“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 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.

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

31 August 2023

By the kindness f of God, every being other than God is made alive and given sustenance. So kindness is all-encompassing, and she is in every place provided commensurate with that place.

Book 10, Chapter 72

4 September 2023

The animals – all of them, according to us – are spiritual beings with intellects with which they understand God; and this is why He exalted said about them, Each knows his ṣalāt and his celebration (tasbīḥ) (al-nūr 24:41).

Book 10, Chapter 72

Go to the Quotations page

Featured Article

Stephen Hirtenstein

The Brotherhood of Milk – Perspectives of Knowledge in the Adamic Clay

The article begins with reference to Ibn ‘Arabî’s “Book of Dream-visions” (K. al-Mubashshirât), in which he records some seventeen dreams which he had during his life, among many others. These, he says, may be of particular bene­fit to others, since they concern the Prophet or one of his companions. It finishes with a translation from chapter 167 of the Futûhât al-Makkiyya on the seventh heaven, whose ruling prophet is Abraham.  In our present world where conflicts arise on the basis of ethnicity, where the politics of identity makes people increasingly strident in their self-definition in terms of consanguinity, the idea of a milk-brotherhood, a brotherhood based on knowledge of the Unity of Being, becomes highly topical. This “Milky Way” excludes no-one: it is open to all.

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

23 September 2023

Lecture series in Arabic

Dr. Mohammad Bilal Achmal will speak on “Ibn al-Arabi according to Miguel Asin Palacios” at 12 noon Morocco time. The date of this event has been changed following the earthquake in Morocco.

More information

7 October 2023

Annual meeting for members of the Society

The online meeting will begin with a talk by Bharatwaj Iyer. The second part will be an interactive session with the Society’s Trustees.

More information

20-21 October, 2023

New York conference

An important conference will be held in New York under the title, “Translated Desires: Translation, Ibn Al-‘Arabi and the Multilingual Islamic Past”.

More information

8 November, 2023

Ibn Arabi Lecture series, Cambridge

The first event in the annual Ibn Arabi Lecture series will be held in Cambridge, UK, on 8 November, 2023, at 5:00 pm UK time. Neil MacGregor will speak on “Faith in the Museum”.

More information

8 November 2023

Society Library at Woolf Institute

Over 1,000 books and journals from the Society library will be hosted at the Woolf Institute, part of Cambridge University in the UK

More information

31 December 2023

Young Writer Award

The Young Writer competition for 2023 has a prize of US$ 1,500 for essay by an author under the age of 35.

More information

Some MIAS online events

Looking forward in 2023

  • MIAS UK Annual Members’ Meeting: 7 October, 2023 (TBC)
  • Matthew Melvin-Koushki – MIAS Online Seminar 3: 2 December, 2023

More information

August 2023

Society Journal, Volume 73

Volume 73 of the Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society is now available. It includes articles by Pablo Beneito and Stephen Hirtenstein, Arjun Nair, Matthew Melvin-Koushki, and Cyrus Ali Zargar.

See the list of contents

December 2023

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 4 was published in 2022 and further volumes are expected in 2023.

1 October 2022

Creative encounters with Ibn ‘Arabi

A website is launched by MIAS Education featuring expressive individual responses to Ibn ‘Arabi’s writing.

Go to the web site

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