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
23 November 2020
God said that when you pray, He converses with you – He is Light; so God converses with you from the name Light, not from another name. So just as light negates all light-blocking, in the same way the prayer cuts off every preoccupation – which is different from the rest of the rituals: nothing universalizes a leaving-off of everything else as the prayer does.
Book 4, Chapter 47 (p. 434)
Featured Article
Ralph Austin
Aspects of Mystical Prayer in Ibn ‘Arabi’s Thought
The prayer rite is at one and the same time the most common and yet the most special of rites, everywhere known and public and yet the occasion of and opportunity for the profoundest communication with God. It is also unique in two other ways. Firstly, it is the only rite which God Himself may be said to perform, since He is said to salla ‘ala (pray over) the Prophet and us. Secondly, alone of all the rites it incorporates the essential spirit of the other four.
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
December 5th, 2020
Round table discussion
The final session in the series of 15 online webinars under the title “Ibn ‘Arabi and The Geometry of Reality” will be a round table discussion of themes arising from the series, featuring speakers who delivered papers. It will take place on December 5th, 2020
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
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
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