The Wisdom of the Prophet: Sayings of Muhammad

by Thomas Cleary (Translator)

224 authentic Ḥadīth chiefly taken from Bukhārī's Ṣaḥīḥ, a few from Nawawī's Riyāḍ al-ṣāliḥīn.

Genres: Islam, Religion, Nonfiction

145 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Dr. Thomas Francis Cleary, Ph.D. (East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University; J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley), was a prolific translator of Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, and Muslim classics, with a particular emphasis on popular translations of Mahāyāna works relevant to the Chan, Zen, and Soen systems.

Reviews

[Andrew]

I'm not Muslim, nor was I when I was reading this book. But I really like it. I'm not sure how helpful it is for Muslims, but for me, a Christian (at the time) trying to better understand Islam, this book was fantastic and invaluable.

[Emily]

"The prophet said, 'God has not sent down any disease without having sent down a remedy for it.' "

[Ltopo McFly]

What a refreshing collection of hadith. Its curated by a non-Muslim Western scholar who is more of an Arabic expert than an Islamic one. Still, he presents many high quality, diverse quotations attributed to Muhammad that have a very universal appeal. Its fair to say he keeps things secular and maybe white-washes the Islam from the text (preferring terms like "God" to "Allah") but at least he seems to have a real personal and intellectual appreciation for them. That's as good as you could hope from a non-Muslim presenting Muslim texts. His outsider perspective actually makes this free from controversial dogma or polemics and roots in more in true Islam than the average imam or shaykh could assemble.

[Ahmed Abrar]

My father didn't encourage me to read Sahih Al-bukhari, a tome, as it also contained mature instructions. I have always kept aloof from such religious texts deemed as heavy in thinking and complex in living.
But I found this one, translated by the same one who did for 'The Art of War'. The hadiths are simply presented, and most of are easily tangible.
Some are hard to understand from philosophical point of view. I need a same kind of book, not in Bengali of course, as Bangladeshi 'intellegentsia' of Islamic world is most of the time not reliable, build explanation often arbitrarily.

[Kelley]

Hadith in simple English with no commentary or sources. Lovely to read them but stripped down like that they are not as useful. Sadly I suppose the publisher was hoping for some generic "spiritual" wisdom vibe, which cheapens what is valuable religious insight.

[Amanda]

This is a really great book for people who need a beginner book on the sayings of the Prophet! I really hope other people can read & enjoy the sayings.

The Prophet said, "Allah (swt) does not look at your bodies or at your forms, but looks at your heart and your works"