“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

18 December 2024

To what does He look in them?
The answer: To their secret hearts, not to their outward aspects.

Book 13, Chapter 73

31 December 2024

When He looks at their secret hearts, He gives them some knowledge of Him – as much as He likes, no more; and this is where He discloses to them for their sakes that they are by Him, not by them, so they should see Him in them and not see themselves.

Book 13, Chapter 73

20 December 2024

One of the masters said, concerning what was related by Qushayrī in his Risālat, ‘If a person faces toward God the length of his life, then is turned away from Him for a single blink of an eye, what he misses during that glance is greater than what he was given all his life.’

Book 13, 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 18 January

Monthly lecture for Arabic speakers

Professor Dr Mohammed al-Adlouni al-Idrisi from Morocco, will deliver an online lecture at 11AM Morocco local time, on Saturday the 18 January 2025. The title of his lecture is, “Philosophical Sufism in the Thought of Ibn al-Arabi: The Theory of Existence as a Model.”

More information

Online course – January 25-26 2025

Meeting Ibn Arabi: His Life and Teaching

A guided group exploration of Ibn Arabi´s life and teachings over one weekend, based on the book by Claude Addas, The Voyage of No Return. Offered by the MIAS Education Team.

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Online course – Feb 4 – Apr 15 2025

“Like the Break of Dawn”

An online MIAS Education course exploring dreams in a selection of texts by Ibn Arabi.

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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 2025

Education Courses Calendar

Upcoming MIAS Education courses and events are listed on the Courses Calendar page.

More information

January 2025

Society Journal, Volume 76

Volume 76 of the Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society (the second issue for 2024) is running slightly late, and should be dispatched towards the end of January.

More about the Society Journal

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