His full name is Muḥyī al-Dīn/Muḥyiddīn Muḥammad ibn ʻAlī ibn Muḥammad al-‘Arabī al-Tā’ī al-Ḥātimī. The epithet “al-Shaykh al-Akbar” was conferred upon him subsequently by the Ṣūfī community.اﻟﺸﻴﺦ اﻷﻛﺒﺮ ﻣﺤﻴﻲ اﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﻠﻲ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻲ اﻟﻄﺎﺋﻲ اﻟﺤﺎﺗﻤﻲ It is well-documented that the author himself used the name Muḥammad Ibn ʻArabī in many places. Furthermore, in some biographical sources, it can occasionally be observed that the nisba al-Andalusī was also added to his name to indicate his region of origin.
His full name is Muḥyī al-Dīn/Muḥyiddīn Muḥammad ibn ʻAlī ibn Muḥammad al-‘Arabī al-Tā’ī al-Ḥātimī. The epithet “al-Shaykh al-Akbar” was conferred upon him subsequently by the Ṣūfī community.
الشيخ الأكبر محيي الدين محمد بن علي بن محمد العربي الطائي الحاتمي
It is well-documented that the author himself used the name Muḥammad Ibn ʻArabī in many places. Furthermore, in some biographical sources, it can occasionally be observed that the nisba al-Andalusī was also added to his name to indicate his region of origin.
His Birth, Youth, and Formative Milieu
Muḥyiddīn Ibn ʻArabī was born on 17 Ramaḍān 560 (27th July 1165, Monday night), in Mursiya/Murcia, the capital of the district of Tudmīr, located in the southeast of al-Andalus (modern-day Spain), into a wealthy and noble family.
Ibn ʻArabī would later refer to his youthful years as years of jāhiliyya (heedlessness) (al-Futūḥāt, I/201). After this brief period of confusion associated with the onset of puberty, he withdrew into seclusion following a spiritual sign and decided to attend to his inner world (III/45); at that time, he was around sixteen years old. He states that after disciplining his spiritual life in this manner, the gates of maʻrifa gradually began to open to him (fatḥ) as a result of the riyāḍāt (ascetic practices) he performed during these periods of retreat (I/616). It is reported that at times he remained in this state of seclusion for as long as fourteen months.
During certain phases of this period of zuhd, he would also withdraw into murāqaba (contemplation) in the city cemetery, during which he is said to have gained insight into the states of some of the deceased in their graves.
His First Guides and Early Spiritual States
Although he says, “At the beginning, I had no murshid anywhere in the world in whom I could confide my struggles” (al-Futūḥāt, II/548), later he met certain spiritual figures. He derived distinct spiritual benefits from each of them. Throughout the rest of his life, whenever their names were mentioned, he spoke of them with immense praise and reverence. For instance, he states that the first person from among the people of ahl al-bāṭin (inward dimension) to take him by the hand was Abū al-‘Abbās al-‘Uryabī, whom he refers to as “my first murshid.” He describes his first bayʻah (spiritual pledge) to him as follows:
“While I was still on this path, I entered the presence of my shaykh al-‘Uryabī, who had newly arrived in Ishbīliya (Sevilla). He was the first murshid to whom I attached myself. He was a consummate master of dhikr. He recognized my ḥāl (spiritual state) and knew exactly what I needed.
He asked me, ‘Are you truly determined to enter the ṭarīq Allāh (path of Allah)?’
I replied, ‘A servant may possess determination, but thabāt (steadfastness) comes from Allah.’
Then he said to me,
سدّ الباب واقطع الأسباب، وجالس الوهّاب، يكلمك الله من دون حجاب
“If you close your door, sever yourself from all the chains of causation, and be only with al-Wahhāb, Allah will speak to you without any veil. I followed his advice until the fatḥ (spiritual opening) occurred.”
He also says, “The dhikr that my first murshid continuously practiced and transmitted to me was the asmā’ of Allah,” which shows that he received talqin al-asmā’ from him (al-Futūḥāt, III/298–300).
His View of The Universe: Waḥdat al-Wujūd
References From the Qur’ān al-Karīm
وَكَانَ اللهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُحِيطًا
“Allah is the one who encompasses everything.” (4/Surat al-Nisā’, 126)
According to the Sūfīs, this encompassment (iḥāṭa) is not like an envelope surrounding its contents. Rather, it resembles the sun’s embrace of light and shadow, the spirit’s permeation of the body, or water’s relation to its waves. Therefore, all objects are mere accidents (ʻaraḍ) of their spirits, not their substances (jawhar). For this reason, no object can exist without its spirit.
مَا يَكُونُ مِن نَّجْوَىٰ ثَلَـٰثَةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ رَابِعُهُمْ وَلَا خَمْسَةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ سَادِسُهُمْ وَلَآ أَدْنَىٰ مِن ذَٰلِكَ وَلَآ أَكْثَرَ إِلَّا هُوَ مَعَهُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كَانُوا۟
“If three converse privately, He is their fourth. If five, He is their sixth. Whether fewer or more, He is with them wherever they may be.” (58/Surat al-Mujādalah, 7)
وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ ٱلْوَرِيدِ
“And We are closer to him than his jugular vein.” (50/Surat al-Qāf, 16)
Verses or statements such as these should not be disclosed to al-‘awāmm (the common people) as they may lead the uninitiated into beliefs of ḥulūl (indwelling) or taḥdīd (delimitation) which are *ḥarām (*strictly forbidden). The ḥadīth qudsī, “I was hungry, and you didn’t feed Me; I was sick, and you didn’t visit Me,” should be understood in the same manner. Such secrets must be safeguarded from those unprepared to comprehend them. (al-Futūhāt, I/520)
وَمَا رَمَيْتَ إِذْ رَمَيْتَ وَلَـٰكِنَّ ٱللَّهَ رَمَىٰ
“And you did not throw when you threw, but it was Allah who threw.” (8/Surat al-Anfāl, 17)
Normally, the eyes perceive a human figure shooting an arrow; however, the true doer behind the archer is none other than Allah.