Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi 1165 -1240AD
Mystic, philosopher, poet, sage, Muhammad b. 'Ali Ibn 'Arabi is one of the world's great spiritual teachers. Known as Muhyiddin (the Revivifier of Religion) and the Shaykh al-Akbar (the Greatest Master), he was born in 1165 AD into the Moorish culture of Andalusian Spain, the centre of an extraordinary flourishing and cross-fertilization of Jewish, Christian and Islamic thought, through which the major scientific and philosophical works of antiquity were transmitted to Northern Europe. Ibn 'Arabi's spiritual attainments were evident from an early age, and he was renowned for his great visionary capacity as well as being a superlative teacher. He travelled extensively in the Islamic world and died in Damascus in 1240 AD.
He wrote over 350 works including the Fusûs al-Hikam, an exposition of the inner meaning of the wisdom of the prophets in the Judaic/ Christian/ Islamic line, and the Futûhât al-Makkiyya, a vast encyclopaedia of spiritual knowledge which unites and distinguishes the three strands of tradition, reason and mystical insight. In his Diwân and Tarjumân al-Ashwâq he also wrote some of the finest poetry in the Arabic language. These extensive writings provide a beautiful exposition of the Unity of Being, the single and indivisible reality which simultaneously transcends and is manifested in all the images of the world. Ibn 'Arabi shows how Man, in perfection, is the complete image of this reality and how those who truly know their essential self, know God.
Firmly rooted in the Quran, his work is universal, accepting that each person has a unique path to the truth, which unites all paths in itself. He has profoundly influenced the development of Islam since his time, as well as significant aspects of the philosophy and literature of the West. His wisdom has much to offer us in the modern world in terms of understanding what it means to be human.
If the believer understood the meaning of the saying 'the colour of the water is the colour of the receptacle', he would admit the validity of all beliefs and he would recognise God in every form and every object of faith.
Ibn 'Arabi, Fusûs al-Hikam
Themes in Ibn 'Arabi's writing
Themes in Ibn 'Arabi's writing
In what I have written, I have never had a set purpose, as other writers. Flashes of divine inspiration used to come upon me and almost overwhelm me, so that I could only put them from my mind by committing to paper what they revealed to me. If my works evince any form of composition, that form was unintentional. Some works I wrote at the command of God, sent to me in sleep or through a mystical revelation...
Ibn 'Arabi's writings are broadly concerned with divine reality, and the human being's experience of it. In the quotation above, he stresses that what he wrote was not a personal matter. It can be said that the ideas he communicates do not allow themselves to be reduced to a system, and in this sense there is no one, definitive, way to pick out the themes that run through his works.
One approach has been seen since the time of Ibn 'Arabi's great student, Sadruddin al-Qunawi, who responded to requests from people for help understanding Ibn 'Arabi's Fusûs al-Hikam. A superlative example of this is the introduction to the 18th century Ottoman translation of the Fusûs, rendered into English by Bulent Rauf. This introduction has twelve sections, called "origins" (usûl). For example, Origin three "explains the Divine Names and Qualities", Origin four the a'yân-i-thâbita, Origin ten "is an explanation of the fact that the station of Love is higher than all other stations".
In the 20th century William Chittick has published two large studies, based on selections from the Futûhât al-Makkiya, a work which was often quoted by traditional scholars, but did not attract commentaries. These studies are a survey of certain areas or aspects of the Futûhât, and an attempt to convey themes running through the work in Ibn 'Arabi's own words. In these books he organized the extracts under six headings: the names of God, existence and non-existence, transcendence and immanence, modes of knowing, human perfection, and the barzakh, the "in-between".
Perhaps the most important thing to say is that though there are clear, recognizable, themes running through Ibn 'Arabi's writings, there is no end to the variety in them, especially if one considers them in depth. On this site, we are not able yet to organize the articles in thematic groups, but those which we offer on this page give a wonderful indication of the breadth of Ibn 'Arabi's teachings.
After Ibn 'Arabi After his death in 1240, Ibn 'Arabi's writings (and teachings) quickly spread throughout the Islamic world. A central figure in the process was Sadr al-Din Qunawi, his foremost student, to whom he bequeathed his collection of books. Sadr al-Din wrote in both Arabic and Persian, and attracted a group of very influential students to Konya, in Seljuk Turkey, where he lived at the same time as Mevlana Jalal al-Din Rumi, author of the renowned Mathnawi.
Ibn 'Arabi's writings have been very influential - chiefly among elites and Sufi tariqas. Although his name was widely recognized, only a minority of people could have read his works directly. But many of his ideas reached ordinary people through the Sufis, and through popular poetry.
So far studies of Ibn 'Arabi's influence have been limited in scope to particular periods or regions, as any comprehensive study would need to take into account the intellectual history of Islam across the Muslim world. As one example, see Mustafa Tahrali's article about the Ottomans on this page.
Ibn 'Arabi's impact outside the historic Muslim countries is not easily traced. Miguel Asin Palacios in the 1920s caused a furore when he suggested that Dante had drawn on Ibn 'Arabi's writings for his Divine Comedy. Orientalists began to study Ibn 'Arabi's works relatively late, and the first response was frequently frustration. The first work to be translated into English appeared in 1911. Recognition of the depth and richness of his writings has extended to new audiences over the past century, particularly since the 1970s. At the same time there has been a great revival of interest and publishing in the Islamic world.
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