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Rating: 
Summary: Well-written,but flawed, biography of Shaykh-e-Akbar.
Review: 786I came across this book in a bookshop in Oxford a while ago and was immediately struck by the striking cover which depicts a statue of Ibn Arabi from a Spanish museum. Certainly the Shaykh al Akbar was a most beautiful and strikingly handsome man if this sculpture is his true likeness. Of course the great Sufis true greatness lay in his spirituality as he was one of those rare human beings: a perfectly realised human, a insaan al kaamil, a Perfect Human, and thus a mirror to the Divine. This book has two parts, each told in alternate chapters. The first is a chronological depiction of the main events in Ibn Arabi's amazing life (may Allah bless him). The writing is lucid and clear and the facts of course are fascinating as we read about his early years, his life in Seville, his first steps on the sufi path and then of his journey eastwards to the Maghrib and the Middle East. The other half of the book (the alternate chapters) deal with the major principles of Ibn Arabi's sufism and ideas including wahdat ul wajood. Unfortunately, here the author, like most Orientalist commentators of Ibn Arabi, being from outside the Islamic Sufi tradition, make some unintentional generalisations/deductions about the exact nature of the beliefs of the Shaykh al Akbar which are a bit confusing, a certainly full of danger for the uninitiated Muslim. Most of it is good but a few sections are problematic. Overall, a good source about the life of this perfect human--but for those who want to try anmd decipher the mysteries he writes about in his works--i'm afraid such knowledge cannot be explained by anyone except those who have made similar spiritual journeys themselves without leading to a bit of confusion. In short, you must find a true Shaykh!
Rating: 
Summary: Ibne' Al-Arabi and Christ
Review: As the first full introduction written for a general audience about the life and significance of Ibn 'Arabi (1165-1240), this volume long fills an acute gap in the general literature about Sufism in English. Ibn `Arabi can rightly be regarded as the greatest mystical thinker in the history of Islam and as might be extrapolated from this study, perhaps some future global mysticism that is inter-sectarian. In the Islamic world Ibn 'Arabi is often referred to honorifically as al-Shaykh al-Akbar (the Greatest Master). Among the literalists and reactionary legalists in Islam the profound readings of the Qur'an and hadith, that is the staple of just about everything the Shaykh al-Akbar' wrote, is regarded with shrewd suspicion, if not outright hostility and censor. Among a core of Sufis the Shaykh al-Akbar's works have been savored with a relish and delight as often his lengthy considerations show a nearly unfathomable grasp for the living presence of the divine in all aspects of life. Any mystic can find much to ponder in a studied reading of Ibn 'Arabi's texts. For the many Christians and some Jews who are still perhaps unconsciously swayed by the centuries of anti-Islamic polemic in the west, an astute reading of Shaykh al-Akbar's work should banish many of the silly sectarian ideas that cling to our ideas about Islam. Muslims themselves are still extreamly divided over the worth of Shaykh al-Akbar's views and common misattributions to him of pantheism and even incarnationism are still common slurs betraying a willful misreading of Shaykh al-Akbar's ideas. Though it is unlikely that The Unlimited Mercifier will seriously affect this perennial debate about Shaykh al-Akbar's ultimate worth as a Muslim, Hirtenstein does offer a useful introduction to ibn `Arabi that has not existed in English before. I believe that as scholarly work proceeds on translating the profound depth of Islam as a spiritual path toward knowing self and the divine will become more widely appreciated. The perspective of Shaykh al-Akbar, acknowledged and not, definitely sets the standard of any spiritual reading of the Qur'an. Also in the emerging world spirituality ibn `Arabi may yet play an unique role is forging a link between the monotheisms of the west to the pantheisms and non-theisms of the east and of a rationalist scientific humanisms of modernity. The Unlimited Mercifier provides not only an introduction to the life and ideas of ibn `Arabi but without too strong a reading between the lines that the importance and perennial relevance of Shaykh al-Akbar's ideas for emerging global civilization become apparent. Given this breath I highly recommend this introduction and eventually a closer consideration of the of Shaykh al-Akbar's works as available in the works reviewed below. Special note of SUFI PATH OF KNOWLEDGE and SELF-DISCLOSURE OF GOD by William C. Chittick should be noted by sincere students.
Rating:
Summary: Don't sigh for me Moor and Suevi!
Review: I bought this in Cordoba - over the river from the old mesquita. Where inquisition weaves a woof over the wahabi-like weft. Looks lovely. Scarey looking dude on the cover of this work.
Nice bit about Khadir.
I'll tell you a secret.
When moor danced morris with old english - right here. Old Green Guy was well known. He was the rood that dreamed that "Dream of the Rood" - and my fit master to boot.
Respect to my fravashi including old Maurice Sevile - "I diddled yer riddle old fella!"
"Stick Dance, With Bells."
It was the day that Morris came, being but a while dead
I didn't know him. With him was Will, with Tom and Kipling.
