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
21 November 2020
There is no worship f made Law by God for His creatures except she is an observation post looking at a Divine name or a Divine truth; from this name, God provides to your worship what you receive in this world in your heart, such as His alighting places, His knowings, and His recognitions; and in your states, such as His miracles and His signs; and in the other world, in His Garden, your stairs, and your seeing the Creator at the Dune at your observation post.
Book 4, Chapter 47 (p. 434)
Featured Article
Layla Shamash
The People of the Night
This paper describes the meaning of prayer and the intimate conversation between God and His servants according to Ibn ‘Arabi. The focus is God’s words in the revealed speech, the setting is the night as time for prayer. It can be said that all of Ibn ‘Arabi’s work is the interpretation of God’s revealed words in the Qur’an and the Hadith. While Ibn ‘Arabi always acknowledges the literal sense, he also offers us further gifts of layers of meaning which God has bestowed on him. This paper includes a translation of much of Chapter 41 of the Futuhåt, entitled The People of the Night.
List of all articles
Featured Podcast
Robert Darr
Waking to the Embrace: Applying Ibn Arabi’s Teachings on Embodiment
A talk delivered in Oxford in 2015 at the Symposium entitled “A Living Legacy –
Ibn ‘Arabi in Today’s World”.
List of all podcasts
Featured Video
Alexander Knysh
Tasting, Drinking and Quenching Thirst: From Mystical Experience to Mystical Metaphysics
The terms ‘tasting’ (dhawq), ‘drinking’ (shirb/shurb) and ‘quenching of thirst’ (riyy) are widely used in early Sufi writings to denote a special type of mystical perception of God and His creation. Originally referring primarily to the mystic’s psychological state (ḥāl), in later Sufi literature and oral teachings, and especially with Ibn al-ʿArabī, these concepts acquire metaphysical/cosmological connotations, and are construed as being shared by both God and His ‘gnostic’ servants (ʿārifūn bi-llāh). This change reflects the wider process of Sufism’s transformation from ascetic-mystical piety to a comprehensive philosophy with its own psychology, epistemology, cosmology and soteriology, which remain actual today.
Latest News
December 2020 – January 2021
“With which eye do I see Him”
An online course with Dr Rim Feriani exploring Imagination in The Meccan Openings. More information
October 2020
IAI Australia online seminars
The recently established Ibn Arabi Interreligious Research Initiative (IAI) at Monash University is organising a series of online seminars on Ibn ʿArabi, entitled ‘The Hidden Treasure’. These seminars are open to the public, aiming to present an accessible introduction to Ibn ʿArabi, his teachings, and his relevance to the contemporary world. Talks take place on the first Saturday of each month. More information
October 2020
Online talks MIAS-Latina
Online talks in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, are presented by MIAS-Latina, underthe title International Ibn Arabi Reading Circle 2020. This this the second series. More information
Ibn ‘Arabi and The Geometry of Reality
The series 15 online webinars concluded on Saturday November 21st with a talk by Luca Patrizi entitled Thus Spoke Adam
More information
Added to the Blog page, October 2020
Sufism and the Perfect Human
Fitzroy Morrissey’s book details how ‘Abd al-Karim al-Jili expanded on this key subject in Ibn ‘Arabi’s writing.
June 2020
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 2 has just appeared.
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