“Intruthyou Are the Polytheist!”: Mythic Elements in Ibn Al-ʿarabī

Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 6 (2018) 359–387

brill.com/ihiw

“In Truth You are the Polytheist!”: Mythic Elements in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s Teachings on the Divine Names

Michael Ebstein The Hebrew University of Jerusalem [email protected]

Abstract

The following article aims at highlighting the mythic elements inherent in Muḥyī l-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī’s teachings on the Divine names. The article begins with a very general introduction to the subject of Divine names in Islamic mysticism and then proceeds to clarify the meaning of the term “mythic” as it is used in this study.The core of the article is devoted to an examination of four main areas in which the Divine names, according to Ibn al-ʿArabī, play a central role: the creation of the world (cosmogony); its management; mystical experiences and knowledge; magic and theurgy. The main claim is that in all four areas, Ibn al-ʿArabī’s discourse is to a great extent mythic. The implications of this claim for the understanding of Akbarian thought and for the study of Islamic mysticism in general are discussed in the concluding paragraph of the essay.

Keywords

Ibn al-ʿArabī – al-Andalus – Divine names – Divine attributes – theology – philosophy – mysticism – Sufism – magic – theurgy – Kabbalah

Introduction: The Problem of Divine Names in Classical Islamic Mysticism

In his commentary on al-Ǧuwaynī’s Kitāb al-Iršād, Ibn al-Marʾa (d. 611/1214) refers to the now-lost work Tawḥīd al-mūqinīn (“The Unification of Those Who Possess Firm Knowledge”) by his compatriot Ibn Masarra (269/883–319/931), the earliest Muslim mystic in al-Andalus known to us from his writings:

In his book Tawḥīd al-mūqinīn, Ibn Masarra claimed that there is no limit to the number of attributes belonging to Allāh, glory be to Him. In Ibn Masarra’s view, Allāh’s knowledge is alive, it knows and is able, it hears, sees, and speaks. Allāh’s ability (qudratuhu) is likewise described as being alive, as knowing, able, willing, and as possessing a sense of hearing by which it hears. The same is said concerning all of His attributes; this, Ibn Masarra claimed, is unification. He has thus turned the attributes into gods. He said the same concerning the attributes of the attributes (ṣifāt al-ṣifāt), ad infinitum, thus turning God into an unlimited [number of] gods, may Allāh protect us.1

It is difficult to determine whether or not Ibn al-Marʾa’s account is accurate. Both concepts that he ascribes to Ibn Masarra—i.e. the infinite number of Divine attributes and their mutual reflection—are indeed found or echoed in the works of later Andalusī mystics,2 and they may very well have originated in Ibn Masarra’s own writings.3 Whatever the case might be, what is relevant to the current discussion is Ibn al-Marʾa’s feeling that certain mystical theories regarding the Divine names encroach upon the key tenet of Islam—tawḥīd, the belief in God’s unity. Was Ibn al-Marʾa correct? Can we detect polytheistic undertones in the mystical writings of Ibn Masarra and his Andalusī heirs, chief among them Muḥyī l-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī (560/1165–638/1240)? In what follows I shall attempt to address this question by highlighting several mythic elements in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s teachings on the Divine names. However, before I begin, two introductory remarks are in order. First, a detailed analysis of the diverse intellectual sources from which Ibn al-ʿArabī derived his teachings on the Divine names falls beyond the scope of the present article.4 Suffice it to say that these sources can be divided into six main groups:

1 Quoted in Massignon, Recueil, p. 70. On the possible contents of Tawḥīd al-mūqinīn and for a discussion of Ibn al-Marʾa’s quotation, see Stroumsa, “Ibn Masarra’s Third Book”. On Ibn al-Marʾa, Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm b. Yūsuf b. Muḥammad b. Dahhāq al-Awsī—a Mālikī faqīh, theologian, and Sufi who hailed from Malaga—see Urvoy, “Ibn al-Marʾa”. Finally, concerning the famous theologian al-Ǧuwaynī (d. 478/1085) and his Kitāb al-Iršād ilā qawāṭiʿ al-adilla fī uṣūl al-iʿtiqād (“The Book of Guidance to Peremptory Proofs Concerning the Principles of Faith”), see Brockelmann and Gardet, “al-Djuwaynī,”EI2, vol. 2, pp. 605–606. 2 See, for example, Ibn Barraǧān, Šarḥ asmāʾ Allāh, vol. 1, pp. 29–31, 409–410; Ibn Qasī, Ḫalʿ al- naʿlayni, pp. 257–266, 357, 379; Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 4, p. 467 (chapter 73, question 42); idem, Fuṣūṣ, pp. 79, 180. 3 See Ibn Masarra, Ḫawāṣṣ al-ḥurūf, pp. 58–61. 4 For basic introductions to Ibn al-ʿArabī’s thought (including his theories regarding the Divine

Intellectual History of the IslamicateDownloaded World from 6 Brill.com09/29/2021 (2018) 359–387 04:16:55AM via free access “in truth you are the polytheist!” 361

1. Andalusī mystics, namely, Ibn Masarra, Ibn Barraǧān (d. 536/1141), and Ibn Qasī (d. 546/1151).5 2. Al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmiḏī (9th century), the idiosyncratic mystic from the East.6 3. Classical Sufism as it developed in the east up to Ibn al-ʿArabī’s time. 4. Theology (kalām). 5. Neoplatonic mystical philosophy, particularly as reflected in the Shiite- Ismāʿīlī Rasāʾil iḫwān al-ṣafāʾ (“The Epistles of the Sincere Brethren”) and in related works.7 6. Early Shiite traditions that deal with the high status of the Imam and his function as an intermediary between God and creation.8

The links between these diverse sources and al-Šayḫ al-akbar’s theories regarding the Divine names merit a separate discussion. Yet it seems to me—and the following argument can perhaps serve as a working hypothesis to be proven, modified, or refuted in future studies—that while the impact of eastern theology and Sufism on Ibn al-ʿArabī cannot be denied, Akbarian teachings on the Divine names are far removed from both these genres.9 In fact, Andalusī mysticism at large seems to mark a decisive shift from theology and Sufism alike to a more mythic and theosophical mode of thought. In the works of Ibn al-ʿArabī and his Andalusī predecessors, the Divine names are no longer approached from a strictly linguistic, hermeneutical, or logical perspective as in Islamic theology, nor do they pertain solely to the inner-psychological realm of the mystic, to his personal contact with God, as in many classical Sufi treatises. Rather, the Divine names are perceived as crucial elements of reality, as powers or forces that play a central role in cosmogonic and cosmological processes as well as in sacred human history; they signify the dynamic-manifest aspect of Divinity,

names), see Affifi, Mystical Philosophy; Corbin, Creative Imagination; Chittick, Sufi Path; idem, Self-Disclosure; Chodkiewicz, Seal; see also http://www.ibnarabisociety.org/journals.html. 5 On Ibn Masarra see Ebstein, “Ibn Masarra,” EI3, and the references given there; on Ibn Barra- ǧān see Böwering and Casewit, A Qurʾān Commentary, pp. 1–45 (the Introduction in English); Casewit, “A reconsideration”; Casewit, The Mystics; and on Ibn Qasī see Ebstein, “Was Ibn Qasī a Ṣūfī?”. 6 On him see Sviri, Mystical Psychology; Radtke, al-Tirmiḏī. 7 See Ebstein, Mysticism, esp. pp. 146–151, 165–168. 8 Ibid. 9 One should bear in mind that various Sufi masters in the classical period, such as al-Kalābāḏī (d. 380s/990s), al-Qušayrī (d. 465/1072), and al-Ġazālī (d. 505/1111), were also theologians or were at least influenced by theology; on these figures see Karamustafa, Sufism, index.

Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 6Downloaded (2018) 359–387 from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:16:55AM via free access 362 ebstein which is directly linked to creation and immanent within it.This shift in the way the Divine names are viewed is extremely significant for the self-image of the mystic and for his status and authority in society, given that he now functions as the main channel through which God’s attributes are manifested in the world or are revealed and interpreted; in other words, the mystic is responsible for the very connection between the Creator and creation, a connection embodied in the Divine attributes.10 Moreover, in his capacity as a mediator between the Divine and human realms, the mystic may even influence God Himself. I will return to this radical notion in the discussion below (pp. 374–379).

