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What is Book 30 of the Iḥyāʾ?
The Condemnation of Self-Delusion is Book 30 of Imam al-Ghazālī's Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn, from the 11th–12th century. It is the tenth and final book of the third quarter, the Destructive Vices. The opening states its theme in one line: the key to happiness is vigilance and astuteness, while the source of misery is delusion and heedlessness. The question the book answers is how a person can know he is not deceived about his own standing with Allah, since ghurur is the disease of those who believe they are on the right path when they are not.
Rather than treating delusion in the abstract, al-Ghazālī sorts the deluded into categories and takes them one group at a time. The chapters cover the deluded among the scholars, the deluded among the worshipers, the deluded among the Sufis and mystics, and the deluded among the wealthy. The scholars come first in the list. Each chapter describes how that group mistakes its own condition, so that a listener can recognize the pattern that belongs to him.
It opens with the Quranic image of light and darkness. Those with insight have hearts like a niche containing a lamp, the lamp within a glass, the glass like a shining star lit from a blessed olive tree. The deluded have hearts like a man in darkness over a vast deep sea, covered by waves upon waves, with clouds above them; if he stretches out his hand he can hardly see it. For whoever Allah does not grant light, the opening says, there is no light.
Is there an English audiobook of Self-Delusion?
Yes. Joyful Muslims publishes the complete Book 30 of the Iḥyāʾ, The Condemnation of Self-Delusion, as an English audiobook (about 2.5 hours), translated from the Arabic, with a word-synced bilingual transcript. It warns against ghurur, the subtle disease that causes people to believe they are on the right path when they are not.
Is it free to listen?
The whole library is open to everyone. Every member gets five hours of listening free each month; Joyful+ removes the time limit.
What does it cover?
Five chapters: the condemnation of delusion, then the deluded among the scholars, among the worshipers, among the Sufis and mystics, and among the wealthy. It runs about 2.5 hours.
Last updated 2026-09-11
Inside the book.
Chapters
Word-synced with the narrator.
The first three minutes are transcribed here. In the app, the Living Manuscript scrolls through the entire book in rhythm with the audio — Arabic alongside English.
Living Manuscript
Listen to the full book in the app for the complete Living Manuscript.
The full, word-synced transcript in Arabic and English is in the app.
