Ibn Arabi
Andalusian Sufi philosopher and mystic, born in Murcia in 1165 and the most influential Islamic metaphysician of the medieval world. Known as al-Shaykh al-Akbar ("The Greatest Master"), he developed the doctrine of wahdat al-wujud ("the unity of being") which has shaped Sufi thought from his time to ours. His vast corpus — the 560-chapter Futuhat al-Makkiyya (Meccan Revelations) and the densely poetic Fusus al-Hikam (Bezels of Wisdom) — explores the interpenetration of God and creation through the lens of the Perfect Human (al-Insan al-Kamil), the divine names, and the mirror of the heart. He died in Damascus in 1240.
106
quotes in library
Quotes by Ibn Arabi
106 quotes“The hearts of the gnostics are the Throne of God.”
throneFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“Knowledge is the key. Practice is the door. The Real is the chamber.”
pathFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“Who knows the names knows the Named. The names are the path.”
namesFusus al-Hikam
“In the breath of the Beloved, all worlds are inhaled and exhaled.”
breathFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“Submission is not slavery. Submission is freedom from the slavery of the self.”
submissionFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“The lover does not exist. The Beloved alone exists. This is the secret of love.”
unityTarjuman al-Ashwaq
“To recognize Allah in beauty is the first stage. To recognize Him in pain is the second.”
recognitionFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“Imagination is the noblest of the faculties.”
imaginationFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“The Quran is a sea. Every reader takes a different drop.”
scriptureFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“Whoever bound himself to one form unbound himself from the Reality.”
formsFusus al-Hikam
“The wise see Allah everywhere. The unwise do not see at all.”
visionFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“Each heart is a unique mirror. Each reflects what it can.”
heartFusus al-Hikam
“In the breath of the Compassionate, all things rest.”
compassionFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“To say 'I' is to step out of the One. The lover steps back in.”
IFusus al-Hikam
“The world is the mirror of God. Polish your heart to see Him in it.”
mirrorFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“Every direction is the direction of prayer for the gnostic.”
prayerFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“In the school of love, all separations are revealed as illusions.”
separationTarjuman al-Ashwaq
“The fish does not know it is in the water. So we do not know we are in Him.”
immersionFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“Knowledge is a gift. Wisdom is its application.”
wisdomFutuhat al-Makkiyya
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