whether greater ability is displayed in the argumentative reasoning of the
Mîzan-ul-Haqq, or in the moral discussions of the Tarîq-ul-Hyât; the latter,
perhaps, from the abstract nature of the subject, deserve the highest praise.
Each, indeed, has its peculiar merit, and with the Miftâh form a whole,
placing before the Mohammedan almost every point which he is at present
prepared for. To be interested or profited by the Tarîq-ul-Hyât, requires, no
doubt, a state of mind much in advance of that which the ordinary Moslem now
possesses, for the subject of inward corruption is one foreign to his ideas;
but the day is, we trust, approaching, when this will no longer be the case;
when the leaven of that knowledge which is even now pervading the country
will work a mighty change in their feelings and ideas; and then, by the
blessing of God, will the heart respond with notes of conviction and
repentance to the touches of truth contained in this volume. Pfander has
indeed conferred in these books an inestimable boon upon this country; and we
are much mistaken if they do not assume the place of standard treatises among
such as interest themselves in this great question, and especially among our
native Christians; for though primarily adapted to the professors of Islam,
their contents must always possess a general interest.