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In 1095 one of the leading teachers in Baghdad found that he could not lecture. Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, appointed to the Nizamiyya college there in 1091, later wrote that “God caused my tongue to dry up so that I was prevented from lecturing.” He left the city that year, vowing never again to serve the authorities, went to Damascus and Jerusalem, made the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1096, and began his forty-book Revival of the Religious Sciences. Born in Tus, near modern Mashhad in north-eastern Iran, he wrote mostly in Arabic and partly in Persian, and he died in Tus in December 1111. In English he is read through translators: W. Montgomery Watt, Michael E. Marmura, Richard J. McCarthy, T. J. Winter, David B. Burrell and others, published by the Islamic Texts Society, Fons Vitae and Brigham Young University Press. This guide covers his ten key books in English, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 10 key books in English · 1953–2011 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Al-Ghazali’s best-known works are The Incoherence of the Philosophers (Tahafut al-falasifa, c. 1095), the forty-book Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya’ ‘ulum al-din) and his autobiography, Deliverance from Error (al-Munqidh min al-dalal). This page lists ten key English books, from Watt’s The Faith and Practice of al-Ghazali (1953) to Ormsby’s Love, Longing, Intimacy and Contentment (2011). Start with Richard J. McCarthy’s Deliverance from Error (Fons Vitae, 2000). Read on for which translation suits which reader, and how his idea of divine unity relates to non-duality.
Where to Start with Al-Ghazali
If you want his own story first
→ Deliverance from Error (2000) — the autobiography, in McCarthy’s translation.
If you want his attack on the philosophers
→ The Incoherence of the Philosophers (1997) — Marmura’s parallel-text edition.
If you want his teaching on divine unity
→ Faith in Divine Unity and Trust in Divine Providence (2001) — Book 35 of the Revival.
If you want his practical spirituality
→ On Disciplining the Soul and On Breaking the Two Desires (1995) — two books of the Revival on the self.
10 Al-Ghazali Books in English, in Order
The Faith and Practice of al-Ghazali
W. Montgomery Watt’s translation of two works in one volume: Deliverance from Error (al-Munqidh min al-dalal), al-Ghazali’s account of his doubts, his study of theology, philosophy and Sufism, and his return to teaching; and The Beginning of Guidance (Bidayat al-hidaya), a guide to daily religious practice and avoiding sin. First published by George Allen & Unwin in London in 1953 and reissued by Oneworld in 1994.
The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife
The last of the forty books of the Revival, Kitab dhikr al-mawt wa-ma ba’dahu, translated with an introduction and notes by T. J. Winter and published by the Islamic Texts Society in Cambridge in 1989.
The Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names of God
A translation of al-Maqsad al-asna fi sharh asma’ Allah al-husna, al-Ghazali’s commentary on the names of God in Islamic tradition, by David B. Burrell and Nazih Daher, published by the Islamic Texts Society in Cambridge in 1992. In Deliverance from Error he refers readers to this book, “The Noblest Aim”, for his explanation of why mystical “union” with God is a mistaken idea.
On Disciplining the Soul and On Breaking the Two Desires
Books 22 and 23 of the Revival, Kitab riyadat al-nafs and Kitab kasr al-shahwatayn, on training the self and on overcoming desire. Translated by T. J. Winter for the Islamic Texts Society, Cambridge, 1995; a review in the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences called it the first accurate English translation of the two books.
The Incoherence of the Philosophers
Tahafut al-falasifa, written around 1095, is al-Ghazali’s attack on the philosophy of Avicenna and his followers. He condemns three of their teachings as both wrong and religiously unacceptable: that the world has no beginning in time, that God knows only universals and not particular things, and that there is no bodily resurrection. It also contains his argument that fire does not necessarily burn cotton. Marmura’s translation, with the Arabic text, appeared from Brigham Young University Press in 1997, in a second edition in 2000. Ibn Rushd (Averroes) replied with The Incoherence of the Incoherence.
The Niche of Lights
Mishkat al-anwar, a later work written after the Revival, which draws on both Sufi and philosophical thought. David Buchman’s parallel English-Arabic edition was published by Brigham Young University Press in 1998.
Deliverance from Error
Al-Ghazali’s intellectual autobiography, al-Munqidh min al-dalal: his early scepticism, his survey of the different classes of seekers after truth, including the philosophers and the mystics, the crisis in which he could no longer lecture, and his reasons for returning to teach. Richard J. McCarthy first published his translation in Freedom and Fulfillment (Twayne, Boston, 1980); Fons Vitae reissued it as Deliverance from Error in 2000.
