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 path of love is the shortest path to truth.”
pathTarjuman al-Ashwaq
“In the cosmos, every form is a saying of the Real.”
formsFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“Whoever sees with the eye of unity sees no other.”
unityFusus al-Hikam
“The heart of the Friend is the Friend's mirror.”
mirrorTarjuman al-Ashwaq
“In every breath, the Real exhales the cosmos. In every breath, the cosmos returns.”
breathFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“The traveler is also the road. The road is also the destination.”
unityFusus al-Hikam
“To know Allah is to be Allah's knowledge of Himself.”
knowledgeFusus al-Hikam
“The seal of all saintship: the recognition that there is no other.”
recognitionFusus al-Hikam
“In every age, the Perfect Human walks. He is the axis of his time.”
perfect-humanFusus al-Hikam
“To attain Him, lose yourself. To lose yourself, find Him.”
lossTarjuman al-Ashwaq
“The lover's tears are pearls. The Beloved gathers them all.”
tearsTarjuman al-Ashwaq
“In the heart of the gnostic, the Quran becomes silent and the silence becomes Quran.”
silenceFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“What is hidden is the hidden of the hidden. What is manifest is the manifest of the manifest.”
depthFusus al-Hikam
“The Real has no opposite. Even non-existence is His.”
absolutenessFusus al-Hikam
“In the unveiling, language fails. The mystic falls silent.”
silenceFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“To love is to be drawn upward by His names.”
loveTarjuman al-Ashwaq
“The Universal Man is the cosmic mirror in which Allah sees His names.”
universal-manFusus al-Hikam
“Every saying of the prophets is a doorway. Step through. The other side is the same.”
prophetsFutuhat al-Makkiyya
“The cosmos breathes Him. He breathes the cosmos. There is no separation.”
breathFutuhat al-Makkiyya
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