Mythic Thought and Mysticism

The second introductory remark concerns the term “mythic” employed in this essay. Definitions of “myth” and explanations of its importance and functions in human society and religiosity abound in modern scholarship.11 Strangely enough, the existence and significance of mythic thinking in classical Islamic mysticism have been by and large ignored in Western academia. One might contrast this unfortunate situation with the field of Jewish studies and specifically Kabbalah scholarship, in which much research has been carried out on the relationship between religion and myth in general and between mysticism and mythic thought in particular.12 In the future I hope to address this issue with regard to Islamic mysticism in an in-depth study. For now, several points should be emphasized in order to clarify the premise of my discussion here. To begin with, one ought to distinguish between “mythology” and “mythic”. The former term signifies a cluster of stories (“myths”) dealing with issues such as gods and their relationships with human beings, the creation of the world, heroes and their ventures, the sacredness of specific geographi- cal spaces, the origins of social and religious institutions, and so forth; a good

10 To what degree the Andalusī shift described here was heralded by the teachings of certain idiosyncratic Sufis in the east is a question that cannot be answered here. Conversely, there is no doubt that al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmiḏī, who was not a Sufi, influenced Ibn al-ʿArabī; see chapter 73 of the Futūḥāt and below n. 61. 11 For a basic survey and introduction (including bibliography), see Segal, Myth; idem, The- orizing. 12 See, for instance, Pedayah, Myth; Gruenwald and Idel, Myths; Bohak et al., Myth; Muffs,The Personhood; Lorberbaum, Image; Amir, “The Monotheistic Problem”; Liebes, God’s Story; idem, “Myth and Orthodoxy”; Rosenberg, “Myth of Myths”.

Intellectual History of the IslamicateDownloaded World from 6 Brill.com09/29/2021 (2018) 359–387 04:16:55AM via free access “in truth you are the polytheist!” 363 example of such a cluster of stories is Greek mythology.13 On the other hand, in the present article, the adjective “mythic” denotes a certain type of discourse that can be juxtaposed with other modes of thinking and writing, primarily theology and philosophy.14 Broadly speaking, a “mythic” discourse in the Abra- hamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) will tend to be less restricted by the confines of logic, rationalism, and abstract thought, and will be more dis- posed towards concrete-anthropomorphic language, towards the literary and the narrative, the imaginative and the fantastic.While theology and philosophy purport to be objective, in a mythic discourse the inner-subjective world of man is blatantly projected onto external reality. Similarly, philosophers in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are often more universalist, that is, they employ cate- gories that are cross-denominational even when explaining their own beliefs and traditions, whereas mythic thinkers accentuate the particular, i.e. they focus on their own specific religions and sacred histories even when relating to universal issues. All this is not to say that a mythic discourse is necessarily devoid of theological and philosophical speculations, that it lacks the depth and maturity of abstract thinking, or that it is inevitably narrow-minded and sectarian. Particularly in Islam, which from a relatively early stage had been absorbing the Hellenistic heritage and adapting it to its own beliefs, most intellectual-spiritual movements were influenced to varying degrees by theological and philosophical conceptions. One can posit a wide spectrum ranging between two theoretical extremes: purely mythic thinking, on the one hand, and theological-philosophical reasoning, on the other. Nearly all intellectual- spiritual phenomena in Islam, mysticism included, are located somewhere in between. It is likewise important to emphasize that viewing a mythic discourse as a primitive mode of understanding the world—in contradistinction to more “progressive” modes, namely, philosophy and modern science—is wrong.15 The most brilliant and advanced minds, in past times (Ibn al-ʿArabī will serve as a good example) and in the present, can exhibit mythic dimensions in

13 I am consciously avoiding broader definitions of “mythology” (such that would include, for instance, secularized-modern myths), given that these are less relevant to the current discussion. 14 Though all three types of discourses can be mystical or mystically-oriented; see Lorber- baum, “Mythical Mysticism”. 15 See Segal, Myth, pp. 11–35, 40–42, 137–142; Gruenwald, “Myth and Historical Truth”; idem, “Myth in Consciousness”; idem, “Inevitable Presence,” pp. 1–5, 14; Margolin, “Various Faces,” pp. 174–180; Preus, Explaining Religion, index, s.v. “Anthropomorphic Theory” and “Myth”; King, Gnosticism, pp. 78–79 and the references given there.

Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 6Downloaded (2018) 359–387 from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:16:55AM via free access 364 ebstein their thought. Nor should we attempt to read mythic texts as metaphorical or allegorical tales; though at times this might be a plausible and even correct method, more often than not metaphorical and allegorical interpretations reflect the beliefs, presuppositions, and apologetic concerns of the reader, be he an ancient Greek/Hellenistic philosopher, a medieval theologian, or a modern scholar.16 Allegorical explanations fail to capture the full richness and complex- ity that are characteristic of mythic literature. They ignore the very tensions inherent in mythic writing between abstract thinking and anthropomorphic language; between transcendental and immanent perceptions of God; between “authentic” Abrahamic beliefs—viz., what are perceived by Abrahamic believ- ers to be as such—and polytheistic-pagan notions deriving from the heritage of the ancient world and late antiquity.17 Whether or not one should employ the term “symbol”/“symbolic” when dealing with mythic writing in mystical traditions is a problem that cannot be dealt with here.18 In the current article, I will avoid the use of “metaphor”, “allegory”, “symbol” and similar terms; I will allow the mythic passages to speak for themselves. A more serious methodological consideration of these matters must await a future study. Finally, mythic discourses in mystical traditions should be analyzed not only in epistemological but also in anthropological and sociological terms. Put differently, in addition to being literary creations reflecting the psychological dimension of man and his existential concerns, myths in general and mythic discourses in religion in particular serve a wide range of practical and social- political purposes. For instance, they can function as the basis, explanation, or justification of rituals and social institutions, and can likewise serve to enhance the power of leaders (or those who aspire to a position of leadership) within a community.19 Mystical movements, including in Islam (as will become evident), are no exception to this rule.

16 See Buffière, Les Mythes; Brisson, Philosophers (I thank Dr. Yakir Paz for these two references); Dawson, Allegorical Readers; King, Gnosticism, pp. 13, 126–128; Amir, “Authority”; idem, “Rabbinical Midrash”; Rokéaḥ, Judaism, pp. 28–40; Gruenwald, “Myth and Histori- cal Truth,” pp. 21, 32–33; idem, “Inevitable Presence,” pp. 6–13; Margolin, “Various Faces,” pp. 146–148. 17 See also Liebes, God’s Story, pp. 7–33. 18 See the discussions and references in Huss, “R. Joseph Gikatilla”; Idel, “The Place of Sym- bol”; idem, Absorbing Perfections, pp. 272–313; Liebes, “Myth Versus Symbol”; Margolin, “Various Faces,” pp. 141–142. 19 See the discussions and references in Segal, Myth, pp. 61–78; idem, Theorizing, pp. 37–46; idem, Myth and Ritual Theory; Gruenwald, “Myth and Historical Truth” and “Myth in Con- sciousness”; Garb, “Power”; Idel, “Leviathan,” pp. 149–151.

Intellectual History of the IslamicateDownloaded World from 6 Brill.com09/29/2021 (2018) 359–387 04:16:55AM via free access “in truth you are the polytheist!” 365

In what follows I shall try and demonstrate the mythic features of Ibn al- ʿArabī’s thought by examining four main spheres in which the Divine names, according to al-Šayḫ al-akbar, play a central role: the creation of the world; the management of the world; mystical experiences and knowledge; magic and theurgy.

Cosmogony

In Ibn al-ʿArabī’s oeuvre, one finds various myths that describe the creation of the world in different ways. One myth, for example, depicts the act of creation as a merciful, Divine breath (nafas al-raḥmān) from which words and letters emanate; these words and letters function as the Divine building blocks of the universe.20 In another cosmogonic myth, al-Šayḫ al-akbar relates how the universal intellect and soul—cosmic-spiritual entities known from Neoplatonic philosophy—came into being, how they discovered God, and how they realized their own relative ranks in the cosmic hierarchy.21 In yet another myth, which is of special interest to the current discussion, the Divine names are portrayed as the main protagonists of creation. The latter myth appears in four different versions in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s works, a fact that testifies to the importance that Ibn al-ʿArabī attached to this myth; he seems to have returned to it and reformu- lated it in various stages of his writing career.22 The differences between the four versions notwithstanding,23 the myth reflects the notion that God, in His manifest aspect, is in need of the world. The Divine names, which designate different attributes of God, are able to actualize their potential powers—and, consequently, to know themselves—solely by means of the world; without creation, without a locus in which they can manifest themselves, the Divine names remain impotent. According to one version, found in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s Inšāʾ al- dawāʾir (“The Production of Circles”) and composed circa 598/1201–1202,24

20 Ebstein, Mysticism, pp. 77–122. 21 See Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 1, pp. 349–354 (chapter 5, Waṣl fī qawlihi rabb al-ʿālamīna l-raḥmān al-raḥīm to Waṣl fī qawlihi taʿālā hdinā l-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm …); cf. ibid., vol. 9, pp. 311–313 (chapter 371, Faṣl 1). 22 For more details see Elmore, “Four Texts”; see also Chittick, Imaginal Worlds, pp. 123–136. 23 See Elmore, “Four Texts”. 24 Ibid., pp. 11–12; Addas, Quest, p. 129; Fenton and Gloton, “Book of the Description,” pp. 12– 13.

Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 6Downloaded (2018) 359–387 from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:16:55AM via free access 366 ebstein

The doorkeepers (al-sadana) from among these [Divine] names held keys to the heavens and the earth, yet there were neither heavens nor earth; so the doorkeepers all remained with their keys but had nothing to open. They said, “How strange! Treasurers with keys to treasures who do not know of any existing treasure. What will we do with these keys?” They reached a unanimous decision saying, “There is no choice but [to turn] to our seven leaders (aʾimmatinā) who have given us these keys but did not acquaint us with the treasures with which we will be charged”.25 They stood at the gates of the leaders, at the gate of the specifying leader (al- imām al-muḫaṣṣiṣ),26 the leader who grants favors (al-munʿim), and the just leader (al-muqsiṭ). They informed them of the affair, and the latter replied: “You have spoken the truth. We possess the information and we will assign [the treasures] to you,27 if allāh so desires, may He be exalted. Yet let us join the remaining leaders and gather at the gate of the presence of the Divine leader, the leader of all leaders”. So all gathered and stood at the gate of the leader known as allāh, in relation to whom they are doorkeepers. He appeared before them and said, “What has brought you [here]?”They mentioned the affair to Him: that they request the existence of the heavens and the earth so that they may place each key in its door. He said, “Where is the specifying leader?” The one who wills (al-murīd) then ran up to Him, and He said to him: “You and the knowledgeable one (al- ʿalīm) possess the information, is that not so?” He said, “Indeed”. [Allāh] said, “If so, release these [doorkeepers] from the restless mind and anx- iousness from which they are suffering”. The knowledgeable one and the one who wills said, “Oh, most perfect leader, tell the leader who has power (al-qādir) and the one who speaks (al-qāʾil) to help us, for only the four of us can undertake this”. Allāh then called the one who has power and the one who speaks and said to both of them, “assist your two brothers in what they are striving for”, to which they replied, “Certainly!” Both then entered the presence of the generous one (al-ǧawād) and said to him, “We have resolved upon bringing the universe and the temporal world

25 The seven “leaders” are the main attributes known from Islamic theology—life, knowledge, will, power, speech, sight, and hearing; the last two are replaced in this version of the myth with generosity (or the granting of favors) and justness. Generosity encompasses all attributes of mercy and benevolence, whereas justness includes attributes of power, authority, harsh judgement, and vengeance, that is, attributes related to the notion of law and its maintenance. See Ibn al-ʿArabī, Inšāʾ, pp. 27–36; see also below pp. 368–371. 26 Viz., “the one who wills” (see below). 27 Cf. Elmore, “Four Texts,” p. 15 n. 50.

Intellectual History of the IslamicateDownloaded World from 6 Brill.com09/29/2021 (2018) 359–387 04:16:55AM via free access “in truth you are the polytheist!” 367

(al-akwān wa-ʿālam al-ḥidṯān) from nonexistence out into existence, and this is from your presence, the presence of generosity. Deliver to us the generosity needed so that we may cause them to appear!” Accordingly, he delivered absolute generosity to them; they went out with it and clung (taʿallaqū) to the world, causing it to appear in the most perfect, well- ordered fashion.28

By means of creation, the plight of the Divine names is resolved: “the names prepared themselves with their keys and through the existence of the universe knew the truth of what they possessed as well as their own state”.29 Despite certain elements that are familiar from classical Islamic theology—such as the central role of the seven Divine attributes, particularly knowledge, will, power, and speech, or technical terms like taʿalluq—30 the passage quoted here is strik- ingly mythic, in both form and content. The notion that Divinity in its manifest aspect is comprised of diverse forces that are in need of creation reflects a radical conception of God and His relationship with the world. Yet the act of creation is not only a positive affair. In one passage, Ibn al- ʿArabī states that prior to the formation of the world, there was no one to contend with God, “He was by means of Himself for Himself, rejoicing in eter- nity and delighting in perfection with self-sufficiency” ( fa-kāna bi-nafsihi li- nafsihi fī btihāǧ al-azal wa-ltiḏāḏ al-kamāl bi-l-ġinā l-ḏātī).31 However, once the world came into being, Divine unity was disrupted and God, who had previ- ously enjoyed His absolute solitude, was “put in a strait” or “pressed” (muzā- ḥama) by creation and by the multiple forces that govern it, i.e. the conflicting Divine attributes. Created beings and the Divine names are thus responsible for God’s tragedy—the loss of His unity and privacy: “the joy of unification and unity ceased due to the most beautiful names [Qurʾān 7:180 and more] and the aspects ascribed to Him that have multiple rulings” ( fa-zāla btihāǧ al- tawḥīd wa-l-aḥadiyya bi-l-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā wa-bimā nusiba ilayhi min al-wuǧūh al-mutaʿaddida l-aḥkām).32 Certainly, in His hidden dimension, God remains

28 Ibn al-ʿArabī, Inšāʾ, pp. 36–38. Cf. the translations by Fenton and Gloton, “Book of the Description,” pp. 40–41 and Elmore, “Four Texts,” pp. 14–20. 29 Ibn al-ʿArabī, Inšāʾ, p. 38. 30 On this term, see, for example, Gimaret, La doctrine, p. 280; Frank, “Al-Aḥkām,” esp. pp. 759ff (I thank Dr. Jan Thiele for these two references). 31 Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 4, p. 202 (chapter 72, Waṣl fuṣūl al-aḥādīṯ al-nabawiyya … Ḥadīṯ ṯāliṯ). 32 Ibid. The term ḥukm can be translated as “a ruling” or “authority”; ḥākim, from the same root, signifies “judge” or “governor”, and the verb ḥakama ʿalā means “ruled against-”

Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 6Downloaded (2018) 359–387 from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:16:55AM via free access 368 ebstein forever a unified One, and even the numerous Divine names enjoy a “unity of multiplicity” (aḥadiyyat al-kaṯra), since they all point to the same essence. Still, it is clear that in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s eyes, creation is a product of a complex, multifaceted Divinity that maintains a reciprocal relationship with created beings: it grants existence to them, and at the same time is influenced by them.

Divinity at War

In addition to the creation of the universe, God’s names, which are organized in a human-like hierarchy of leaders (imāms) and subordinates,33 ensure the ongoing existence of the world and are responsible for its management and wellbeing, in both a physical and spiritual sense. As is well known, al-Šayḫ al-akbar views creation as a manifestation of the Divine names; every created being is a locus for God’s self-disclosure, a substrate or platform in which the Divine names are revealed. However, Ibn al-ʿArabī depicts the manifestation of the Divine names in the universe as a disharmonious process: God’s names are in a constant conflict with one another.34 To be sure, the idea according to which God possesses conflicting attributes is rooted in classical Sufi thought and ultimately derives from pre-Islamic traditions.35 Eastern Sufis prior to Ibn al-ʿArabī had divided the Divine attributes into two main groups, those of ǧalāl (“majesty”)—attributes of might, power and authority, justice, harsh judgement, and vengeance—and those of ǧamāl (“beauty”), that is, attributes of benevolence and mercy. Yet it seems that in this context, pre-Akbarian Sufism chose to focus mainly on the epistemological-individual aspect of God’s attributes, i.e. on their effect upon the mystic’s consciousness, emotions, and ethical behavior as he advances towards God. In contradistinction, Ibn al-ʿArabī likewise emphasized the ontological-collective dimension of the Divine attributes, that is to say, their manifestation in creation at large. This shift from epistemology to ontology and from an individual to a collective perspective, which naturally demands further elaboration,36 is reflected in the

or “exercised judicial authority / exercised rule over-”. The history of this term in pre- Akbarian mysticism and theology necessitates a separate discussion; on ḥukm in Ibn al- ʿArabī’s writings, see Chittick, Sufi Path, p. 39 and index, s.v. “ḥukm”. 33 See Ibn al-ʿArabī, Inšāʾ, pp. 27–36 and the preceding paragraph; see also the diagrams in Elmore, “Four Texts,” pp. 18–20. 34 See also Chittick, Sufi Path, pp. 47–58. 35 See Sviri, “Between Fear and Hope”; Liebes, God’s Story, pp. 123–157. 36 See above pp. 361–362.

