Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali quotes
1058 – 1111 · Medieval Islamic world, 11th–12th century · Sunni theologian, Shāfiʿī jurist, philosopher and Sufi
About Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali
Born at Tus c.1055–1058 and died 1111, Abū Ḥāmid al‑Ghazali taught at the Nizāmiyya in Baghdad, underwent a profound spiritual crisis, then withdrew and composed influential works. His major books—The Revival of the Religious Sciences, The Incoherence of the Philosophers, and The Deliverer from Error—combine jurisprudence, theology, philosophy and Sufi psychology.
Works: Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al‑dīn; Tahāfut al‑falāsifa; al‑Munqidh min al‑ḍalāl
Quotes
“In God, there is no sorrow or suffering or affliction. If you want to be free of all affliction and suffering, hold fast to God, and turn wholly to Him, and to no one else. Indeed, all your suffering comes from this: that you do not turn toward God.”
Source: no specific work is documented · Check the source
Source not foundWhat we know
- What is documented
- The saying appears repeatedly on modern quotation sites under al‑Ghazali’s name, but researchers found no traceable Arabic original, edition, or chapter that contains this wording.
- What remains uncertain
- Authorship is uncertain and leans toward disputed: the English wording looks like a modern paraphrase of Sufi themes rather than a verifiable verbatim quote from al‑Ghazali.
The line frames suffering as a spiritual symptom: pain deepens when the heart depends on the transient rather than God. It is widely attributed to al‑Ghazali and matches Sufi themes, but no Arabic source, manuscript, or precise citation has been located to verify it.