“It is He who is revealed in every face, sought in every sign, gazed upon by every eye, worshipped in every object of worship, and pursued in the unseen and the visible. Not a single one of His creatures can fail to find Him in its primordial and original nature.”

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

19 September 2024

The body bows down onto the earth that is his root, and the spirit bows down onto the All-Soul whence he originated, and your secret heart bows down to his Lord, by whom the step-level was bestowed. The roots – all of them – are unseen. Do you see them (body, spirit, secret heart) having appeared for the tree, but their roots are unseen? Indeed, the process of creation is unseen – not seen by any one. The fetus undergoes creation in the interior of his mother, so he is unseen. Another animal is formed in the egg; and when he is complete, he breaks out. The True is the root being of the things, and He is unseen by them.

Book 12, Chapter 73

17 September 2024

The end result of guidance is felicity in the Garden.

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 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

Murcia – October 19-20

Ibn Arabi Poetry in Motion Spain – MIAS Summer School Symposium

Join MIAS Latina & MIAS Education in Murcia for two days filled with beautiful poetry and thoughtful insights. Speakers include: Pablo Beneito, Cecilia Twinch, Amina Gonzales, Fabrizio Boscaglia, Federico Salvaggio and Omar Zein. The symposium will be held in the English language.

More information

Online talk October 26

The Heart of Azrael

Dunja Rašić will speak on, ‘The Heart of Azrael: Angelification and Angelomorphism in Akbarian Sufism’. Presented by MIAS USA

More information

Online talk November 2

Dissolving into Being: The Wisdom of Sufi Philosophy

William Rory Dickson, will present his latest book “Dissolving into Being: The Wisdom of Sufi Philosophy” in an online conversation on 2nd November 2024, 5:00 PM (London time)

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.

Facebook Page [/] | Facebook Group [/]

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.

Contact details here

 

Making a Donation

As a non-profit organisation, the Society welcomes donations of any size. Donations help underwrite the many activities of the Society.

Donate to the Society in the UK
Donate to the Society in the USA