Laying hands on me they took my own will far away
Gave me into his, to be my dying and deep blessing.
Too fast I passed through the ancient throng, scenting his
Recent haunt in the hospital. Towards his old home he gave his
Name - still I didn't own it - seeing as I saw him being yet alive
Where much blood kept him lingering.
His chela was so sad tired of his man's dying, he slept
At his bench while the flame dropped. Only wax, wick and air.
Morris nowhere. John in my house - his name being beloved
I led his fresh soul home like an old dog.
His door, shut, stared at the park. We sat on the bench together,
Said how summer came now soon, here with us now at this hour
Of last breath. His wife came home - I told her. For me
Today Death died.
His new corpse lay emptying there inside. I only ever met him once
His people kept all but I at bay. They never really believed.
Sometimes once is enough: then we wait 'til we can get away
Catch a few moments
Between meetings. He and I went singing and walking to the turbulent
Merging of New Cut and Old - The tide churning and turning.
I dropped his blade in the opacity, nearest to still and spring
Topping for him.
There were other key things I care not to remember. His retainers reviled
Me as his unseen releaser. Stood aside when I fell, sharing his beam
Through those stations of his past master. But that immortal
Remembering beast tamer
Held me down in a place of his better remembering, replaced my
Dismembering. Gave me that pearl I before only borrowed, shaved me
Bathed me, made me sip all manner of waters, brought me
His two precious daughters.
Hill and river, Sky and sea. Bird and bee, Tree and field, Sword and shield.
Open and closed, Raiment and robe, Bishop and priest, Famine and feast
Rowboat and sail, Mattock and maul, Saul and Simon, Marys and Martha
Jesus and Johns.
(Sufi book merits a sufi review - what else did you expect from me?) (arf!)
Rating: 
Summary: not impressed
Review: I have read Arabi's major book in Arabic and one thing that immediately becomes clear is how much sheikh was into himself. I have never seen or heard anyone be as much into himself as Ibne' Al-Arabi, he is constantly at your face repeating over and over again how great he is and how he has direct access into entire universe. I have no doubt he must have thought that it was unfortunate that he was born after Prophet Muhammad since he had more right of being last prophet than Muhammad had. Arrogance radiates out constantly out of his books. I am sure he was gifted and smart, but no doubt he over estimated himself by a factor of trillion or so. If he was so smart, I am sure he would have had some vision where the Islamic world was headed, a total collapse and humiliation as we now know all too well, and yet instead of writing about things that would be more relevant, he writes about things that no one can verify one way or another. He claims too know the secret of Quran, but when you read his stuff, you soon find out that he, like all other self proclaimed saints, is only using some best guesses. He says he has been all over the universe, seen many worlds hidden to human intellect, etc( he goes on and on of course) but when one reads the detail of his work, one realizes that he never takes a step beyond the many then popular but false scientific theories of his time. There is nothing in his writings that can verifiably prove that he had knowledge of the world more than any other well-educated man at his time, and now we most definite know that many of his views were false. He believed that he was the seal of the saints, I am not sure what he means by this, and quite frankly, reading his comments many times in his best seller book futuhat, it seems to me that he himself didn't know what he meant by it. But from the fact that he sees himself as such, it shows how much he was into himself and hungry for some sort of recognition and desperate to make a place for himself in history comparable to that of Muhammad. While Muhammad's being the last prophet is mentioned in Quran, Ibne' Al-Arabi's being last of saints was actually dreamt up by sheikh himself, which again indicates that sub-consciously he was very much into himself, he must have always looked at himself in the mirror a few hundred times a day saying to himself " Damn I am good". One thing Ibne' Al-Arabi should have learned from Prophet Muhammad was Prophet's humbleness and humility. He never walked around constantly praising himself, though in my opinion he had more right to self-praise than sheikh did. I guess what I am trying to say is that if sheikh had such a good insight into human soul and human mind, he should have known that his constant self-glorification is a big turn off. Besides, after so many centuries, we are in a position to observe that mankind has produced many many scientists and philosophers, who are, and verifiably so, more brilliant the sheikh. In my view, and based on my studies, sheikh doesn't really say anything that had not been said before in one way or another. His contribution is the fact that he took many of these philosophical theories of his time and put them in some sort of order. Of course he rarely mentions the fact that most of his ideas have been floating around for a few centuries or so, he usually gives the impression to the readers that he is the first one who has come up with the idea which is a bit dishonest but I guess those days that was the name of the game. If sheikh was my PhD student and he came up to me with futuhat, I would have told him to go back and make sure he had a lot more footnotes, names, and references than he has included in the book, or else he would suffer the humiliation of being accused of academic dishonesty. I don't wish to play down his intelligence, he was a smart man, but I just don't have tolerance for those who don't give credit where it is due and try to make a name for themselves by using other people's work, this is just not acceptable.