Intellectual History of the IslamicateDownloaded World from 6 Brill.com09/29/2021 (2018) 359–387 04:16:55AM via free access “in truth you are the polytheist!” 369 mythic discourse of Ibn al-ʿArabī, a discourse that sets him apart from his more theologically-minded predecessors in the east. In many passages, particularly in his magnum opus, al-Futūḥāt al-makkiyya (“The Meccan Revelations”), Ibn al-ʿArabī discusses the ongoing conflict between the opposing Divine names. This conflict and its repercussions in creation are designated by terms that signify struggle and strife: taqābul, taḍādd, taʿāruḍ (“opposing”, “standing in opposition”), tafāḍul (“contending for superi- ority”), iḫtilāf / ḫilāf (“being at variance”, “disagreement”), munāzaʿa / nizāʿ / tanāzuʿ, ǧidāl (“contending”, “disputing”, “quarreling”), tanāfur (“contesting”), taʿaṣṣub (“forming a league with-”, “zealously struggling”), and munāzala (“taking the field against-”).37 In al-Šayḫ al-akbar’s view, “disputing (al-nizāʿ) in the world originates from the Divine names”.38 Names such as “the one who grants strength” (al-muʿizz), “the benefactor” (al-nāfiʿ), “the one who gives life” (al- muḥyī), and “the one who grants” (al-muʿṭī) are adversaries (ḫuṣūm, singular: ḫaṣm) of “the one who abases” (al-muḏill), “the one who causes harm” (al-ḍārr), “the one who causes death” (al-mumīt), and “the one who prevents” (al-māniʿ), respectively. “The judge” (al-ḥakam), another Divine name, settles their disputes by deciding which of the two opposing names will exert its influence in any given moment on this or that created being, in accordance with the preparedness (istiʿdād) of the latter.39 The Divine conflict is apparent in every echelon of the universe: from the quarreling of angels (see sūra 38:69), to dis- agreements among scholars and human beings in general, to the opposing four natures (heat-cold, dryness-humidity) and four elements (fire, air, water, and earth) that constitute the very fabric of existence in the sublunary world.40 In their conflict, the Divine names are driven by mutual jealousy (ġayra): “every Divine name wants the ruling authority (ḥukm) to be its own; it wishes that the [created being] over whom it rules will devote himself solely to it, not paying attention to any other [name]”.41 “Each and every one of the Divine names wants to tie and bind you to it, wants you to belong to it because its

37 See the references to the Futūḥāt throughout the article. 38 Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 8, p. 13 (chapter 326). 39 Ibid. On the role of the “judge”, see also Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 3, p. 491 (chapter 71, Waṣl fī faṣl al-saḥūr). On istiʿdād—the preparedness of created beings that determines the manner and degree in which they receive the Divine self-manifestation—see Chittick, Sufi Path, pp. 91–94 and index, s.v. “istiʿdād” and “qabūl”. 40 Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 9, p. 422 (chapter 374); see also Ibid., vol. 5, p. 400 (chapter 154), p. 530 (chapter 174), p. 612 (chapter 178, Waṣl 3), vol. 7, pp. 95–96 (chapter 279; note the battle and weapon imagery), p. 444 (chapter 310). 41 Ibid., vol. 8, p. 21 (chapter 327). On ḥukm see above n. 32.

Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 6Downloaded (2018) 359–387 from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:16:55AM via free access 370 ebstein sovereignty manifests itself in you (li-ẓuhūr sulṭānihi fīka)”.42 The jealousy and rivalry between God’s names is most apparent in their fight for control over the spiritual destiny of man, as is evident from the following passage:

Concerning the name that exercises its ruling authority (al-ḥākim) over the servant in any given moment (al-waqt)—if another name that does not have a ruling authority over him seeks him, it is more appropriate for the servant not to part from the former Divine name before its ruling authority expires and it has nothing more to demand of him. Once its ruling authority has expired, the servant may courteously (bi-l-adab) meet the Divine name that likewise seeks him. Thus it is in this world and in the world to come. For instance, a person who is under the ruling authority of the name “the forgiving one” [al-tawwāb, literally: the one who accepts repentance], as a result of a sinful action concerning which the Divine names have formed in opposition to one another (taqā- balat); the avenger (al-muntaqim) says: “I am worthier of him”, while the compassionate one and pardoner (al-rāḥim wa-l-ġaffār) says: “I am worthier of him”. The names then form in opposition regarding the state of the one who has disobeyed: which one of the Divine names shall exercise ruling authority over him? They find the forgiving one and consequently the name “the compassionate one” prevails over the avenger, saying: “This one [the forgiving one] is my vicegerent in [this] locale (hāḏā nāʾibī fī l-maḥall), for had I not shown the [sinner] mercy he would not have repented”. The avenger is thus averted from its quest; the compassionate one receives [the sinner] and the forgiving one causes him to return to his Lord from one act of obedience to another, after he had caused him to return from disobedience or unbelief to obedience […]43

Ibn al-ʿArabī goes on to describe other scenarios related to this sinner and the ensuing conflict between the opposing groups of Divine names, those of mercy and those of justice and vengeance. Many other passages depict in a colorful and dramatic way the power struggle within Divinity over the life and destiny of man.44 Moreover, al-Šayḫ al-akbar holds that sins themselves are ultimately

42 Ibid., vol. 5, p. 113 (chapter 82). 43 Ibid., vol. 3, pp. 490–491 (chapter 71, Waṣl fī faṣl al-saḥūr). 44 Ibid.; see also vol. 3, pp. 441–442 (chapter 71, Waṣl al-ḥiǧāma li-l-ṣāʾim), pp. 556–557 (Ibid., Waṣl fī faṣl ziyārat al-muʿtakif fī muʿtakafihi), vol. 4, pp. 14–15 (the beginning of chapter 72), p. 69 (chapter 72, Waṣl fī faṣl fī l-qirān), p. 200 (Ibid., ḥadīṯ ṯānin fī l-ḥaṯṯ ʿalā l-mutābaʿa …), pp. 522–523 (chapter 73, question 86), vol. 5, p. 113 (chapter 82), pp. 116–117 (chapter 84),

Intellectual History of the IslamicateDownloaded World from 6 Brill.com09/29/2021 (2018) 359–387 04:16:55AM via free access “in truth you are the polytheist!” 371 caused by the Divine names. He stresses that obedience and disobedience, felicity in the world to come and wretchedness are all dictated by the Divine names and their “disputes”; in reality, one does not choose to disobey his lord and become a wretched soul (šaqī), but is rather under the influence or “ruling authority” of a particular Divine name that prevents him from responding to the positive “call” or “summoning” (nidāʾ) of another, rival name.45 Finally, according to Ibn al-ʿArabī, the Divine names will continue to exert their influence during eschatological times and in the world to come. Natu- rally, the “names of vengeance” (asmāʾ al-intiqām) will rule over hell, at least for a certain period of time, whereas heaven will be governed by compassionate and benevolent names.46 Although eventually God’s mercy will prevail over His wrath in both these abodes,47 the tension between the Divine names will still be felt: in paradise, for example, God’s names will compete with one another for control over the righteous ones, and while various names and their “rulings” will disappear, novel names, hitherto unknown, will be revealed and new hierarchies between them established.48

The Divine Names as Agents of Mystical Experiences and Knowledge

The mythic character of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s thought is likewise reflected in his discussions concerning the role of the Divine names in mystical experiences. The Divine names accompany man in every aspect of his religious life: in praying, fasting, performing the ḥaǧǧ, and so forth—every religious obligation derives from a particular Divine name and is fulfilled under its dominion.49 Similarly,

pp. 396–397 (chapter 154), vol. 8, p. 116 (chapter 336), pp. 450–451 (chapter 355), vol. 10, p. 15 (chapter 384). 45 Ibid., vol. 7, p. 58 (chapter 275); cf. vol. 4, p. 47 (chapter 72, Waṣl fī faṣl muǧāmaʿat al-nisāʾ), vol. 6, pp. 609–610, 613 (chapter 260), pp. 616–617 (chapter 261), vol. 8, pp. 252–253 (chapter 345), vol. 10, pp. 424–425 (chapter 469). 46 Ibid., vol. 5, pp. 153–154 (chapter 90), vol. 7, p. 496 (chapter 316). 47 See, for example, ibid., vol. 4, p. 507 (chapter 73, question 73), vol. 5, pp. 290–291 (chapter 124); see also Chittick, Sufi Path and idem, Self-Disclosure, indices, s.v. “mercy”; idem, “Death”; Gobillot, “Une Solution”; Addas, Une victoire éclatante, pp. 25–79 (I have not had the chance to consult this work). 48 Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 3, p. 508 (chapter 71, Waṣl fī faṣl ġurar al-šahr …), vol. 4, p. 502 (chapter 73, question 67), vol. 5, p. 117 (chapter 84), vol. 6, p. 489 (chapter 218), vol. 8, pp. 21– 22 (chapter 327), pp. 39–40 (chapter 329), pp. 130–131 (chapter 338). 49 See, for instance, ibid., vol. 1, pp. 500–501 (chapter 18), vol. 3, p. 436 (chapter 71, Waṣl fī faṣl

Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 6Downloaded (2018) 359–387 from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:16:55AM via free access 372 ebstein

God’s names play a central role on the mystical path and in mystical rituals; this is evident, above all, in the practice of ḏikr, “remembering” God by reciting any one of His names, vocally or mentally, in public or in private.50 Further- more, the names serve both as a means of gaining Divine knowledge and as “vehicles” for ascending to the upper, spiritual worlds—two functions that are interconnected, since the outcome of mystical ascensions is (or should be) Divine knowledge. In referring to the term munāzala (literally: “alighting with-”, “taking the field against-”), Ibn al-ʿArabī explains that this kind of an encounter between God and the mystic occurs when

