Nuzhat Ul Majalis In English Guide

Text: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The example of the one who remembers his Lord and the one who does not is like the example of the living and the dead."

Text regarding gathering for Knowledge: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Whenever a group of people sits in a gathering to remember Allah, the angels surround them, mercy covers them, tranquility descends upon them, and Allah mentions them to those near Him."

The book does not condemn the world entirely but warns against excessive attachment. It narrates parables comparing the world to a shadow, a borrowed garment, or a poisonous snake whose antidote is piety.

In pre-modern Islamic societies, people did not have TV or the internet. Knowledge was transmitted through majalis (sitting circles) in mosques, khanqahs (Sufi lodges), or homes. Nuzhat Ul Majalis In English

This book was designed to be read aloud. When a scholar or a pious person would read a chapter of Nuzhat ul Majalis:

Thus, the book became a “delight” — not a shallow entertainment, but a deep joy that purifies the heart. It transformed gatherings from idle gossip into sessions of spiritual elevation.

To understand the book, one must understand its compiler: Shams al-Din Abd al-Rahman bin Abd al-Salam al-Safuri (died 1489 CE / 894 AH). Text: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

Al-Safuri was a distinguished Shafi'i jurist, a Hadith scholar, and a prominent Sufi of the Qadiri order. He hailed from Safur, a village near Baghdad, but his intellectual and spiritual journey took him across the Islamic world, eventually settling in Jerusalem (al-Quds), where he taught and wrote.

His epitaphs – al-Shafi’i (showing his school of law) and al-Sufi (showing his spiritual path) – indicate a scholar who refused the false dichotomy between exoteric law (fiqh) and esoteric spirituality (tasawwuf). He lived at a time when Muslim societies craved accessible, heart-softening literature. His most famous student, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (one of Islam's most prolific scholars), praised him highly and transmitted many of his works.

Al-Safuri's motivation was simple: to create a manual for preachers (wu’az) that was authentic, engaging, and spiritually uplifting. He wanted to counter the spread of weak or fabricated stories (anecdotes that sometimes polluted popular sermons) by offering a reliable, verified collection. Text regarding gathering for Knowledge: The Prophet (peace

Owning a copy of Nuzhat-ul-Majalis is not enough; one must perform it. The text is sheet music for grief. Traditional reciters (zakireen) spend years mastering the Nuzhat style, which involves:

In the Lucknowi aza khana (mourning halls), the reciter sits on a high pulpit (mimbar), the Nuzhat open on a wooden stand. As the night deepens, the pace quickens. By the 10th night (Ashura), the recitation is a frantic, breathless cascade of syllables mimicking the onrush of enemy horses.

The book is not organized like a typical history or law book. Instead, it is divided into thematic chapters (abwab) designed to be read aloud in gatherings (majalis). Each chapter focuses on a specific virtue, vice, or spiritual concept.

Here are the major themes you will find in Nuzhat ul Majalis: