Ibn Arabi :
The Voyage of No Return,
New,
[A5] Paperback - 148 pages, 2nd Edition,
Shaykh ibn al-Arabi [d.638h],
Compiled by Claude Addas,
Published by The Islamic Texts Society.
Description :
This is a concise introduction to the life and thought of Ibn ‘Arabi, who is considered as the ‘Greatest of Sufi Masters.’ This second edition includes a new preface and an updated and expanded bibliography.
Written by the author of a best-selling biography of Ibn ‘Arabi, 'Ibn ‘Arabi: The Voyage of No Return' traces the major events of Ibn ‘Arabi’s life: his conversion to Sufism; his travels around Andalusia and the Maghreb; his meetings with the Saints (awliya) of his time; his journey to Mecca; his travels in Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and Syria; his most important books.
The events of ibn ‘Arabi’s ‘inner voyage’, however, are far more spectacular than those of his outer life and are here presented directly from the many auto-biographical sections found in his writings. Through her detailed analysis of Ibn ‘Arabi’s works and her profound understanding of his ideas, Claude Addas gives us a comprehensive insight into the major doctrines of this most influential of Sufi, masters: the doctrine of Prophethood and Sainthood (wilayat), of inheritance from the Prophets, of the ‘Imaginal World’, of the ‘unicity of Being’, of the ‘Seal of the Saints’, and many others.
Addas also introduces the main disciples of Ibn ‘Arabi down to the nineteenth century and traces both his unequalled influence on the course of Sufism and the controversies that still surround him till today. Ibn ‘Arabi: The Voyage of No Return is essential reading for anyone interested in Islamic mysticism and is a genuine contribution to scholarship in this field.
"…there can be no question as to the
comprehensive scope and scholarly reliability of this work: the author
has included all the major themes of Ibn Arabi’s writings, for the most
part expressed in his own words, and has placed them carefully in the
context of his major writings and both their immediate & wider
historical settings." ---James Morris, Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society.
About Shaykh ibn al-Arabi :
Ibn al-‘Arabi, the Shaykh al-Akbar, may Allah be pleased with him,
the Sultan of the gnostics Muhyiddin Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Hatimi
at-Ta’i al-Andalusi, was born in Murcia on 17th Ramadan, 560 Hijra, and
died in Damascus on 22 Rabi‘ al-Akhar, 638 Hijra.
Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Abd al-Wahhab ash-Sha‘rani, may Allah be pleased with him, wrote a biography of him in his Tabaqat
and said, “Among them was the Shaykh, the perfect gnostic, the
realised, one of the gnostics of Allah, Sayyidi Muhyiddin Ibn al-‘Arabi,
may Allah be pleased with him. The realised among the people of
Allah – may He be magnified and exalted! – joined in respecting him in
all the knowledges, as his books bear witness to that. None reject him
except because of the fineness of his words.”
In the introduction to the book, The Rubies and Jewels in the Clarification of the Beliefs of the Great, by Sayyidi ‘Abd al-Wahhab ash-Sha‘rani, he says:
“He, Ibn al-‘Arabi, may Allah be pleased with him, followed
the Book and the Sunna. He said, ‘Whoever casts the balance
of the shari‘a from his hand for an instant is destroyed.’ He said,
‘All that occurs to your mind, Allah ta‘ala is different from that.’
This is the creed of the Muslim community until the Hour comes.”
Claude Addas is a scholar of Ibn ‘Arabi and the author of Quest for the Red Sulphur: The Life of Ibn ‘Arabi, also published by The Islamic Texts Society.
Dimensions : 21.7 x 13.8cm.
