Apart from the Quran, the most treasured sayings in the Islamic tradition are those of Muhammad himself, which form the Hadith, and none more so than the sayings of God transmitted by Muhammad, known as hadith qudsi ("sacred sayings"). Ibn 'Arabi’s Divine Sayings is one of the most important and influential early collections of hadith qudsi. It comprises 101 sayings, drawn from the oral tradition as well as written collections.

These Divine Sayings are universal in nature, expounding the divine root of all goodness and beauty, and can be appreciated by people from any background. Recurring themes include our utter dependence upon God, and His readiness to forgive and embrace those who truly turn to Him. This book is a most wonderful gift. Divine Sayings is a critical edition and translation of the full Arabic text, with notes, compiled from the best early manuscripts.

About the translators

Stephen Hirtenstein is a co-founder of Anqa Publishing, which published his biography of Ibn ‘Arabi: The Unlimited Mercifier. His numerous other publications include The Seven Days of the Heart, a translation with Pablo Beneito of Ibn ‘Arabi’s Awrad (prayers for the nights and days of the week). Stephen is editor of the Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society.

Martin Notcutt came to the UK from South Africa in the 1970s. He was a student at the Beshara School in Scotland, where he was introduced to the works of Ibn ‘Arabi, and has been a member of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society since it was founded in 1977.

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Divine Sayings - Table of contents
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Qur'an, hadith and hadith qudsi
Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi and hadith
Ibn 'Arabi's other hadith writings
The Mishkat al-anwar
Transmission and reception

The 101 Hadith Qudsi

Preface

Part One
Hadith 1 Forbidding injustice
Hadith 2 Dispensing with association
Hadith 3 The believer with little means
Hadith 4 Promoting peace and reconciliation
Hadith 5 The veiling of Paradise and Hell
Hadith 6 Reciting the Fatiha
Hadith 7 The child of Adam slanders Me
Hadith 8 Remembering Me and forgetting Me
Hadith 9 The Hand of God is full
Hadith 10 I am with My servant when he remembers
Hadith 11 Fear and security
Hadith 12 I shall shelter them in My Shade
Hadith 13 I am in My servant’s thought of Me
Hadith 14 God’s address to one of the people of Hell
Hadith 15 Pride is My cloak
Hadith 16 The intercession of the Most Merciful, and His Good Pleasure
Hadith 17 A religion with which I am well-pleased
Hadith 18 Vision of the Lord
Hadith 19 Destined for Hell or Paradise
Hadith 20 Satisfaction with My decree
Hadith 21 What no eye has seen nor ear heard
Hadith 22 He who hopes for other than Me
Hadith 23 The last to enter Paradise
Hadith 24 When God created Adam
Hadith 25 When God created the Earth
Hadith 26 I am your Lord
Hadith 27 I am with him when he remembers Me
Hadith 28 I shall forgive you
Hadith 29 The blessing of rain
Hadith 30 God hears him who praises Him
Hadith 31 Dividing the Fatiha and granting the prayer
Hadith 32 Concerning purity
Hadith 33 Those who love one another
Hadith 34 Compensation for loss of sight
Hadith 35 The coming of those who deceive through religion
Hadith 36 I gave you gifts; what have you done?
Hadith 37 The community of Muhammad at the Resurrection
Hadith 38 Greeting and blessing the Prophet
Hadith 39 Devotion to My worship
Hadith 40 There is no god but God

Part Two
Khabar 1 Abraham and disobeying the Beloved
Khabar 2 David and the attachment of the heart
Khabar 3 Moses and the work God loves most
Khabar 4 I am completely aware of My lovers
Khabar 5 Concerning one who kills himself
Khabar 6 Remembering Me when facing the enemy
Khabar 7 The supremacy of Mercy over Anger
Khabar 8 Contentment with one’s portion
Khabar 9 God’s welcome to the people of Paradise
Khabar 10 How you wrong Me
Khabar 11 Pleasure and hardship
Khabar 12 Creation and provision
Khabar 13 Peace and goodness in Paradise
Khabar 14 The lover's right
Khabar 15 The Faithful
Khabar 16 The King's descent
Khabar 17 The counting of deeds
Khabar 18 I have created you for My sake
Khabar 19 Regarding the morrow
Khabar 20 Surrender and Peace
Khabar 21 Obligations and nourishment
Khabar 22 Prayer and sufficiency
Khabar 23 The time for charity
Khabar 24 Giving generously
Khabar 25 My treasuries are never exhausted
Khabar 26 Raising the veils for the people of Paradise
Khabar 27 My Power is permanent
Khabar 28 The ruse of God
Khabar 29 I shall give you gifts
Khabar 30 I accept the prayer of one who humbles himself
Khabar 31 Abandoning evil for the sake of God
Khabar 32 Completing what is required
Khabar 33 The impetuosity of man
Khabar 34 Moses and the pillars of religion
Khabar 35 The prophet–servant and the prophet–king
Khabar 36 Demeaning a saint
Khabar 37 The act God loves most
Khabar 38 All that you wish, I wish
Khabar 39 I am Time
Khabar 40 I have forgiven them

