Interpreting Ibn ¿Arab¿

Interpreting Ibn -Arab-: Philosophy, Theology and Exegesis in Later Islam offers a comprehensive and critical examination of one of Islam's most enigmatic and influential thinkers.

Arjun Nair is an Assistant Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California. He holds a PhD in the History and Cultures of the Muslim World from the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations at Harvard University. He specializes in the study of religion, Islamic philosophy, and Sufi literature. He has also published in numerous peer- reviewed venues, including the Journal of Islamic Studies, the Journal of Qur-anic Studies, the Journal of Sufi Studies, Religions, and the Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn -Arabi Society.

Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration and Translation Introduction The Problems (mushkil-t) of the Fu---: Interpretive Divergences From the Lack of Understanding (-adam al-fahm): Solving the Problems of the Fu--- The Present Study: Interpreting Ibn -Arab- 1 "All is He, All is Not He": The Vision of Huwa-l- Huwa The Entities (äy-n) are Not Made (ghayr maj--l) and Non-Existent (mäd-m) The Mirror-Entities and the Color-Entities The Pre-Existent Forms (-uwar) of the Entities: The Cloud, the Barzakh, the Creator-Real 2 Divine Power and Human Freedom The Essence (Dh-t) and the Divinity (Il-h), Determination (taqd-r) and Creation (khalq) Freedom and Compulsion, Responsibility (takl-f) and Predestination (qadar) 3 Incomparability and Similarity To Affirm Incomparability is to Affirm Limitation (täd-d) and Restriction (taqy-d) Transcending the God of Beliefs (al-il-h al-mu-taqad-t) The Divinity Clothed in Forms of Belief: Worshiping the Idols of Belief 4 "Created in his/His Form": The All-Comprehensive Form of Man Originated and Beginningless (--dith azal-), Perpetual and Endless (d--im abad-) The Problem of Man's Firstness (awwaliyya) Creation (khalaqa) in Two Senses: Determination (taqd-r) and Existentiation (-j-d) 5 Becoming a Form of God (--rat al--aqq) The False Form (--ra b--ila) of the Pharaoh of Moses (Fir-awn M-s-) The Form of al-Kharr-z, One of the Tongues of God (lis-n min alsinat al--aqq) 6 The Messenger takes his Knowledge from the Seal of the Saints The Prophets (anbiy--) in the Fu--- al--ikam The Seal of the Saints: "the space for two bricks" (maw-i- labinatayn) 7 Interpreting the Qur--n Between täw-l, ish-ra, and -ub-r: Ibn -Arab-'s Qur--nic Hermeneutics Abraham's Sacrifice (dhab-), God's Deception (makr), Drowning in Knowledge 8 The Hermeneutics of Mercy The Faith of Pharaoh (-m-n Fir-awn) in Q. 10:90-92 From Torments (-adh-b) to the Sweetness of Torments (-udh-ba) Conclusion: Interpreting the Shaykh al-Akbar "He/not He" Revisited: Ambiguity and Knowledge as Perplexity (-ayra) "He who does not know the status of imagination has no knowledge" Bibliography Index