Life and Works of Ibn al-Arabi: A Sufi Master

 

Contribution of Ibn Arabi in the field of Philosophy, Theology, and poetry

Ibn Arabi also known as Muhyiddin (the “revivifier of religion”) and the Shaykh al-Akbar (the “greatest master”), he provided an understanding of Islam from its most literal to its most profound meaning.

He wrote approximately 350 works, including the Fusus al-Hikam, which explains the core meaning of the prophets' knowledge from a Judaic, Christian, and Islamic perspective. He also wrote some of the best poetry in the Arabic language in his Diwan and Tarjumn al-Ashwq.

Ibn Arabi's patriarchal ancestors were from the Tayy tribe of South Arabia, and his maternal ancestors were Berber from North Africa. Ibn Arabi was born in 1165 CE, in the Spanish town of Murcia and later travelled to Seville to study religious sciences. Ibn Arabi lived in Andalusia and North Africa for a long time. He journeyed to Tunis, Alexandria, and Cairo before making the trip to Makkah, where he joined a group of Sufis.

He spent three years in Mecca, when he began authoring Al-Futt al-Makkiyya, or "The Meccan Illuminations." Ibn Arabi's spiritual abilities were apparent from an early age, and he was known for both his visionary abilities and his ability to teach. He travelled much throughout the Islamic world before dying in Damascus in 1240 AD.

In terms of knowing what it is to be human, his knowledge has a lot to give us in the present world.

If the believer understood the meaning of the saying “the colour of the water is the colour of the receptacle”, he would admit the validity of all beliefs and he would recognise God in every form and every object of faith.

                                    Ibn Arabi: Fusus al-hikam

Ibn Arabi's teachings soon disseminated all across the Islamic world after his death. His thoughts were not limited to the Muslim upper crust; the Sufi organisations' vast influence allowed them to reach out to people from all walks of life. Arabi's work was also widely circulated in Persian, Turkish, and Urdu. Many well-known poets were schooled in Sufi groups and influenced by Arabi's ideas.

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