This is a letter from Imam Ahmad i (may Allah have mercy on him). The treatise by Imam ibn Hanbal, the Imam of the Hanbali school of juristic reasoning, renowned for his steep knowledge, was written several hundred years ago to the inhabitants of a town where the Imam stayed for a period of time. It contains a full and clear description of the prayer and includes detailed observations of the mistakes, which Imam Ahmad observed during his time in that town. It was and remains an invaluable work for all Muslims. Detailing as it does many common errors made during prayers, some of which are serious enough to invalidate the act of worship.

When asked by his barber and good friend, Peter Beskendorf, for some practical guidance on how to prepare oneself for prayer, Luther responded by writing this brief treatise, first published in the spring of 1535. After 500 years, his instruction continues to offer words of spiritual nurture for us today.

Things in themselves so supremely great, so far above man, so utterly above our perishable nature, as to be impossible for the race of rational mortals to grasp, as the will of God became possible in the immeasurable abundance of the Divine grace which streams forth from God upon men, through Jesus Christ the minister of His unsurpassable grace toward us, and through the cooperant Spirit. Thus, though it is a standing impossibility for human nature to acquire Wisdom, by which all things have been established—for all things, according to David, God made in wisdom—from being impossible it becomes possible through our Lord Jesus Christ, who was made for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Aeterna Press