He wants to descend upon you (al-nuzūl ilayka) and causes your heart to seek to alight at His [presence, al-nuzūl ʿalayhi]. [Your] mental energy (al- himma) then moves in a spiritual, gentle manner in order to alight at His [presence]; the meeting with Him (al-iǧtimāʿ bihi) occurs in the middle, between your alighting at His [presence], before you reach the alighting place (al-manzil), and His descending towards you—that is, when a Divine name directs itself [towards you]—before He reaches the alighting place […] He who experiences this state enjoys one of three things: either the profit (al-fāʾida) that the name seeks from this servant and that the servant seeks from the name is obtained in this encounter (al- liqāʾ), in which case the name then parts to the One who is named by it (musammāhu) and the servant returns to his station (maqāmihi) from whence he departed; or the Divine name rules (yaḥkuma) that the [servant] return to the [station] from whence he departed, in which case the Divine name accompanies him until it delivers him to that [station]; or the Divine name takes him with it and carries him up (wa-yaʿruǧu bihi) to the One who is named by it […]51

zamān al-imsāk), p. 469 (Ibid., Waṣl fī faṣl man afṭara mutaʿammidan fī qaḍāʾ ramaḍān), vol. 4, pp. 204–205 (chapter 72, ḥadīṯ ḫāmis fī l-ḥāǧǧ wafd Allāh). 50 The cosmogonic myth described above in pp. 365–367 seems also to have a ritualistic- meditative aspect to it; see the concluding remark in Ibn al-ʿArabī, Inšāʾ, p. 38 (Fa-taḥaqqaq hāḏā l-faṣl …, “Verify this section …”) and the discussion preceding the myth, Ibid., pp. 27– 36, especially pp. 34–35 (… Fa-taḥaqqaqal-šakliḏārasamnāhulakali-yaṯbutafīḫayālika …, “Verify this figure [i.e. the diagram of the Divine names and their hierarchies] that we have drawn for you so that it remains firm in your imagination”; … Fa-nẓurhā wa-taḥaqqaqhā ḥattā tuḥaṣṣilahā fī ḫayālika, “Look at these [circles] and verify them, so that you acquire them in your imagination”). 51 Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 7, p. 24 (chapter 271).

Intellectual History of the IslamicateDownloaded World from 6 Brill.com09/29/2021 (2018) 359–387 04:16:55AM via free access “in truth you are the polytheist!” 373

In another passage, Ibn al-ʿArabī writes that

Allāh, glory be to Him, entrusted the name “the merciful one” (al-raḥmān) with the whole kingdom (al-mamlaka). He appointed the name “the lord” (al-rabb) as the first universal doorkeeper, and gave it the key of bringing into being, allowing to act at will [or: manipulating], descending, and ascending (iqlīd al-takwīn wa-l-taṣrīf wa-l-nuzūl wa-l-miʿrāǧ). [The lord] meets the riders (al-rukbān)52 and assists them in alighting at [the presence of] the merciful one, while the latter sits on its most splendorous throne [ʿaršihi l-abhā; see sūra 20:5, 25:59 …]53

In such passages, God’s names are presented as mediating entities that assist the mystic in attaining Divine knowledge and practical-magical powers (tak- wīn, taṣrīf ).54 In fact, Ibn al-ʿArabī describes the relationship between the mystic and the Divine name that governs him in any given moment as that which prevails between a servant and his lord; the mystic must acknowledge the ruling authority of this particular name and worship it: “… every Divine name has a servitude (ʿubūdiyya) unique to it by which the created being devotes himself (yataʿabbadu) to it”.55 Obviously, man’s servitude is ultimately directed at God, whose essence (ḏāt) or being (huwiyya) is designated by the Divine names. Still, Ibn al-ʿArabī does not shy away from referring at times to the names as the immediate objects of human worship and, accordingly, as intermediaries between man and God. Ibn al-ʿArabī explains that the mystic is obliged to serve God Himself, yet is allowed—and even required, in many situations—to attend His names as well. This is similar to a servant working for a master who has many children: he must serve the master himself, but is often permitted and obliged to attend the master’s children. The servant is the mystic, “the master is allāh, and the children are the remaining Divine names”.56

52 On this class of mystics, see Chodkiewicz, Seal, pp. 107, 111–112. 53 Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 8, p. 38 (chapter 329); cf. ibid., vol. 1, pp. 612–613 (chapter 34). 54 On the magical context of taṣrīf, taṣarruf (“to act at will”) and takwīn, see also Ibn al- ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 4, pp. 462–465 (chapter 73, question 41), vol. 5, pp. 25–26 (chapter 73, questions 133–134), p. 63 (Ibid., question 154, wa-minhum al-sāḥirūna), and more. 55 Ibid., vol. 4, p. 521 (chapter 73, question 86). 56 Ibid., vol. 7, p. 499 (chapter 316). On servitude/worship and the Divine names, see also ibid., vol. 2, pp. 39–40 (chapter 45), p. 428 (chapter 69, Faṣl fī waqt ṣalāt al-ẓuhr), p. 454 (Ibid., Faṣl bal waṣl fī waqt al-aḏān), vol. 4, pp. 267–269 (chapter 73, Wa-minhum al-aʾimma to Wa-minhum al-abdāl), vol. 6, p. 480 (chapter 216), vol. 7, pp. 9–10 (chapter 270), vol. 11, p. 225 (chapter 558, Ḥaḍrat al-amān); cf. Corbin, Creative Imagination, p. 121; Chittick,

Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 6Downloaded (2018) 359–387 from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:16:55AM via free access 374 ebstein

Naturally, the mystical-experiential function of the Divine names in the thought of Ibn al-ʿArabī as well as the influence in this context of earlier mystics (such as al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmiḏī) on al-Šayḫ al-akbar require greater elaboration, but the foregoing discussion suffices to show the mythic quality of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s writing on this subject.57

The Power of the Mystic

The chosen mystic who has obtained Divine knowledge is able to manipulate God’s names, which, like the letters of the Arabic alphabet, form the very stuff of the universe. For example, Divine names can protect man from Satan; when reciting the basmala (bismi llāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm, “in the name of Allāh, the merciful and compassionate”), certain mystics can witness (šuhūd) this Divine name as it stands between them and Satan.58 In general, the Divine names and the letters alike have special properties (ḫawāṣṣ) that allow the mystic to per- form miraculous deeds, from invoking God for the benefit of fellow Muslims to discovering hidden treasures and extracting them from the ground.The properties of the Divine names are also what enable sorcerers to carry out their sorcery (siḥr), which, however, amounts to trickery and is illicit.59 True, Ibn al-ʿArabī

Sufi Path, pp. 369–372; Chodkiewicz, Seal, pp. 94–98, 103–104. In one passage, Ibn al- ʿArabī describes the Divine names as the close family of allāh and refers to created beings as His distant relations; allāh provides for both familial groups by creating the world, thereby granting existence to beings and allowing the Divine names to manifest themselves. See Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 9, pp. 28–29 (chapter 364, Waṣl wa-ammā man qāla min aṣḥābinā …). Elsewhere, Ibn al-ʿArabī views the opposing Divine names as brothers who conflict with each other; the name “the Lord” (al-rabb) is responsible for keeping peace between them. See ibid., vol. 9, pp. 158–159 (chapter 369, Waṣl 2). 57 On the Divine names as a source of mystical experiences and knowledge see also ibid., vol. 1, pp. 610–611 (chapter 34), vol. 2, pp. 39–40 (chapter 45), p. 334 (chapter 68, Bāb al-iġtisāl min al-māʾ …), pp. 425–426 (chapter 69, Faṣl fī awqāt al-ṣalawāt), vol. 3, p. 18 (Ibid., Waṣl fī faṣl ǧumuʿatayni fī miṣr wāḥid), pp. 21–22 (Ibid., Waṣl fī faṣl iḫtilāf al-qāʾilīna bi-wuǧūb al-ḫuṭba …), pp. 314–315 (chapter 70, Waṣl fī faṣl al-iʿlān bi-l-ṣadaqa …), p. 434 (chapter 71, Waṣl fī faṣl iʿtibār waqt al-ruʾya), vol. 4, p. 433 (Chapter 73, question 21), vol. 6, pp. 252–258 (chapter 198, Faṣl 11), pp. 395–396, 399–400 (chapter 206), pp. 460–461 (chapter 211), pp. 555–556 (chapter 237), pp. 563–564 (chapter 240), pp. 582–583 (chapter 248), pp. 629–630 (chapter 265), p. 631 (chapter 266). 58 Ibid., vol. 8, pp. 423–424 (chapter 353). On letters see Ebstein, Mysticism, pp. 77–122. 59 Ibid., vol. 1, p. 532 (chapter 22, Waṣl aḫaṣṣ ṣifāt …), pp. 555–559 (chapter 26), pp. 652–658 (chapter 40), vol. 5, pp. 24–32 (chapter 73, questions 131–142), pp. 62–63 (ibid., question 154,

