About Dalayl ul Khairat

Imam Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Jazuli al-Simlali (c. 807–869 AH / 1404–1465 CE) was one of the greatest saints of Morocco and the Islamic West. Born into the Berber tribe of Jazulah in the Sus region of southern Morocco, he studied at the renowned Qarawiyyin in Fez before traveling to the Hijaz for years of spiritual retreat in Mecca and Medina.

He became a founding figure of the Shadhili path in the Maghreb, gathering thousands of students and murids whose influence spread across West Africa and beyond. He passed away in Afughal in 869 AH and was later reburied in Marrakesh — counted among the seven patron saints of the city, the Sab'at Rijal.

It is narrated that Imam al-Jazuli one day reached a well to perform ablution before prayer, but could find no means to draw the water. A young girl witnessed this and, by spitting into the well, caused its water to rise to the brim through divine permission. When the Imam asked how she had attained such a station, she replied that it was through her consistent sending of blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ.

Profoundly inspired, the Imam composed Dalayl ul Khairat — whose full title is “Dalayl ul Khairat wa Shwariq al-Anwar fi Dhikr al-Salat ala al-Nabi al-Mukhtar” — as a complete manual of salawat. It spread with extraordinary speed across the Muslim world, carried by Sufi orders from Morocco to Southeast Asia, and became the most widely read collection of prayers upon the Prophet ﷺ in Islamic history.

The English translation on this platform is the work of Ali Elsayed, published by the Institute for Spiritual and Cultural Advancement (ISCA), USA. It is one of the most faithful and accessible English renderings of the text, balancing accuracy with the devotional nature of the work.

This website reproduces the text as a non-commercial spiritual service. We acknowledge the translators and publishers of this edition with gratitude.