Sufism · a course in ten chapters
Ibn Arabi
ابن عربي
You exist because love wanted to be known.
That is where Ibn Arabi begins. Ten short chapters, each built on a painting you can touch: from his life and road, through oneness, the Names and the breath of mercy, to the heart that takes every form.
Who he was
Born in al-Andalus in 1165; died in Damascus in 1240. Between the two: the cities of North Africa, the courtyards of Mecca, the high roads of Anatolia and Syria, and a shelf of books that has never stopped being read. Everyone after him calls him الشيخ الأكبر al-Shaykh al-Akbar, the Greatest Master.
He is dense, he is exact, and he is far more practical than his reputation. His two great books are الفتوحات المكية al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, The Meccan Openings, and فصوص الحكم Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, The Ringstones of Wisdom.
Here are ten chapters of his thought, twenty ideas in all. Each is a painting you can touch, four short answers, and his own words underneath.
The circle
Nine steps on a single circle, from a hidden treasure around again through love. Tap a number.
- The big idea
- Nine short steps on one circle: you exist because love wanted to be known, and love is how you know it in return.
- What’s hard to get
- It is a circle, not a ladder. The last step opens onto the first.
- Common misconception
- That you must understand it all before it helps. One idea is enough to carry through a day.
- Why it matters
- Even one short chapter, on a crowded day, is a whole step.
Ten chapters
Each chapter is built around a painting you can touch: tap, slide, pour. Under each picture: four short answers, then the deeper notes.
1His life and worksالشيخ الأكبرal-Shaykh al-AkbarThe journey map · The Futūḥāt spiral · The Fuṣūṣ ring
2Oneness of beingوَحْدَةُ الْوُجُودِwaḥdat al-wujūdOne light, many panes · He, not He
3The Namesالْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَىal-asmāʾ al-ḥusnāThe constellation of Names · Names in the world
4Fixed essencesالْأَعْيَانُ الثَّابِتَةُal-aʿyān al-thābitaSeeds in the dark · Same light, different vessels
5The Breath of the Mercifulنَفَسُ الرَّحْمٰنِnafas al-RaḥmānBreath into letters · Points of articulation
6New creation at every instantالْخَلْقُ الْجَدِيدُal-khalq al-jadīdFlicker frames · The slow-motion dial
7Barzakh and imaginationالْبَرْزَخُ وَالْخَيَالُal-barzakh wa-l-khayālThe isthmus · Three worlds stacked
8The Perfect Humanالْإِنْسَانُ الْكَامِلُal-insān al-kāmilThe polished mirror · The pillar of the world
9The 27 wisdomsفُصُوصُ الْحِكَمِFuṣūṣ al-ḥikamThe gem ring, opening
10The heart that takes every formقَلْبٌ قَابِلٌ كُلَّ صُورَةٍqalb qābil kull ṣūraThe shape-shifting heart · Many paths, one centerGo deeper
2 short readings for the course as a whole. Open any one.
1Why read him when you're stressed1 min
Ibn Arabi wrote for people with full lives. He was a traveler, a husband and a father, a friend of rulers and of the poor. His big ideas turn out to be practical. Mercy comes before the hard thing. Nothing repeats, so no day is a rerun. Not-knowing is a kind of seeing. The heart is wider than whatever is pressing on it. You don't need to agree with every line to feel the room grow a little wider.
2His Arabic, in small doses1 min
Most of his key words come from three-letter roots, and the roots carry pictures. قلب qalb, heart, is "the thing that turns". وجود wujūd, being, is "being found". رحمة raḥma, mercy, shares its root with the womb. حيرة ḥayra, bewilderment, is water swirling in a pool. Throughout the course you'll meet a word, its root, and the picture inside it. You don't need to read Arabic. You only need to notice that each word is a small image you can keep in your pocket for the day.
Born in al-Andalus in 1165. Begin with the road he walked.
Begin · Chapter 1: His life and works →Sources
- Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya and Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam
- William C. Chittick, The Sufi Path of Knowledge (1989)
- Claude Addas, Quest for the Red Sulphur: The Life of Ibn ʿArabī (1993)
- Henry Corbin, Alone with the Alone: Creative Imagination in the Sūfism of Ibn ʿArabī
- Toshihiko Izutsu, Sufism and Taoism (1983)
- Michel Chodkiewicz, Seal of the Saints (1993)
From a treasure, to love, and around again.