Faith in Divine Unity and Trust in Divine Providence
Book 35 of the Revival, Kitab al-tawhid wa-l-tawakkul, translated by David B. Burrell for Fons Vitae in 2001. The first part describes four stages of tawhid, affirming God’s unity, from saying “There is no god but God” while heedless to the fourth stage, seeing only unity in existence; the second part builds trust in God on the idea that there is no agent but God.
The Marvels of the Heart
Book 21 of the Revival, on the heart. Walter James Skellie’s complete translation was published by Fons Vitae in 2010; parts had earlier appeared in McCarthy’s Freedom and Fulfillment (1980).
Love, Longing, Intimacy and Contentment
Book 36 of the Revival, Kitab al-mahabba wa’l-shawq wa’l-uns wa’l-rida, on the love of God and the states that go with it. Translated by Eric Ormsby for the Islamic Texts Society, Cambridge, 2011. It follows directly on Book 35, on divine unity and trust.
In What Order to Read Al-Ghazali
Read Deliverance from Error first. It is his own account of the questions behind everything else he wrote, and it explains why he turned from philosophy towards mysticism, so the other books fall into place. McCarthy’s and Watt’s translations are both reliable; Watt’s volume adds The Beginning of Guidance.
After that, choose by interest. For his argument with philosophy, go to The Incoherence of the Philosophers. For his spiritual teaching, read single books of the Revival, which stand on their own: 22 and 23 on the self, 35 on divine unity, 36 on love, 40 on death. The Niche of Lights and The Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names of God are best kept until you know his vocabulary.
A reading path
1. Deliverance from Error (McCarthy, 2000)
2. On Disciplining the Soul (Winter, 1995)
3. Faith in Divine Unity and Trust in Divine Providence (Burrell, 2001)
4. The Incoherence of the Philosophers (Marmura, 1997)
5. The Niche of Lights (Buchman, 1998)
More Al-Ghazali in English
Beyond the 10 key books in English: 9 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Other books of the Revival
4
4 books · 1962–1990
- 1962The Book of KnowledgeBook 1 of the Revival, Lahore: Ashraf
- 1962Al-Ghazali’s Book of Fear and HopeBook 33 of the Revival, Leiden: E. J. Brill
- 1975On the Duties of Brotherhoodpart of Book 15 of the Revival
- 1990Invocations and SupplicationsBook 9 of the Revival, second revised edition, Islamic Texts Society
Other works and earlier translations
5
5 books · 1909–2008
- 1909The Confessions of al-Ghazzalian early English version, London: J. Murray
- 1910The Alchemy of Happinessan abridged version of the Persian Kimiya-yi sa’adat, made from a Hindustani version
- 1964Ghazali’s Book of Counsel for KingsNasihat al-muluk, Oxford University Press
- 1983The Jewels of the Qur’anKitab Jawahir al-Qur’an, Kegan Paul International
- 2008The Alchemy of Happinessa newer translation of the Persian work
The years · 1058–1111
Quick facts about Al-Ghazali
- Known for
- Al-Ghazali is known for his critique of the philosophers who followed Avicenna and for his forty-book guide to Islamic religious life, written after he turned to Sufism.
- 1058
- Born in Tus, by the traditional date
- 1095
- Leaves Baghdad; The Incoherence of the Philosophers
- 1106
- Returns to teach in Nishapur
- 1111
- Dies in Tus, December
- Born
- Tus, near Mashhad, Iran; traditionally 1058, though his own writings suggest 1055 or 1056
- Studied
- With al-Juwayni at the Nizamiyya college in Nishapur
- Taught
- Nizamiyya, Baghdad, 1091–1095; Nishapur from 1106
- Languages
- Arabic, and Persian for The Alchemy of Happiness
- Died
- December 1111, in Tus, where he taught at his own Sufi lodge
- Main work
- The Revival of the Religious Sciences, in forty books
The red mark is 1095: the year he left Baghdad, around when he wrote The Incoherence of the Philosophers.
How Al-Ghazali Writes: Argument, Discipline and Unity
He argues like a trained theologian and lawyer. In The Incoherence of the Philosophers he takes Avicenna’s positions in turn and argues against them. His best-known example is fire and cotton: we see cotton burn when it touches fire, but he denies that the connection is necessary, since God could create the burning directly. Ibn Rushd answered the whole book point by point in The Incoherence of the Incoherence.
