Mystic philosopher, poet sage, Muhammad Ali Ibn Arabi (1165 AD -1240 AD) is one of the world’s great spiritual teachers. Known as Muhyiddin (the Revivifier of Religion) and the Shaykh al-Akbar (the Greatest Master). He wrote over 350 works including the Fusûs al-Hikam, an exposition of the inner-meaning of the wisdom of the prophets in the Judaic-Christian-Islamic line, and the Futûhât al-Makkiyya, a vast encyclopedia of spiritual knowledge which unites and distinguishes the three strands of tradition, reason and mystical insight. He died in Damascus, revered and respected among his contemporaries, leaving a rich and profound legacy of work.
A man is essentially a Divine work house.
The human being is a city, with a special place at its center for the Lord’s deputy, where he resides with his governing officials.
But until one sees one’s self, one seeks everything outside of oneself, while all there is, is in oneself.
That which perceives this world is sight, while that which perceives the World of the Unseen is insight.
Ib’n Arabi he was born in Andalusia, the center of an extraordinary flourishing and cross-fertilization of Jewish, Christian and Islamic thought, through which the major scientific and philosophical works of antiquity were transmitted to Northern Europe. Ib’n Arabi’s spiritual attainments were evident from an early age, and he was renowned for his great visionary capacity as well as being a superlative teacher.
In his Diwân and Tarjumân al-Ashwâq he also wrote some of the finest poetry in the Arabic language. These extensive writings provide an exposition of the Unity of Being, the single and indivisible reality which simultaneously transcends and is manifested in all the images of the world. Ibn Arabi shows how Man, in his perfection, is the complete image of reality and those who truly know their essential self also know God.