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Ibn 'Arabi in the West (1165–1200)
Ibn 'Arabi was born in Murcia in southern Spain on 27 July 1165 (17 Ramadan 560 AH), at a time when the lands of al-Andalus had already been under Muslim rule for over 450 years.
At the age of eight, he moved with his family to Seville, which remained his home for the next 27 years.
When he was about 16, he experienced a strong calling to turn to God and entered into a retreat. He tells us that he came to the spiritual path through a vision of Jesus, Moses and Muhammad, the prophets of the three major religions stemming from Abraham. As a consequence of this retreat, he met the famous philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes) in Cordoba.
Ibn 'Arabi began to study the Quran and Hadith in earnest, and soon came under the instruction of his first spiritual master, al-'Uryani (Story 1). During his youth Ibn 'Arabi kept company with many spiritual teachers, men and women, in Seville and throughout al-Andalus – later he wrote about them in his Ruh al-quds (Epistle of the Spirit of Holiness).
He had many mystical experiences, visions and revelations, including a meeting with Khidr (Story 2), the immortal guide who imparts hidden mysteries. In 1190 he had his great vision of all the prophets, from the time of Adam onwards – a theme which found its most complete expression in his book Fusus al-Hikam (Settings of the Wisdoms).
In 1193 he left the Iberian Peninsula and travelled to Tunis to visit Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Mahdawi, one of Abu Madyan's pupils. While there, Ibn 'Arabi entered "God's Vast Earth" or the "Earth of Reality", an intelligible, spiritual realm in which the real, effective adoration of God takes place.
On his return to Seville he began his writing career, with the Mashahid al-asrar (Contemplation of the Holy Mysteries) being one of the very first books he composed.
In 1197 he experienced a dramatic spiritual ascension in the city of Fez, at the end of which he wrote in his Kitab al-Isra' (Book of the Night-Journey):
I gained in this night-journey the true meanings of all the Divine Names, and I saw that they all referred to One Named and One essential Reality. This Named was my very object of contemplation; that Reality was my own being.
The Ayn al-Khayl mosque in Fez
Click here for details of Western Writings
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The courtyard of the old Friday Mosque in Seville
This Earth of Reality is imperishable and immutable, and that is why God has made it the abode of His servants and the place of His worship. It is a spiritual Earth, intelligible and not of the senses.
Futuhat al-Makkiyya
The tomb of al-Mahdawi outside Tunis
He whom God has illuminated sees Him in all things.
Futuhat al-Makkiyya
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