Part Three
Hadith 1 God’s pledge to him who goes forth to fight
Hadith 2 God’s wonder at him who goes forth to fight
Hadith 3 The bounty apportioned to the martyr
Hadith 4 The people of invocation
Hadith 5 Moses’ request for invocation
Hadith 6 God’s prayer over the Prophet
Hadith 7 The tie of kinship
Hadith 8 The necessity of love
Hadith 9 When God loves a servant
Hadith 10 A Lord who forgives sin
Hadith 11 My servant draws near to Me
Hadith 12 The acceptance of deeds
Hadith 13 The service of the world
Hadith 14 The ingratitude of a servant
Hadith 15 Redemption through the Name of God
Hadith 16 Desiring other than Me
Hadith 17 Those whose requests are not rejected
Hadith 18 The recompense on the Day of Resurrection
Hadith 19 The reciter, the martyr and the wealthy man
Hadith 20 The hypocrite
Hadith 21 God’s address to the people of Paradise, their request and His reply

Notes to the translation
Appendix A The chains of transmission
Appendix B Manuscript sources for the Mishkat al-anwar
Bibliography
Index of first lines
Index of names

Reviews

Much of the early scholarship on Ibn ‘Arabi focused on his contributions to the intellectual sciences, especially metaphysics and spiritual psychology. Only gradually have scholars come to acknowledge the extent of his immersion in the transmitted sciences such as Quran and jurisprudence. As for Hadith, it is difficult to overestimate the importance that he gives to the field. One must always keep in mind that his goal was to make the fullness of "Muhammadan" sanctity more accessible, that is, the whole range of spiritual perfections realized by Muhammad in act, word, and inner reality. As he says in a typical passage, "Our vision of God in the Muhammadan form through the Muhammadan vision is the most complete vision that there may be. So we never cease encouraging people to achieve it, both orally and in this book" (Futuhat IV 184). In many ways it is the Hadith, Muhammad’s own words, that provide seekers with the most immediate access to the Muhammadan form.

Stephen Hirtenstein and Martin Notcutt have produced in Divine Sayings a beautifully translated version of Ibn ‘Arabi’s best known collection of Hadith, based not only on the published Arabic text but also several important manuscripts, with full scholarly apparatus. They have done a great service to all those who would like to gaze upon the Muhammadan form though the eyes of al-Shaykh al-Akbar.
-William C. Chittick
Stony Brook University

This classic collection (and first critical edition) of 101 memorable "Divine Sayings" related by the Prophet, translated in full for the first time in English, is not just an indispensable key to the teachings of Ibn ‘Arabi and the wider traditions of Islamic spirituality. These short sayings are also a simple, direct, immediately accessible summary of the most universal spiritual lessons: the all-encompassing primacy of God’s Love and Compassion; the corresponding human tasks of attentiveness, perseverance, and true service; the practical centrality of purified intention and constant remembrance – and the interaction of all those elements at each stage along our spiritual path.
James W. Morris
University of Exeter

Extract

Divine Sayings

First Hadith 

According to Abu Dharr, the Prophet, may God give him blessings and peace, said, reporting the words of God, ever praised and exalted is He:

"O My servants, I have forbidden injustice to Myself and I have made it forbidden amongst you. So be not unjust to one another.

"O My servants, all of you go astray except the one whom I guide. Ask guidance of Me, and I shall guide you.

"O My servants, all of you go hungry except the one whom I feed. Ask Me for food, and I shall feed you.

"O My servants, all of you go naked except the one whom I clothe. Ask Me for clothing, and I shall clothe you.

"O My servants, you transgress by day and night, but I forgive all misdeeds. Ask forgiveness of Me, and I shall forgive you.

"O My servants, harming Me is beyond you, so you cannot harm Me; and benefiting Me is beyond you, so you cannot benefit Me.

"O My servants, if all of you – first and last, man and jinn – were like the one among you with the most devout heart, that would add nothing to My kingdom.

"O My servants, if all of you – first and last, man and jinn – were like the one among you with the most ungodly heart, that would take nothing away from My kingdom.

"O My servants, if all of you – first and last, man and jinn – were to stand on the same level and address Me with your requests, and if I were to give each one what he had requested, that would not diminish what is with Me, anymore than a needle diminishes the sea when it enters it.

"O My servants, it is solely your deeds that I take account of, and it is by virtue of them that I will repay you. So let him who finds good, praise God, and let him who finds other than that, hold none but himself to blame."

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