Ibn ‘Arabi: al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, Ch. 372
Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi
Mystic, philosopher, poet, sage, Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi (1165–1240) was one of the world’s great spiritual teachers.
Ibn Arabi was born in Murcia in Arab al-Andalus, and his writings had an immense impact throughout the Islamic world and beyond. The universal ideas underlying his thought are of immediate relevance today.
The Society
The Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society (MIAS) was founded in 1977 to promote a greater understanding of the work of Ibn Arabi and his followers.
It is represented by non-profit organisations in Oxford, England and in Berkeley, California. The Society is funded by the annual subscriptions of its members. It collaborates with affiliated societies in Spain and Australia.
Activities
» Publications: The Society has published a Journal since 1982, which is now peer-reviewed and appears twice a year. It has published books, particularly a translation into English of the Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam. Its website provides over 200 articles, mainly from the Journal.
» Events: The Society has organised conferences in the UK and the USA since 1984. Podcasts and videos of more than 100 talks from Society events are available on this website.
» Historic manuscript project: Since 2002 the Society has been engaged in collecting copies of historic manuscripts of the works of Ibn Arabi. A version of the catalogue is available on this website.
Society Membership
If you are interested in Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi, his work and his teachings, you are welcome to join the Society. Among other benefits, Members receive the Society Journal, have discounted entry to Society events, and free admission to live online talks.
Supporting the Society
For information about some of the Society’s planned developments over the next three years, and how it makes use of regular donations, one-off gifts and bequests, please see the page on supporting the Society.
Recently Added Quotation
Futūḥāt Translation Project
16 November 2024
The coming into being of the world is from love (i.e. the Divine name the Desirer on that Side desires and loves to be recognized by the creation on this side). What has been recorded in the Sunnah supports this; and it is His word, ‘I am a treasure not recognized, and I love that I should be recognized; thus, I create the creation so that I can introduce Myself to them, and they recognize Me.’ Thus, He reports that love is the reason for the coming out of the world, and the Divine names are layered (ṭābiqa) for support, one after another.
Book 12, Chapter 73
15 November 2024
Whoever limits love does not recognize love. And whoever does not taste love as a drinking-in does not recognize love. And whoever says, ‘I have been told about it,’ does not recognize love. Love is a drink with no quenching. Some of the lovers have said, ‘I have drunk the drink, and I have never been thirsty after that again’; but Abū Yazīd said, ‘The real Man is the one who drinks the oceans and his tongue hangs out down his chest from thirst.’
Book 12, Chapter 73
Go to the Quotations page
Featured Article
William C Chittick
The Religion of Love Revisited”
“Ibn al-ʿArabī and Rūmī – not to mention countless other teachers, Muslim and non-Muslim – looked at human beings as works in progress. Many of them would have been happy to call the path of becoming fully human ‘the religion of love.’” This article reviews ‘the religion of love’ in Ibn ʿArabī and three other authors, and relates it finally to what Ibn ‘Arabi says about the “Station of No Station”.
List of all articles
Featured Podcast
Éric Geoffroy
Spiritual Realization (al-tahqiq) through Daily Awakening
This is a meditation on the meaning of al-tahqiq (verification or realisation) which is central to the writing of Ibn ‘Arabi, and drawing on the writings of Sufis before Ibn ‘Arabi, such as Junayd (d. 911 AD, the “Leader of the Sufis”, sayyid al-ta’ifa), and others after him, such as Shaykh al-‘Alawi. Junayd said, “I have achieved al-tahqiq by staying in the presence of God for thirty years under these stairs”, by which he meant the stairs of his house. The paper later published in the Journal of the Society can be found here.
List of all podcasts
Latest News
Online talk – Saturday December 7
The Secret of God’s Most Beautiful Names
Pablo Beneito will introduce his translation into English of the book by Ibn ‘Arabi, The Secret of God’s Most Beautiful Names (Kashf al-ma’nā ‘an sirr asmā’ Allāh al-ḥusnā) at 5:00 PM UK time.
More information
July 25 – 26, 2025 London
The Body as Metaphor of Divine Self-Revelation
A two-day MIAS symposium will be held in 2025 under the title “Mirrors of the Transcendent in the Cosmos of Ibn Arabi: The Body as Metaphor of Divine Self-Revelation” at the Warburg Institute, London.
More information
Online courses 2024-25
Education Courses Calendar
Upcoming MIAS Education courses and events are listed on the Courses Calendar page. “With which eye do I see Him” is an online course beginning on October 8, exploring imagination in The Meccan Openings.
More information
July 2024
Society Journal, Volume 75
Volume 75 of the Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society has come out. It includes articles by Pablo Beneito and Stephen Hirtenstein, Faris Abdel-hadi, Peter Coates and Mohammed Rustom, and reviews of Love in Sufi Literature: Ibn ʿAjiba’s Understanding of the Divine Word and Islamic Thought and the Art of Translation: Texts and Studies in Honor of William C. Chittick and Sachiko Murata.
See the list of contents
April 2024
Young Writer Award
The judges have announced the results of Young Writer competition for 2023
About the young writers
December 2023
The Futuhat Foundation
Dr Eric Winkel is engaged in a translation into English of Ibn al-‘Arabi’s Futūḥāt al-Makkīyah, from beginning to end. It is being published progressively by the Pir Press, and Volume 4 was published in 2022 and further volumes are expected in 2023.
More information
Social Media
The Society in the USA maintains a Facebook Page, and the Society in the UK maintains a Facebook Group. Both provide news about Society events, and the Facebook Group can be a good place to ask questions.
Contact
The Society is administered from two centres: Oxford (UK) and Berkeley (USA). The Society in the UK is responsible for everywhere outside North America.
Making a Donation
As a non-profit organisation, the Society welcomes donations of any size. Donations help underwrite the many activities of the Society.
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