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“To love multiplicity is to love unity. They are not opposed.”
multiplicityTarjuman al-Ashwaq
“Whoever loves a form loves the Real through that form.”
loveTarjuman al-Ashwaq
“In the heart of the gnostic, every doctrine is true. None is final.”
doctrinesFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“The Throne is the heart that has been polished by remembrance.”
throneFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“To pray facing only one direction is to deny the unity of the Real.”
unityTarjuman al-Ashwaq
“The lover is the cosmos awakening to itself.”
awakeningFusus al-Hikam
“In the deepest unveiling, all dualities collapse.”
unveilingFusus al-Hikam
“The seal of the saints sees what the prophets pointed to.”
sainthoodFusus al-Hikam
“Every seeker is a fragment of the Sought.”
unityTarjuman al-Ashwaq
“The cosmos is a book. Every creature is a letter. Read.”
bookFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“Whoever rejects a form of the Beloved rejects part of the Beloved.”
acceptanceFusus al-Hikam
“The mystic is at home in every house, because he is at home in his own heart.”
homeFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“In the recognition of unity, all needs are met.”
recognitionFusus al-Hikam
“What is veiled from one is revealed to another. The veil itself is a kind of revelation.”
veilFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“To see only one form of Allah is half-blindness. To see all forms is full sight.”
visionTarjuman al-Ashwaq
“The world is the perfume of His self-disclosure.”
perfumeFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“Each name of Allah opens a different chamber of the heart.”
namesFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“In the heart of unity, even apparent contradiction is harmony.”
unityFusus al-Hikam
“The lover is the eye through which the Beloved sees Himself.”
eyeTarjuman al-Ashwaq
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