Reader's Corrigenda

Al-Riʿāya li-Ḥuqūq Allāh — Al-Muḥāsibī (d. 243/857)

Translation by Claude Opus 4.6 from the ʿAṭāʾ edition (4th printing)
Verified by Gemini 3.1 Pro cross-chapter review

Key Terms to Read Carefully

fiqh — in Chapter 7.2 (The Book of Ghurra), Muḥāsibī uses fiqh in its early
Qur'anic sense: deep, fearful comprehension of God's majesty and commands. This is
not the later technical discipline of legal jurisprudence (ḥalāl/ḥarām). His
argument in that chapter is precisely a critique of those who mistake legal fluency
for the real fiqh — which is knowledge that produces fear of God. When the
translation says "jurisprudence", read "deep religious understanding."

murāqaba — rendered variously as "vigilant self-watchfulness", "vigilant awareness",
"watchful self-observation." Preferred reading throughout: God-consciousness — the
constant awareness of being under God's gaze. Distinct from:

muḥāsaba — self-reckoning, the practice of holding one's own intentions and acts
to account. Murāqaba is the ongoing awareness; muḥāsaba is the periodic audit.

gharīza — rendered once as "instinct." Read as innate disposition — a divinely
implanted faculty or nature. The word carries none of the post-Darwinian biological
determinism that "instinct" implies in modern English.

ḍamīr — rendered as "conscience" in Chapter 1.5. Read as inward/hidden intent —
the concealed thought or purpose in the heart. Not the modern psychological faculty
of moral self-judgement.

irāda — rendered as "desire" in the definition of riyāʾ (Chapter 4.1 and
vicinity). Read as active will-direction — the deliberate orienting of intent
toward something. In Muḥāsibī's framework, this carries full volitional culpability;
softening it to "desire" weakens the theological force of the muḥāsaba system.

maʿrifa — rendered variously as "knowledge", "gnosis", "spiritual cognition",
"experiential knowledge." Read as realized knowledge — internalized, certain
awareness, distinct from ʿilm (transmitted, formal knowledge). Muḥāsibī writes
before the strict esoteric/exoteric binary of later Sufism; do not read Ghazālian
or later senses into this word.

himma — rendered as "concern", "intention", or "aspiration." Read as
focused resolve — the gathering of the heart's cognitive and volitional energy
toward God. Closer to "earnest striving" than to vague "concern."

nafs — context-dependent. When used in moral/behavioral contexts (struggling
against the self, the self that commands to evil) read as self. In ontological
contexts (God taking the soul) read as soul. The translation does not always
distinguish these.

manzila — rendered as "station" in some passages. In Muḥāsibī's usage this is
a general word for rank or standing, not the later formalized Sufi technical
term maqām (station on the spiritual path).

Quranic Citations

The translation marks direct citations with «double angle brackets» followed by
[surah:ayat]. Al-Muḥāsibī also weaves Qur'anic phrasing allusively into his own
prose without marking it — this is characteristic of his style and intentional.
Where the prose suddenly becomes elevated or rhythmically distinct, a Qur'anic
echo is likely present.

One verified citation error: p. 376 had [7:140]; the correct reference is
[7:146] ("I shall turn away from My signs those who are arrogant in the earth
without right"). This has been corrected in the text.

Pages with Suspected OCR Corruption

The following pages contain passages where the Arabic source text is likely
corrupted — either by the OCR process or by errors in the ʿAṭāʾ edition itself.
These are not translation errors. Treat [damaged] markers and any jarring
non-sequiturs on these pages with corresponding caution:

Edition Note

The ʿAṭāʾ edition (4th printing) is a popular reading edition, not a critical one.
Variant readings are not systematically reported. Where the translation seems
syntactically strained or theologically abrupt, the problem may lie with the
edition rather than the translator. Consult the Beirut critical edition
(Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya) for difficult passages.