Ibn Ajiba - Two Treatises on the Oneness of Existence,
*[A5] Paperback - 96 pages, Bi-lingual (Arabic - English),
by Shaykh Ahmad ibn Ajiba [d.1224h],
Arabic Text Edited by Jean-Louis Michon,
Transl. into English by David Streight,
Foreword by: Hamza Yusuf,
Published by Archetype.
Back in Stock April 2021,
Description :
This book is presented in the original Arabic together with an English translation on the facing pages, being useful to the student.
In this bi-lingual edition, with a Preface by Claude Addas and a Foreword by Hamza Yusuf, Jean-Louis Michon presents two short metaphysical treatises by Ibn 'Ajiba which shed new light on the history of Sufism and show its vitality as a living tradition in eighteenth-century Morocco.
The key idea underlying both treatises, the Oneness of Existence, reveals the enduring influence of Muhiy 'ud-Din Ibn 'Arabi, ‘Shaykh al- Akbar’ May Allah sanctify his secret, more than five centuries after his death. Students of the history of Islam in North Africa, and those interested in the Sufi tradition will welcome the publication of these treatises and the useful presentation of both Arabic text and English translation on facing pages.
''Ibn Ajiba is one of the most extraordinary spiritual intellectuals
Morocco ever produced --- in these two short treatises he
attempts to explain the relationship of the creation to the Creator.''
---Hamza Yusuf.
Shaykh Ahmad ibn ‘Ajiba :
Ahmad ibn ‘Ajiba al-Shadhili, al-Hasani, may Allah have mercy upon him, (1747–1809) was an 18th-century Moroccan Shaykh in the Darqawa Sufi order. He was born of a Hasani sharif family in the Anjra tribe that ranges from Tangiers to Tetouan along the Mediterranean coast of Morocco. As a child he developed a love of knowledge, memorising the Qur’an and studying subjects ranging from Classical Arabic grammar, religious ethics, poetry, Qur’anic recitation and tafsir.
When he reached the age of eighteen he left home and studied in Qasr al-Kabir under the supervision of Sidi Muhammad as-Susi as-Samlali. It was here that he was introduced to studies in the sciences, art, philosophy, law and Qur’anic exegesis in depth. He went to Fes to study with Ibn Suda, Bennani, and al-Warzazi, and joined the new Darqawiyya in 1208 AH (1793), of which he was the representative in the northern part of the Jbala region. He spent his entire life in and around Tetouan, and died of the plague in 1224 AH (1809). He is the author of a considerable number of works and a Fahrasa which provides interesting information concerning the intellectual center that Tetouan had become by the beginning of the 19th century.
Jean-Louis Michon was born in Nancy, France. He has a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from the Sorbonne. From 1972 to 1980 he was in charge of the UNESCO programme for the preservation of traditional arts and crafts in Morocco, and the establishment of the General Survey of its Cultural Property, including monuments and sites. His publications include The Autobiography of a Moroccan Sufi: Ahmad Ibn ‘Ajiba; The Moroccan Sufi Ahmad Ibn ‘Ajiba and his Mi’raj, a glossary of the technical terms of Islamic Mysticism and numerous articles on Islam, its handicrafts, art and architecture.
*Dimensions : 21 x 14.8cm.