Intellectual History of the IslamicateDownloaded World from 6 Brill.com09/29/2021 (2018) 359–387 04:16:55AM via free access “in truth you are the polytheist!” 375 is careful not to dwell too much on such hazardous matters and often insists that the mystic should abstain from applying his magical skills primarily out of courtesy towards God (adab).60 Nevertheless, it is clear that al-Šayḫ al-akbar was quite knowledgeable in this domain and strongly believed in the practical properties of the Arabic letters and Divine names.61 Moreover, the mystic can employ the Divine names in order to influence Divinity, viz., its manifest aspect. In this sense, the mystic has both magical and theurgical powers.62 This is perhaps the most radical aspect of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s teachings on the Divine names; the notion that man can influence God con- tradicts the fundamental idea of Islam, which holds that Allāh is “in no need of the worlds” (ġanī ʿan al-ʿālamīn, sūra 3:97 and more). According to Ibn al- ʿArabī, the mission of the mystic, or rather, the perfect human being (al-insān al-kāmil) is to mediate between the Creator and the created. This mediation is twofold: on the one hand, the perfect human being ensures the safety and felicity of his fellow men and of the world at large, and, on the other, he assists Divinity in reaching its goals and achieving perfection. The two tasks of the mystic are indissolubly connected: the more content and merciful God is, the happier His created beings are. The šarīʿa—the Divine law embodied in the Qurʾān and Prophetic sunna— plays a central role in the theurgical process: it provides correct knowledge of God’s names and likewise prescribes commandments that, when observed correctly, may serve as a means for manipulating the Divine names. For instance, almsgiving (ṣadaqa) calms the wrath (ġaḍab) of God in this world and in the world to come, saves one from an evil death, and more. Although such beliefs related to almsgiving are rooted in certain ḥadīṯs that are quoted by Ibn al-ʿArabī,63 the latter chooses to emphasize the influence of man on Divinity

Wa-minhum al-sāḥirūna), pp. 542–549 (chapter 177, al-ʿIlm al-awwal), vol. 7, p. 325 (chapter 300). On the term ḫawāṣṣ see Kraus, Jābir, pp. 61–95. 60 See, for example, Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 5, pp. 542–543. On adab see Gril, “Adab” and Chiabboti et al., Ethics. 61 See the references in the last three notes. Like other notions discussed in this article, here too the influence of al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmiḏī is evident; see Sviri, “Words”; idem, “Kun”. 62 On theurgy as the ability to influence the Deity, see Idel, Kabbalah, pp. 156–199; Mopsik, Les grands textes, esp. pp. 18–41. On the threefold link between myth, power, and theurgy, see Garb, “Power”. 63 For example, “almsgiving extinguishes the wrath of the Lord and averts an evil death” (al- ṣadaqa tuṭfiʾu ġaḍab al-rabb wa-tadfaʿu ʿan mītat al-sūʾ), see Ibn Balabān, Iḥsān, vol. 8, pp. 103–104; al-Ṭabarānī, al-Muʿǧam al-awsaṭ, vol. 7, p. 372; cf. Proverbs, 10:2, 11:4 and The Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat, 156: b. Cf. the mitigated version in Ibn Māǧa, Sunan, vol. 5, p. 295 (Wa-l-ṣadaqa tuṭfiʾu l-ḫaṭīʾa, “almsgiving extinguishes sin”).

Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 6Downloaded (2018) 359–387 from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:16:55AM via free access 376 ebstein and explicitly refers to the “trace” or “mark” (aṯar) that the act of ṣadaqa leaves on the Divine “relationships”, that is, on the Divine names.64 Similarly, in referring to kaffārāt, that is, religious actions like almsgiving and fasting that are performed in order to atone for certain sins, Ibn al-ʿArabī writes:

Know that kaffārāt were established in the Divine law simply in order to function as veils (ḥuǧuban) between the servant and the befalling afflic- tions to which he has exposed himself by committing transgressions […] Thus, when [the name] “the avenger” brings the misfortune that was sent down and that was necessitated by this transgression, these actions [the kaffārāt] are found covering the [sinner] in the shelter of their wing, guarding him; they have become a shield over him and a means for his protection. The name “the pardoner” exercises its ruling authority over these kaffārāt. And so, the misfortune cannot find any way of piercing through; the threat (al-waʿīd) cannot pierce through the [servant] due to the prevailing sovereignty of this action called kaffāra […]65

Likewise, Ibn al-ʿArabī states that when a mystic is about to commit a religious transgression, he may ward off the ensuing Divine punishment by exercising mystical awareness (ḥuḍūr), which entails the realization that the sin is preor- dained by God and the feeling of aversion when committing it. This mystical awareness facilitates the victory of “the forgiver” (al-ʿafuww), “the pardoner” (al-ġafūr), and “the compassionate one” as well as other benevolent names; as a result, the sin is transformed into a living entity “with a Divine spirit that begs [God’s] pardon on the [mystic’s] behalf until the day of resurrection” (wa- takūnumaʿṣiyatuhubi-ḥuḍūrihifīhāmaʿallāhḥayyaḏātrūḥilāhīyastaġfirulahu ilā yawm al-qiyāma).66 Hence, by performing certain religious actions that are prescribed by the šarīʿa (kaffārāt), or otherwise are required on the mystical path (ḥuḍūr), man is able to operate the Divine names in such a way that God’s mercy overcomes His wrath. Certainly, Ibn al-ʿArabī would insist that such an operation is in itself a product of God’s mercy, of His compassionate names; yet from the perspective of man, his religious actions are aimed at affecting the balance within Divinity and subduing its negative forces. Performing the kaf-

64 Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 3, pp. 311–314 (chapter 70, Waṣl fī faṣl mā tataḍammanuhu l- ṣadaqa min al-aṯar fī l-nisab al-ilāhiyya wa-ġayrihā). On the concept of “relationship” see below n. 75. 65 Ibid., vol. 7, p. 414 (chapter 306). 66 Ibid., vol. 7, p. 226 (chapter 290).

Intellectual History of the IslamicateDownloaded World from 6 Brill.com09/29/2021 (2018) 359–387 04:16:55AM via free access “in truth you are the polytheist!” 377 fārāt causes “the pardoner” to exercise its ruling authority and triumph over “the avenger”; and practicing ḥuḍūr assists the benevolent names in their victory over their harsh, vengeful adversaries. In another passage that deals with the Quranic verse “only those among Allāh’s servants who possess knowledge fear Him” (innamā yaḫshā llāh min ʿibādihi l-ʿulamāʾ, sūra 35:28), Ibn al-ʿArabī explains:

Each and every one of the Divine names that governs and possesses the ruling authority in any given state (al-wālī fī l-ḥāl ṣāḥib al-ḥukm) fears allāh because it has knowledge of the names at His presence that oppose it (tuqābilu hāḏā l-ism). This name says: “In the same way that He had entrusted me with this specific locale in which my ruling authority was manifested, though I had not governed it [before], [in the same way] He might discharge me (qad yaʿzilunī) by means of another governor”, i.e. by the ruling authority of another Divine name. Nobody is more knowledgeable than the Divine names, and so, nobody fears allāh more than them. For allāh acts at will with them by having them entrusted [with governments] and discharged (lahu l-taṣarruf fīhā bi-l-tawallī wa-l-ʿazl), and this is [reflected in] what occurs within existence. There is that which occurs as a result of a request from the created universe (ʿan suʾāl min al-kawn), and there is that which occurs without a request but rather hap- pens when the period of the ruling authority ends, in which case it is an abrogation ( fa-yakūnu nasḫan). Because “fearing allāh” is applied to the knowledgeable ones from among created beings, and since created beings may request that the rulings of the Divine names be removed, the Divine names that exercise their ruling authority in any given moment fear the request of created beings to remove their ruling from that specific locale […] The Divine names thus fear allāh because He can discharge and ap- point, and they fear the world because it may request and because allāh may accept this request […]67

Ibn al-ʿArabī stresses that the world is nothing but a locus for the manifestation of the Divine names. In reality, then, it is the Divine names themselves that the Divine names fear; put differently, Allāh, who comprises the totality of His attributes, fears Himself. Yet here too one should not ignore the human perspective: from man’s point of view, the Divine names fear him because he

67 Ibid., vol. 10, pp. 499–500 (chapter 494).

Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 6Downloaded (2018) 359–387 from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:16:55AM via free access 378 ebstein holds sway over their very destiny. Other passages as well reflect the notion that man, or rather: the perfect human being may influence (taʾṯīr) Divinity in its manifest aspect.68 From a broader perspective, the relationship between God and creation at large is a theurgical one: God needs the world in order to actualize His attributes and to know Himself in a thorough manner, hence the influence that the world, by merely existing, exercises on Him. Even before they are granted existence, created beings, as “immutable entities” (aʿyān ṯābita), influence God: His eternal knowledge of them is a function of their own entities, it derives from them.69 Once created, living beings assist God in achieving His goal of all- encompassing self-knowledge.70 The perfect human being occupies a unique position in this Divine-human drama: his election by God and his mystical awareness of the true relationship between the Creator and the created enable him to manifest the Divine names within himself and within the world in a comprehensive manner, a task that is embodied in his title of ḫalīfa, God’s “vicegerent” on earth. Ḫilāfa (the office of ḫalīfa) may entail a visible, political dimension, as in the case of the messenger-Prophet (rasūl) who delivers a šarīʿa to mankind and is granted the authority to govern and judge as he sees fit (taḥakkum). His use of either violence or compassion in respect of his subjects is nothing but a manifestation of the opposing Divine names. In other cases, God’s chosen ones (the mystics of Islam included) may not enjoy such political power, but are nevertheless responsible for manifesting the Divine names in the world, even if this manifestation is hidden from the eyes of others and those responsible for it remain unknown to their fellow men.71 Accordingly, God is in need of the perfect human being in order to attain His objectives. Ibn al-ʿArabī explicitly states that in the same way that God grants life and sustenance (rizq) to man, man gives life and sustenance to the Divine names; and just as man thanks God, so too the Divine names thank man—more precisely,

