Page:A Moslem seeker after God - showing Islam at its best in the life and teaching of al-Ghazali, mystic and theologian of the eleventh century (IA moslemseekeraft00zwem).pdf/185



ORE by far is known of Al-Ghazali from his writings than from the records of his life. The meagre facts of the biographers and even the spelling of his name, as we have seen, are disputed. His pen, however, left so large a legacy that many of his works are still found only in rare manuscripts, and have never been published. Moslem writers mention ninety-nine works, and Brockelmann in his "History of Arabic Literature" catalogues sixty-nine which are still in existence. They include systems of theology, eschatology, works on philosophy, lectures on mysticism, on ethics, and on canon law.

Many have assigned to Al-Ghazali the highest position among all Moslem writers. Ismael Ibn Mohammed Al Hadrami says: "Mohammed the son of Abdullah was the Prince of all the Prophets; Mohammed the son of Idris Al-Shafi was the Prince of Imams; but Mohammed the son of Mohammed,the son of Mohammed Al-Ghazali, was the Prince of Writers."

We have interesting evidence of Al-Ghazali's position as a writer even in his own day in the pre-