Commentary on Revelations of the Unseen (Sharh Futuh al-Ghaib)

By Imam Abu 'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Taimiyya. Translated by Muhtar Holland.
This is a commentary by this famous Imam on the Futuh al-Ghaib, a collection of 78 discourses by Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani. In it is to be found the clear approval that the Imam had for the Sufi path, provided that the commandments of the Sacred Law (Shari'a) are faithfully observed. In it Ibn Taimiyya extols several of the great Sufi saints (awliya'), and elucidates many of the discourses of Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir. This may surprise those who have been informed that Imam ibn Taimiyya was opposed to Sufism and was hostile to it. It is a fact that the Imam himself was a sufi, haven taken the cloak (khirqa) of the Qadiris from Imam ibn Qudama.