The MIAS Blog: News and Views about Ibn Arabi
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Shaykh Mahmud Ghurab
We have learned of the death of Shaykh Mahmud Ghurab in Cairo on 31st January 2021. His books in Arabic brought the life and work of Ibn ‘Arabi within reach of a broad public.
From Chapter 52 of the Futūhāt
Understanding the weakness of the human being – and lowliness, needfulness, the human being’s search for its survival, and the need for its Creator.
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.
Michel Chodkiewicz – A Legacy
Michel Chodkiewicz contributed immensely to the knowledge of Ibn Arabi in our time. We publish here the opening of Denis Gril’s obituary from Volume 67 of the Society Journal.
Discovering Compassion
James Morris puts in context a quotation from Ibn ‘Arabi on discovering and deepening Compassion.
One of the most neglected issues
Eric Winkel contributes a comment on a quotation from the Futūḥāt to the MIAS blog.
Reading Circles in MIAS Latina
Pablo Beneito shares his experience of Círculos de Lectura Ibn Arabi (bn ‘Arabi Reading Circles) in MIAS Latina.
French translation of Fusûs al-Hikam
A new translation of the Fusûs al-Hikam into French by Paul Ballanfat was published in May 2020.
Keith Critchlow, 1933–2020
Professor Keith Critchlow, artist, inspirational teacher and groundbreaking geometer and architectural designer, died peacefully on 8th April 2020.
Online Introductory Course
Register now for the ten-week course exploring the multi-layered meanings in Ibn ‘Arabi’s spiritual teaching through chapters of the Meccan Openings. It is led by Dr. Rim Feriani, and runs between 25th May and 27th July 2020.
The Horizons of Being
The Metaphysics of Ibn al-ʿArabī in the Muqaddimat al-Qayṣarī
Translation and Commentary by Mukhtar H. Ali
The Horizons of Being explores the teachings of Ibn al-ʿArabī by examining Dāwūd al-Qayṣarī’s (d. 1350) Prolegomena (muqaddima) to his commentary, Maṭlaʿ khuṣūṣ al-kilam fī maʿānī Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam (A Preamble of Select Discourse on the Meanings of the Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam), referred to simply as Muqaddimat al-Qayṣarī. His commentary goes back to Ibn al-ʿArabī through Kāshānī, Jandī and Qūnawī, and remains very popular due to its thorough and accessible treatment of the Fuṣūṣ that frequently synthesizes the ideas of his predecessors.
In his introduction Dr Ali says:
“The Muqaddima stands on its own as an independent work and has been the subject of careful study. If the Futūḥāt contains the entirety of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s metaphysics which is distilled in the Fuṣūṣ, then Qayṣarī’s Muqaddima can be read not just as a précis of the Fuṣūṣ but as a summary of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s doctrine.
Qayṣarī writes in the preface to the Muqaddima that without comprehending all of these essential topics, it is not possible to understand the original text of the Fuṣūṣ. It is in light of this approach that he wrote the Muqaddima, which contains what he considers to be the fundamental issues in Sufism, such as Being, the divine names, prophethood, sainthood, unveiling, the Perfect Human and the Muḥammadan Reality.”
It was published by Brill in Hardback and E-Book editions on 18 June 2020. Pages: vi, 257 pp. (English and Arabic)
More information
Two other editions Dr Ali is believed to have in preparation are ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami’s (d.1492) Selected Texts Commenting on “Naqsh al-Fusus” and Haydar Amuli’s (d.1385) The Compendium of Mysteries and Fountainhead of Lights.
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