The continuation of the acclaimed English translation of Les Iluminations de la Meque. Volume II contains more of the "Greatest Shaykhs'" wisdom for the first time in English. Subjects include: the gnostic and the sacred law, the mystic properties of the Quranic letters, the secrets of Forgiveness and the attainment of Divine Nearness.

 

"...The ideas of great authorities like Ibn ‘Arabi seem always fresh and deep."
-Victor Danner, author of The Islamic Tradition

Perhaps no mystic in the history of the world has delved as deeply into the inner knowledge that informs our being as did Ibn 'Arabi. He was born into the cultural and religious crucible of Andalusian Spain in 1165, a place and time in which Muslim, Jewish and Christian scholars learned from each other and from the Greek classics that were then being translated and circulated. Drawing from the most advanced philosophical and metaphysical thinking of his time and from his extensive knowledge of the religion of Islam, Ibn 'Arabi created an extraordinary mystical theology that essentially sprang from his own spiritual realization. Because of the advanced nature of his teachings he has been known for 800 years as the Sheikh al-Akbar, or the Greatest Master.

 

Because of the subtlety of his language and complexity of his thought, access to Ibn 'Arabi has always been difficult and translation daunting. Previously only short extracts were available in English. This volume, is the second of our acclaimed translation of Les Illuminations de la Mecque, and contains more of the "Greatest Shaykh's" wisdom for the first time in English, on such issues as the gnostic and the sacred law, the mystic properties of Quranic letters, the secrets of Forgiveness and the attainment of Divine Nearness.

 

This great book soars beyond time, culture and any particular form of religion. Describing what is fundamental to our humanity, it is astonishingly universal. Finally readers in the West have an entree into one of the most important, profound works of world literature.

From the Back Cover
'Suddenly, one of the most... inaccessible of the great Sufis has emerged into the limelight of Islamic history with amazing swiftness and an impact no one was prepared to experience.... In these days, when the image of Islam provided by modernist and fundamentalist Muslims seem so superficial and uninspiring, it is good to hear from such great traditional authorities as Ibn 'Arabi, whose ideas seem always fresh and deep.

-Victor Danner, author of The Islamic Tradition