The Revival is practical rather than polemical. Its forty books cover worship and daily conduct as well as the inner life, with separate books on eating, marriage, earning a living, patience, love and death. In Deliverance from Error he writes in the first person, beginning with his youth — “I was a sceptic in fact though not in theory nor in outward expression” — and says that what is most distinctive of mysticism “cannot be apprehended by study, but only by immediate experience”.
His link to non-duality is real but limited. Book 35 of the Revival describes a highest stage of tawhid in which the seeker sees only unity in existence, and the book rests on the idea that there is no agent but God. Yet in Deliverance from Error he says that describing the mystic’s state as “union” (ittihad) or “connection” (wusul) is erroneous. The unity he teaches is a unity of vision and of action: God alone acts; the soul does not become God. For a poet of the same Persian Sufi world, see Rumi.
Frequently asked questions about Al-Ghazali’s books
How many books has Al-Ghazali written?
He wrote many works in Arabic and a few in Persian, and his Revival of the Religious Sciences alone is divided into forty books. This page lists ten key books in English, from 1953 to 2011, plus nine further English translations.
What are Al-Ghazali’s books in order?
In English: Watt, The Faith and Practice of al-Ghazali (1953); Winter, The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife (1989); Burrell and Daher, The Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names of God (1992); Winter, On Disciplining the Soul and On Breaking the Two Desires (1995); Marmura, The Incoherence of the Philosophers (1997); Buchman, The Niche of Lights (1998); McCarthy, Deliverance from Error (2000); Burrell, Faith in Divine Unity and Trust in Divine Providence (2001); Skellie, The Marvels of the Heart (2010); and Ormsby, Love, Longing, Intimacy and Contentment (2011). Of the originals, The Incoherence dates from around 1095, the Revival was begun after 1095, and The Niche of Lights came after the Revival.
Where should I start with Al-Ghazali?
With Deliverance from Error, his short autobiography, in Richard J. McCarthy’s translation (Fons Vitae, 2000) or in W. Montgomery Watt’s The Faith and Practice of al-Ghazali (1953). Then read a single book of the Revival, such as Winter’s On Disciplining the Soul (1995).
What is Al-Ghazali’s most famous book?
The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya’ ‘ulum al-din), his forty-book guide to Islamic belief, practice and inner life, begun after he left Baghdad in 1095. In philosophy he is best known for The Incoherence of the Philosophers.
Has The Revival of the Religious Sciences been translated into English?
Not as a single complete work by one translator, but most of its forty books have English translations, many in the Islamic Texts Society and Fons Vitae series. Five are among the key books on this page: Books 21, 22–23, 35, 36 and 40.
Why did Al-Ghazali leave Baghdad?
In Deliverance from Error he describes a crisis in 1095 in which he could no longer lecture — “God caused my tongue to dry up” — and left his post. He vowed never again to serve the authorities, travelled to Damascus and Jerusalem, and made the pilgrimage in 1096. He returned to teaching in Nishapur in 1106.
Did Al-Ghazali condemn the philosophers?
He condemned three of their teachings. In The Incoherence of the Philosophers (c. 1095) he declared that those who publicly taught that the world has no beginning, that God does not know particulars, and that there is no bodily resurrection were unbelievers and apostates who could be killed. He did not reject logic, which he used and defended; the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy argues that his work advanced logic and epistemology in Islam. Ibn Rushd (Averroes) replied in The Incoherence of the Incoherence.
Was Al-Ghazali a Sufi?
Yes. He turned to Sufism after 1095 and in later life founded a Sufi lodge (khanqah) in Tus. In Deliverance from Error he writes that what is most distinctive of mysticism can only be grasped by immediate experience, while rejecting descriptions of the mystic’s state as “union” with God.
Did Al-Ghazali write in Persian?
Mostly he wrote in Arabic, including the Revival. The Alchemy of Happiness (Kimiya-yi sa’adat) is in Persian, written shortly before 1105; it mirrors the essence of the Revival in four parts of ten chapters each. Claud Field’s abridged English version appeared in 1910.
Footnotes
- Al-Ghazali — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- English translations of the Ihya — ghazali.org
- English translations of al-Ghazali’s works — ghazali.org
- Deliverance from Error, tr. W. Montgomery Watt — ghazali.org
- The Alchemy of Happiness — Wikipedia
- Faith in Divine Unity and Trust in Divine Providence — Fons Vitae
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“To thirst after comprehension of things as they really are was my habit and custom from a very early age.”
— Al-Ghazali, Deliverance from Error, translated by W. Montgomery Watt in The Faith and Practice of al-Ghazali (1953)
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