Read an Excerpt
I contemplated all the prophets, from Adam to Muhammad, and God made me contemplate also all those who believe in them, so that there is no one whom I did not see of those who have lived or will live until the Day of the Resurrection, whether they belong to the elite or to the common body of believers. And I observed the degrees of this assembly and knew the rank of all who were in it.
THIS vision, according to the Fusus al-hikam, took place at Cordoba in 586/1190. Ibn 'Arabi, who was born in 560/1165, was thus twenty-five years of age (twenty-six lunar years), and his 'entry upon the way' had taken place only six years previously. Several other texts, written by Ibn 'Arabi himself or by his disciples, furnish us with additional details about this event, of which we will have occasion to speak at greater length. One of these texts tells us that the vision unfolded in two stages. On the first occasion, Ibn 'Arabi saw the Prophets by them selves; on the second, he saw them in the company of all their followers, a fact which enabled him to conclude that the saints (awliya') walk 'ala aqdam al-anbiya', 'in the footsteps of the prophets'—an expression which, as we shall see, is not metaphorical but possesses a precise technical meaning; and in this connection he cites the example of his teacher, Abu 'l-'Abbas al-'Uryabi, who was 'ala qadam 'lsa, 'in the footsteps of Jesus'.
This vision, however, important as it is, is only one of many. According to Sadr al-Din Qunawi, Ibn 'Arabi's step-son and disciple, 'our teacher had the ability to encounter the spirit of whomsoever he wished among the prophets and saints of the past, in three ways: sometimes he caused those who inhabit that world [of the spirits] to descend and perceived them in a subtle corporeal form; sometimes he caused them to be present to him in his sleep; and sometimes he would cast aside his own material form.' It is a fact that the writings of the Shaykh al-Akbar speak of innumerable occasions when he met with the prophets or—especially in the subtle dialogues of the Book of Theophanies (Kitab al-tajalliyat)—with the saints of the past, in a manner as natural as when he speaks of the awliya' of his time whom he knew and visited. Thus it goes without saying that the word 'doctrine' in the title of the present work refers to the written translation of a visionary knowledge and a personal experience of sainthood: we do not find in Ibn 'Arabi, in connection with this or with any other subject, the systematic exposition of a theory such as a theologian might write. He warns us of this often enough, moreover, when speaking of the conditions under which his works were written: 'I have not written one single letter of this book save by divine dictation (imla' ilahi) and dominical vouchsafing (ilqa' rabbani)'. Elsewhere he insists that even the ordering of his subject-matter does not proceed from his own will. If that were the case, he says, the order would be different: for example, the chapter in the Futuhat on the shari'a, the divine Law, should logically speaking come before the chapters on ritual prescriptions, whereas in fact it occurs some way after them. Thus, only a tortuous progress through the thousands of pages which make up his work, and a comparative reading of texts which may at first sight appear contradictory, make it possible to demonstrate the coherence of his teaching and to understand its implications. The reader must not be surprised if at times in the course of this journey the wood cannot be seen for the trees.
