The Hundred Fundamental Steps in the Spiritual Practice of Sunni Sufism, by Abdallâh Al-Ansârî, Translation book: "Manâzil As-Sâ'rîn Ilâ-l-Haqqi l-Mubîn" by Tahar Gaïd, Preface and Annotated by Ali Hamoneau

In a hadith qudusi , God says “When My servant approaches Me a span, I approach him a cubit. And when he approaches Me a cubit, I approach him a prasse . And if he comes to Me walking, I come to him eagerly. »

This hadith, in addition to the rejoicing it brings to believers, teaches us that there is indeed a path (a path) to follow for those who want to get closer to God. In another hadith qudusi , God says: “There is not a thing, by which my worshiper draws near to Me , more loved by Me than what I have prescribed as an obligation to him! And My worshiper does not stop coming closer to Me through supererogatory practices until I love him! When I love him, I am his hearing by which he hears, his sight by which he sees, his hand with which he grasps and his foot by which he walks! This hadith clearly designates the beginning of the path: the application of God's prescriptions, and also designates its end: to be loved by God and between the stage of the beginning and that of the end, al-Ansâri, in this book, counts hundred basic steps.

An Arab proverb says: "He who walks on the path ends up arriving". It is therefore only nonchalance, carelessness and indifference that are non-productive.
Imam al-Ansari, as a great spiritual master , responds with this concise and profound book (al-manazil) to a group of disciples who asked him to show them the path that leads to God, as well as its stages, its pitfalls etc
Ibn al-Qayyim was the most famous commentator of this book (al-manâzil) . He devoted a sum of seven volumes to it, which he entitled “ Zâd al-mi'âd”.