Rating:
Summary: Ibne' Al-Arabi and Christ
Review: I wish o propose an interpretation of Mr. Arabi's choice of person for Seal of Saints which will undoubtedly be controversial and draw disagreement from many people. Given the fact that Mr. Ibne' Al_Arabi was originally from Spain; he must have had many encounter with Christians and their spiritual tradition. He must of have struggled with the notion of Islam vs. Christianity and in my view he made a final choice by declaring Jesus Christ as the Seal of all Saints over anyone else. He must have often wondered about the spirituality of Muhammad as compared to that of Jesus, or even other Prophets for that matter. According to Moslem history, Muhammad underwent a self-doubt after his encounter with the angel. This behavior is almost unprecedented even by Moslem's own holy book accounts. While Jesus declares his Holiness in a cradle, Muhammad is confused about his own spiritual ability, as is well indicated by the story of Muhammad's first encounter with Angel in which Muhammad rushes to his wife filled with agony and self-doubt as to whether he really saw an Angel or was he possessed by a Demon. In the story of Moses, too, we see that Moses had no doubt as to his encounter with his God in the Mount. In fact according to Quran, as far as I know, no Prophet had ever experienced the same kind of self-doubt as it has been attributed to Muhammad. This historical fact, written by Moslems themselves, indicates that Muhammad's spiritual capacity was at best a mediocre one. This indeed must have caught Ibne' Al-Arabi's attention. Yet in another story we read that Muhammad underwent a heavenly operation to his "chest" to purify him and make him ready for his future mission. While Muhammad needed a direct intervention to be purified, Jesus had no such a need and was born pure. All these accounts and many more, must have made Ibne' Al-Arabi wonder about his religion and its truthfulness. Mr. Arabi makes a clear choice by announcing Jesus as the Seal of Saint, clearly making Jesus the most spiritual man in the world, and by doing so, in an indirect manner, invites Moslems to Christianity. He declares himself as the seal of saints among Moslem spirituals, knowing all too well, that he and only he alone had enough courage to declare the truthfulness of Christianity and superiority of Jesus over all, specially over Muhammad, in the heart of Islamic empire. I do not think of Ibne' Al-Arabi as a Moslem saint but rather an apostle of Christianity, a messenger of Jesus Christ to Moslems who happen to follow a man who, according to their own account, could not distinguish between an angel and a demon, even after going through a purification attempt by angels earlier at his childhood.
Rating:
Summary: Origin of Sufism
Review: Sufism is a fascinating phenomenon in Islam with many mysteries surrounding its origin. I always wondered about the origin of Sufism. True that Quran has elements of Sufi worldview and some of the saying of Muhammad contains mystical contents but majority of Muslims have understood both Quran and sayings of Muhammad in a non-mystical way. Most of these non-mystical understanding of Quran comes from people who were intimately familiar with Arabic language as well as sayings of Prophet. Obviously Sufi way of understanding Islam and Quran is not a mainstream phenomena so the question remained in my mind that where do these folks get their ideas. I think I found an answer during my studies in the US where I had a roommate from Iran. Any time that I had mentioned one of the Sufi philosophical teachings my roommate would come up with one of the sayings from their imams, they have twelve whom they claim were divinely chosen and communicated to people by Prophet. At first I thought he is making up these sayings to impress me but when I read some of their "Hadith" books I was actually surprised how much it resembled some of the key Sufi teachings. What I found very interesting was a thick book on Munajat which I would have thought was written by Sufi masters. I had heard from our scholars that Sufism have had Shia influence, and they say it usually in a negative way, but this was the first time I had actually read some Shia books directly myself. If Sufis were influenced by "Shia" teachings, then where did Shiism get their version of Islam? It is as if there was two version of Islam that grew side by side, one the majority which is us Sunnis and a minority which came to be known as Shia. Shiism has always been violently rejected by Sunni world, my teacher used to say if a Shia comes to our mosque, we have to wash the mosque for 3 days before it is clean enough for us to pray in it again. I think some of the Sunnis who were attracted to Shia mystical teachings adopted it and called themselves Sufi and this way protected themselves. Unfortunately most of the books written by modern scholars don't look into the social and political dynamics within which different Islamic schools of thoughts grew. I understand now why most of our Sunni scholars are not so sympathetic with Sufism; they smell a Shia conspiracy, so to speak. I agree with them in that the root of Sufism is in shia teachings, provided their- Shia- books are authentic and wasn't written a couple of centuries ago and post dated to make us believe that it was written during first or second century Islamic calendar.
Rating:
Summary: Exemplary
Review: This book is an excellent introduction to the writings and life of a man who's understanding was not limited by time, culture, nor a particular tradition. Unusual for books written on this subject, it is readily accessible to new readers of Ibn Arabi as well as to scholars. The book could easily serve as an introduction to a spiritual perspective of life that includes the underlying basis of all religions and philosophies, excludes none of them, and goes beyond particular expressions to the heart of the matter of what it is to be human. It introduces the reader to a universal spiritual perspective of life regardless of their level of education, their cultural or traditional background. The book is very hard to put down and can be read many times over.
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