Quest for the Red Sulphur: The Life of Ibn 'Arabi (Islamic Texts Society)

‘Sultan of Gnostics, Shaykh al-Akbar’: for the past eight centuries the profound spiritual influence of Ibn ‘Arabī has been a major point of reference in Sufism. Yet apart from a handful of specialised studies little has been written in the English language about this visionary metaphysician—known as ‘the supreme Master’. His writings are inseparable from his life. They cannot be isolated from the various stages of his inner experience or from his lengthy wanderings from West to East, across the Muslim world, which was menaced on the one hand by the Reconquista and on the other by the Crusades. In the drama of both his inner and outer life his companions and his contemporaries were far from being mere onlookers. The places where he stayed, and the events he lived through. represent a great deal more than so many anecdotal details providing the background for his spiritual quest. Until the publication of this book, anyone who wanted to learn about the life of Ibn ‘Arabī has had little choice of materials to work from. This major study by Claude Addas is based on a detailed analysis of the whole range of Ibn ‘Arabī's own writings as well as a vast amount of secondary literature in both Arabic and Persian. The result is the first-ever attempt to reconstruct what proves to have been a double itinerary: on the one hand the journey that took Ibn ‘Arabī from his native Andalusia to Damascus—and on the other, the ‘Night Journey’ which carried him along the paths of asceticism and prayer to the ultimate stage of revelation of his mystic quest. Quest for the Red Sulphur is undoubtedly a landmark in Ibn ‘Arabī studies, and its author's gift of narrative allied to a consummate understanding of the subject should make this volume compulsory reading for anyone interested in Islamic mysticism. Translated from the original French by Peter Kingsley Cover Half title Imprint Translator's Note Contents System of transliteration for Arabic characters List of abbreviations Foreword Introduction 1. Home Land ‘Andalusia belongs to God’ The descendants of Hatim al-Tai ‘In the time of my sinful youth’ 2. Vocation 'When God called me to Him' Entering the Way Western Sufism in Ibn 'Arabī's time The masters of Seville 3. Election Cordoba: the Great Vision Seville: retreats and revelations 4. Ibn 'Arabī and The Savants of Andalusia Ibn 'Arabī's training in the traditional religious disciplines, according to his Ijáza Training in literature according to the Kitāb muhādarat al-abrār Theological and philosophical training 5. God's Vast Earth ‘I am the Qur'ān and the Seven Substitutes’ Heir to Abraham 6. Fez 'Make me into light' A ‘face without a nape’ Ascension 7. Farewells 8. The Great Pilgrimage The East under the Ayyūbids Voyage to the centre of the earth In the shadow of the Ka'ba 9. ‘Counsel my Servants' 10. Damascus, ‘Refuge of the Prophets' Ibn 'Arabī and the Syrian fuqahā' The meeting of the two Seals Conclusion Appendices 1. Chronological table of Ibn Arabī’s life 2. Ibn 'Arabī and his links with the various Sufi currents in the Muslim West 3. The teachers in traditional religious disciplines frequented by Ibn 'Arabī in the Muslim West 4. The men of letters frequented by Ibn 'Arabī in the Muslim West 5. The four silsilas Bibliography 1. Manuscript sources 2. Published sources Indexes Index of Names Glossary and Index of Technical Terms