Al-Qushayri completed the Risalah in the year 438 AH (1045-1046 CE). He dedicated it to the Sufi communities across the Islamic world, aiming to provide a standard reference that would differentiate authentic spiritual practice from heretical deviations. The treatise quickly gained widespread acceptance, becoming the most disseminated handbook of Sufism across the Islamic world. The work is notable for its balance: it is deeply spiritual yet grounded in rigorous legal and theological orthodoxy, a characteristic that ensured its survival and prestige in mainstream Sunni Islam.
To remove theological ambiguity, al-Qushayri dedicates a massive section defining highly misunderstood esoteric vocabulary. He systematically explains internal operational pairs such as: alrisala alqushayriyya pdf arabic top