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 an international association with its headquarters in Oxford England and a branch 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.
Recently Added Quotation
Futūḥāt Translation Project
15 July 2021
The creature is a veil before his Creator; and for this, it was related: ‘Whoever recognizes one’s self, recognizes one’s Lord.’ You are the indication of Him, the indicator and the indicated.
Book 5, Chapter 68 (p. 115)
21 July 2021
There is no one who acts except God.
Book 5, Chapter 68 (p. 124)
20 July 2021
More than one transmitted to me as a ḥadỉth from one who transmitted to him, conveyed to him by the Prophet, that he was asked, ‘O Messenger of God, who are the friends of God?’ The Messenger of God said, ‘The ones who, when they are seen, God is remembered.’
Book 5, Chapter 68 (p. 115)
15 July 2021
Go to the Quotations page
Featured Article
Jane Clark
Fulfilling our Potential
The heart is a supra-rational rather than an anti-rational faculty, and in his work, Ibn Arabi gives a comprehensive account of the way in which all the different faculties – dhawq, imagination, reason and sensory perception – operate and inter-relate. This is perhaps especially valuable to us in the present day, when secular rationalism has become so prevalent that it sometimes seems as if our capacity for mystical insight and creative imagination has been forgotten, or if remembered, not afforded validity. He gives us a map to a lost land, which is the complete human potential.
List of all articles
Featured Podcast
William C. Chittick
The Religion of Love Revisited
A talk delivered in Berkeley, California, 2013 at the Symposium entitled “Ibn Arabi and Rumi: Teachings for the Modern World”. A version of the talk later printed in the Society Journal is also available on this website.
List of all podcasts
Featured Video
Dunja Rašić
Letters, Elements and Prime Matter
Dunja writes: Apart from God, Ibn ‘Arabi believed a man can speak, an angel can speak and jinn can speak. However, human beings were thought to be the only ones with a potential to come to terms with the secret properties of letters. This presentation explores Ibn ‘Arabi’s notion of letters as the building blocks of the universe, and the correspondences between the Breath of the All-Merciful, the letters of the Arabic alphabet and (in)organic matter.
November 2020
Society Journal, Volume 68
Volume 68 of the Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society is now available. See the list of contents
Latest News
Added to the Blog page, 1 July 2021
Critical Edition of Ibn ‘Arabi’s Diwān
A critical edition of the text of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s Diwān, produced by ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Sulṭān al-Manṣūb, has been published by Ninawa, Damascus, Syria, in five hardback volumes. The printed Diwāns available up till now have been reproductions of the “Bulaq edition” (1855), containing about 25% of the total.
July 2021
“Studies in Sufism” Summer School
Perennia Verba presents a week-long online event on the theme of ” The doctrine of the Universal Man (al-insān al-kāmil) in Ibn ʻArabī and his Heirs”. Up to twelve seminars will be presented between 26th and 31st July. More information
July – September 2021
“With which eye do I see Him”
A ten-week online course with Dr Rim Feriani exploring the multi-layered meanings of the journey in Ibn Arabi’s teachings. We will read a selection of passages from Ibn Arabi’s The Secrets of Voyaging. Course calendar
July 3, 2021
Ibn Arabi on Divine and Human Trusteeship
The most recent Online Seminar in the Hidden Treasure Series was by Dr Atif Khalil. It was entitled “Ibn Arabi on Divine and Human Trusteeship” and was held on 3 July 2021. These seminars are open-to-public and free, but registration is required. The series is organised by the Ibn Arabi Interreligious Research Initiative (IAI) at Monash University, Australia. More information
June 2021
Futūḥāt Translation Project
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 3 (comprising Books 5 and 6) has just been launched.
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.
Donate to the Society in the UK
Donate to the Society in the USA