writing ever written by the Imam.

The booklet contains 24 pieces of advice touching on every aspect of human life. The object of focus throughout is the next life, the real life, to which we are all heading, and towards which all our actions must be aimed; hence, every counsel in this book keeps this fact uppermost. The Imam begins with confirming that all sound advice and good counsel originates from the book of Allah and the sunnah of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam); he proceeds with an emphasis on the value of time and our need to use it wisely; he warns of the trap of acquiring knowledge without practising what one has learned; and so on, till he has covered all the important points.

One of the characteristics of Imam Ghazali’s writings is the simplicity and conciseness of his works. He always gets straight to the point, to the core of the matter, often making use of Quranic verses and the hadiths of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) to support what he is saying. To give an example, his advice on the brevity of this life: ”Live as long as you may, for verily you must die. Love whomever you wish, for one day you must taste its separation. And do what you will, you will be rewarded accordingly.”

This book will come in handy during those times when your strength of iman feels at an all-time low, when the difficulties of this world seem to get the better of your faith, and when you feel really distant from your Creator. During such times of darkness, picking up this book and absorbing the advice in it is very helpful, giving you a much-needed nudge in the right direction and putting things in their proper perspective.