Literature islam last assignments

Ibn Arabi

Early Years

Ibn Arabi was born in 1165 AD in the city of Murcia located in modern day Spain.

He was born into a wealthy family that immersed itself in the incredibly vibrant intellection tradition of the region, known Al-Andalus.

This region produced some of the greatest religious thinkers in middle ages, including Ibn Rushd, Maimonides, and the poet Al- Shushtari.

Eventually, his family moved to Sevilla (Seville) where Ibn Arabi would be educated. He indulged himself in the vibrant culture of the time in all its forms.

Early Years Continued

Ibn Arabi famously encountered the great Falsafa scholar Ibn Rushd who asked Ibn Arabi if his pursuit of mystical experience brought the same quality of spiritual illumination as Ibn Rushd’s approach of philosophical speculation. Ibn Arabi replied as follows, “Yes, and no. Between the yes and the no spirits take flight from their matter and necks break away from their bodies.”

Ibn Arabi often disagreed with the Falsafa approach but also said that it contains many truths as well.

Ultimately, Ibn Arabi agrees with mystics like Al-Ghazali who believed that true knowledge could only, or primarily, be achieved through mystical unveiling.

Entry Into Mystical Experience

It is said that Ibn Arabi was drinking wine at a party in Sevilla when he heard a voice say to him, “It is not for this that you were created.”

After this encounter, he immediately left the party and went to the cemetery to pray.

During this time, he received Fat (opening) and had visions of Jesus and Moses. This experience changed Ibn Arabi forever, as it is said that all the secrets of the Sufi path was revealed to him, even though he would have to go through each step in a gradual manner again to become intimate with them.

Realizations

In 1194, Ibn Arabi entered a mystical state of being called God’s Wide Earth (ard Allah al wasi’a)

This mystical state is described as follows: “At the highest stage of self-knowledge, the gnostics recognize their own self nature as the never ending self-disclosure of God.”

Realizations Continued

He claimed to be the Seal of the Saints (Khatim al-awliyya). In this way, Ibn Arabi viewed himself as the last heir of the Prophet Muhammad’s secrets.

Realizations Continued

He wrote some of his most important works in Mecca. The most famous of these was a work called the Meccan Revelations/Openings (Futuhat Al-Makkiya).

Ibn Arabi describes how he came upon these revelations when ritually circumambulating the Ka’ba, “Suddenly when I was before the black stone, astonished, I came upon the transient Youth, the silent speaker, the one who is neither living or dead, the composite simple, the encompassed encompassing.”

He goes on to say, “He made a secret gesture, and I knew. Then he shone to me a truth of his beauty and I was overwhelmed with passion. I was felled before him and the moment overcame me.”

Realizations Continued

The Youth said, “I am the mature garden, the universal harvest, so lift my veils and recite what is etched in my lines; what you learn from me, put it in your book, and speak directly in it to everyone dearest to you.”

Then Ibn Arabi describes what happened next, “I lifted his veils and observed his etched lines, and there shone to my eyes his light that was deposited on him, whatever he contained and encompassed of hidden knowledge.”

Later Years

Eventually, Ibn Arabi settled in Damascus where he wrote, taught, and raised a family.

He had many famous students which helped to spread his teachings throughout the Islamic world.

He died on November 8th 1240AD at the age of 75.

The Unity of Being

The Unity of Being is Ibn Arabi’s crowning contribution to Islam. However, this concept deserves its own series of slides, as it will be one of your key terms in the class.