68 See, for example, ibid., vol. 4, pp. 462–465. 69 See, for instance, ibid., vol. 10, pp. 183–185 (chapter 411). 70 This idea is reflected, inter alia, in ḥadīṯ al-kanz, which Ibn al-ʿArabī quotes or refers to throughout his oeuvre: “I was an unknown treasure, yet I wished to be known. So I created created beings: I made myself known to them and they came to know me”. See, for example, ibid., vol. 5, p. 357 (chapter 146; Kuntu kanzan lam uʿraf fa-aḥbabtu an uʿrafa fa-ḫalaqtu l-ḫalq wa-taʿarraftu ilayhim fa-ʿarafūnī); see also ibid., vol. 8, pp. 96–98 (chapter 335); Chittick, Sufi path, p. 391 n. 14. 71 See, for example, Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 5, pp. 484–485 (chapter 167, the beginning of Waṣl fī faṣl), vol. 5, pp. 557–558 (chapter 177). See also Chodkiewicz, “Esoteric Founda- tions”; idem, “Les malâmiyya”.

Intellectual History of the IslamicateDownloaded World from 6 Brill.com09/29/2021 (2018) 359–387 04:16:55AM via free access “in truth you are the polytheist!” 379 the perfect human being.72 Such an individual becomes the leader (imām) of all the Divine names.73

Conclusion

The mythic character of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s teachings on the Divine names is evident in all four topics analyzed above: cosmogony; the management of the world (including the world to come); mystical experiences and knowledge; magic and theurgy. Not only are these teachings formulated in a mythic way from a literary point of view (for example, the cosmogonic myth described above in pp. 366–367), but their implications in the spheres of ritual (pp. 371–372) and power (pp. 374–379) accord with what we know from the study of myth in other fields.74 The mythic features of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s discourse are likewise reflected in other topics besides the Divine names, as I hope to show in my future study on mythic thought and classical Islamic mysticism. To be sure, Ibn al-ʿArabī emphasizes time and again that the Divine names do not signify existing entities (aʿyān) but rather relationships (nisab) between God and created beings; the traces (āṯār) and rulings (aḥkām) of the names are apparent in creation, but the names themselves do not exist, at least not in the regular sense of the word.75 Furthermore, according to Ibn al-ʿArabī, although God’s names differ from one another and are in need of the world, they all point to His hidden essence, which is in want of nothing. It is rather hard to recon- cile such theological-philosophical explanations—aimed, inter alia, at maintaining the idea of Divine unity and mitigating the polytheistic undertones of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s discourse—76 with the mythic portrayal of the Divine names in numerous passages throughout the Akbarian oeuvre. One could choose to interpret the mythic passages in an allegorical way,77 in an attempt to har- monize the contradicting elements in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s thought. However, Ibn

72 Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 10, p. 460 (chapter 478). Compare to the theurgical notion found in Midrashic, Kabbalistic, and Ḥasidic sources according to which the people of Israel sus- tain (mefarnesīm) God; Idel, Kabbalah, p. 165. 73 Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 2, p. 562 (chapter 69, Faṣl bal waṣl fī imāmat al-fāsiq). 74 See above n. 19. 75 See, for example, Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 1, p. 501 (chapter 18), vol. 4, pp. 437–440 (chapter 73, question 24), pp. 562–563 (ibid., question 115), vol. 6, p. 266 (chapter 198, Faṣl 13), p. 489 (chapter 218), vol. 7, p. 94 (chapter 279). 76 See ibid., vol. 11, p. 480 (chapter 558, Ḥaḍrat al-tawḥīd). 77 See, for instance, Elmore, “Four Texts,” p. 2.

Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 6Downloaded (2018) 359–387 from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:16:55AM via free access 380 ebstein al-ʿArabī himself was by and large opposed to the use of taʾwīl (allegorical interpretation) in order to explain religious texts, and I doubt he would recommend such a reading for his own works.78 Moreover, as I have explained in the introduction, allegorical interpretations are problematic, especially when dealing with an author like Ibn al-ʿArabī whose writings abound with mythic descrip- tions. To dismiss vast parts of the Akbarian corpus as allegories or as playful literary excursions into the realm of the fantastic would mean to ignore the very tensions inherent in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s thought between theological-philosophical notions and mythic perceptions of the Divine; between abstract thinking and anthropomorphism; between the belief in a singular, transcendental God and the notion of multiple Divine powers immanent in creation. In a way, whether we perceive God’s names as ontological entities in the full sense of the word or define them as mere “relationships” is beside the point; what is important is that the Akbarian God is a dynamic, multifaceted, and complex Deity—it maintains a reciprocal relationship with creation, it is entangled with its own created beings, and its fate is intertwined with that of the world. This is certainly a mythic vision of Divinity, not a theological-philosophical one. Acknowledging the mythic dimension of Akbarian writing would also open up new horizons in the study of both Islamic mysticism and Kabbalah. Mys- tics such as al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmiḏī, Ibn Masarra, Ibn Qasī, and Ibn al-ʿArabī as well as authors of certain Shiite factions have a lot in common with many Kab- balists who lived in the 12th–14th centuries and were active in areas under the direct or indirect influence of Arabic-Islamic culture, viz., southern France and (mainly) northern Spain.79 Specifically, the combination of theosophical thought, a mythic discourse, and theurgical conceptions is characteristic— in varying degrees—of the aforementioned Muslim mystics and their Jew- ish counterparts.80 The tensions that naturally arise between theosophical, mythic, and theurgical notions, on the one hand, and so-called “monotheistic” beliefs, on the other, are also common to Muslim and Jewish mystics. One may compare, for instance, the Akbarian concept of the Divine essence to that of ein-sōf (“the Infinite”) in many Kabbalistic systems. The distinction between a hidden dimension of God (essence/ein-sōf ) and a manifest one (Divine names / the ten sefīrōt of Kabbalah) allows the mystic to describe God and His rela-

78 On Ibn al-ʿArabī’s objection to taʾwīl, see, among many other passages, Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 9, pp. 464–465 (chapter 377). 79 See, for instance, Goldreich, “The theology”; Ebstein and Weiss, “A Drama in Heaven”; Krinis, “Cyclical Time”; Stroumsa, “Wondrous Paths”. On Ibn Qasī and al-Tirmiḏī see the references above in notes 5–6, 61. 80 For theurgy in Kabbalah see the references above in n. 62.

Intellectual History of the IslamicateDownloaded World from 6 Brill.com09/29/2021 (2018) 359–387 04:16:55AM via free access “in truth you are the polytheist!” 381 tionship with the world in radically mythic terms, while ostensibly maintaining the more abstract, theological-philosophical notion of a singular and transcendental Deity. At the same time, this distinction can be alleviated so as to create a more positive and uninterrupted connection between the inner and outer aspects of Divinity and, accordingly, between the unity of the Creator and the multiplicity of creation.81 Clearly, there are many substantial differences between the Muslim and Jewish mystics referred to here; it seems, for instance, that mythic and theurgical elements are much more explicit and prominent in Kabbalistic writings. This, however, only goes to show how much we are in need of in-depth studies on the links and affinities between Islamic mysticism of the Akbarian type and Kabbala. Such studies would necessitate a change in the way scholars approach Ibn al-ʿArabī’s oeuvre. The mythic character of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s teachings was indeed appalling and unacceptable to various theologically-minded scholars in subsequent gener- ations,82 while many of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s followers and modern scholars alike have preferred to read his works through a non-mythic, philosophical lens. Particularly in the modern West, the universalist tendencies in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s works have been emphasized at the expense of their mythic and particular- istic dimensions.83 This is not to say that the Akbarian oeuvre should be read through a purely mythic lens; obviously, Ibn al-ʿArabī was very much influenced by theological and philosophical conceptions, and his teachings have a strong universalist aspect to them. However, it would be a mistake to underplay the mythic features of al-Šayḫ al-akbar’s writing and to view them as an unneces- sary shell that must be removed and dispensed with in order to reach the true philosophical kernel. In fact, Ibn al-ʿArabī himself was well aware of the mythic undertones of his works and of the dangerous similarities between his teachings and polytheistic beliefs. Such similarities, however, did not alarm him; on the contrary. He goes so far as to claim that the true mystic is a “polytheist”—

81 See also Harvey, “Post-Biblical”; Lachower and Tishby, Wisdom of the Zohar, vol. 1, pp. 95– 129 (= vol. 1, pp. 229–268 in the English translation); Valabregue-perry, Concealed and Revealed (I thank Prof. Tsahi Weiss for this reference); idem, “Concept of Infinity”. 82 See Knysh, Ibn ʿArabi; Chodkiewicz, Seal, index, s.v. “Ibn Taymiyya”; Homerin, “Ibn Arabi”. 83 For medieval followers of Ibn al-ʿArabī, see Chittick, “Ṣadr al-Dīn Qunawī”; idem, “Five Divine Presences”; idem, “Central Point”; idem, “Qūnawī on the One Wujūd”; idem, “Spec- trums”; idem, “School”; Todd, Sufi Doctrine; Dagli, Ibn al-ʿArabī. For modern works that focus on the philosophical and universal aspects of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s thought, see, for instance, Bashier’s excellent work, Ibn al-Arabī’s Barzakh and the references above in n. 4 (Chodkiewicz’s Seal of the Saints should be excluded, as it deals with mythic elements related to Ibn al-ʿArabī’s theory of walāya).

Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 6Downloaded (2018) 359–387 from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:16:55AM via free access 382 ebstein a mušrik, literally: someone who believes that other beings besides God share in His Divinity—since, in affirming both the unity and multiplicity of God, the mystic realizes that God’s names differ from one another, yet at the same time they all share in the same Divine essence. “In truth”,Ibn al-ʿArabī explains to his reader, “you are the polytheist (wa-anta huwa l-mušrik ʿalā l-ḥaqīqa)”.84 Perhaps there is some truth in this declaration.

Bibliography

Addas, Claude, Quest for the Red Sulphur: the Life of Ibn ʿArabī, trans. Peter Kingsley, Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1993. Addas, Claude, Une victoire éclatante: le verus propheta dans la doctrine d’Ibn Arabî, 2005. Affifi, Abul Ela, The Mystical Philosophy of Muhyid Din-Ibnul Arabi, Lahore: Sh. Muham- mad Ashraf, 1964 (a reprint of the original 1939 Cambridge edition). Amir, Yehoshua, “Authority and Interpretation of Scripture in the Writings of Philo,” Mikra: Text, Translation, Reading and Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, ed. Martin Jan Mulder, Assen: Van Gorcum, 1988, pp. 421–453. Amir, Yehoshua, “Rabbinical Midrash and Philonic Allegory,” Daʿat 18 (1987), pp. 5–14 (in Hebrew). Amir, Yehoshua, “The Monotheistic Problem of Hellenistic Jewry,” Daʿat 13 (1984), pp. 13–27 (in Hebrew). Bashier, Salman H., Ibn al-Arabī’s Barzakh: the Concept of the Limit and the Relationship between God and the World, Albany: State University of New York Press, 2004. Bohak, Gideon et al. (eds.), Myth, Ritual and Mysticism: Studies in Honor of Professor Ithamar Gruenwald (= Teʿūda 26), Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 2014 (in Hebrew). Böwering, Gerhard and Yousef Casewit, A Qurʾān Commentary by Ibn Barrajān of Seville (d.536/1141).Īḍāḥal-Ḥikmabi-Aḥkāmal-ʿIbra:WisdomDeciphered,theUnseenDiscov- ered, Brill: Leiden, 2015. Brisson, Luc, How Philosophers Saved Myths: Allegorical Interpretation and Classical Mythology, trans. Catherine Tihanyi, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. Buffière, Felix, Les mythes d’Homère et la pensée grecque, Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1956. Casewit, Yousef, “A reconsideration of the Life and Works of Ibn Barrajān,” Al-Abhath 60–61 (2012–2013), pp. 111–142.

84 Ibn al-ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, vol. 5, p. 70 (chapter 73, question 154, Wa-minhum al-mušrikūna bi- llāh).

Intellectual History of the IslamicateDownloaded World from 6 Brill.com09/29/2021 (2018) 359–387 04:16:55AM via free access “in truth you are the polytheist!” 383

Casewit, Yousef, The Mystics of al-Andalus: Ibn Barrajān and Islamic Thought in the Twelfth Century, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. Chiabboti, Francesco et al. (eds.), Ethics and Spirituality in Islam: Sufi Adab, Leiden: Brill, 2017. Chittick, William C., “Death and the World of Imagination: Ibn al-Arabī’s Eschatology,” The Muslim World 78 (1988), pp. 51–82. Chittick, William C., Imaginal Worlds: Ibn al-ʿArabī and the Problem of Religious Diver- sity, Albany: State University of New York, 1994. Chittick, William C., “Qūnawī on the One Wujūd,” Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society 49 (2011), pp. 117–127. Chittick, William C., “Ṣadr al-Dīn Qunawī on the Oneness of Being,”International Philo- sophical Quarterly 21 (1981), pp. 171–184. Chittick, William C., “The School of Ibn ʿArabī,”History of Islamic Philosophy, ed. Seyyed H. Nasr and Oliver Leaman, London: Routledge, 1994–1996, vol. 1, pp. 510–523. Chittick, William C., “Spectrums of Islamic Thought: Saʿīd al-Dīn Farghānī on the Implications of Oneness and Manyness,” The Legacy of Medieval Persian Sufism, ed. Leonard Lewisohn, London: Khaniqahi Nimatullahi Publications, 1999, pp. 203– 215. Chittick, William C., “The Central Point: Qūnawī’s Role in the School of Ibn ʿArabī,” Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society 35 (2004), pp. 25–45. Chittick, William C., “The Five Divine Presences: from al-Qūnawī to al-Qayṣarī,” The Muslim World 72.2 (1982), pp. 107–128. Chittick, William C., The Self-Disclosure of God: Principles of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s Cosmology, Albany: State University of New York press, 1998. Chittick, William C., The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn al-ʿArabi’s Metaphysics of Imagina- tion, Albany: State University of New York press, 1989. Chodkiewicz, Michel, “Les malâmiyya dans la doctrine d’Ibn Arabî,”Melâmis-Bayrâmis. Études sur trois mouvements mystiques musulmans, ed. Nathalie Clayer et al., Istan- bul: Isis, 1998, pp. 15–25. Chodkiewicz, Michel, Seal of the Saints: Prophethood and Sainthood in the Doctrine of Ibn ʿArabī, trans. Liadain Sherrard, Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1993. Chodkiewicz, Michel, “The Esoteric Foundations of Political Legitimacy in Ibn ʿArabī,” Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi: a Commemorative Volume, ed. Stephen Hirtenstein and Mi- chael Tiernan, Shaftesbury: Element, 1993, pp. 190–198. Corbin, Henry, Creative Imagination in the Ṣūfism of Ibn ʿArabī, trans. Ralph Manheim, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. Dagli, Caner K., Ibn al-ʿArabī and Islamic Intellectual Culture: from Mysticism to Philos- ophy, London: Routledge, 2016. Dawson, David, Allegorical Readers and Cultural Revision in Ancient Alexandria, Berke- ley: University of California Press, 1992.

Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 6Downloaded (2018) 359–387 from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:16:55AM via free access 384 ebstein

Ebstein, Michael, Mysticism and Philosophy in al-Andalus: Ibn Masarra, Ibn al-ʿArabī and the Ismāʿīlī Tradition, Leiden: Brill, 2014. Ebstein, Michael, “Was Ibn Qasī a Ṣūfī?” Studia Islamica 110 (2015), pp. 196–232. Ebstein, Michael and Tsahi Weiss, “A Drama in Heaven: “Emanation on the Left” in Kab- balah and a Parallel Cosmogonic Myth in Ismāʿīlī Literature,”History of Religions 55 (2015), pp. 148–171. Elmore, Gerald, “Four Texts of Ibn al-ʿArabi on the Creative Self-Manifestation of the Divine Names,” Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society 29 (2001), pp. 1–43. Fenton, Paul B. and Maurice Gloton, “The Book of the Description of the Encompass- ing Circles,”MuhyiddinIbnʿArabi:aCommemorativeVolume, ed. Stephen Hirtenstein and Michael Tiernan, Shaftesbury: Element, 1993, pp. 12–43. Frank, Richard M., “Al-Aḥkām in Classical AšʿariteTeaching,”DeZénond’ÉléeàPoincaré: receuil d’études en hommage à Roshdi Rashed, ed. Régis Morelon and Ahmed Has- nawi, Peeters: Leuven, 2004, pp. 753–777. Garb, Jonathan, “Power, Ritual, and Myth—a Comparative Methodological Proposal,” Myths in Judaism: History, Thought, Literature, ed. Itamar Gruenwald and Moshe Idel, Jerusalem: The Zalman Shazar Center, 2004, pp. 53–71 (in Hebrew). Gimaret, Daniel, La doctrine d’al-Ashʿarī, Paris: Cerf, 1990. Gobillot, Geneviève, “Une Solution au problème de la prédestination en islam: les essences prédisposées d’Ibn ʿArabî,” Revue Philosophique de Louvain 105.3 (2007), pp. 333–360 and 105.4 (2007), pp. 555–589. Goldreich, Amos, “The theology of the Iyyun circle and a possible source of the term ‘Aḥdut Shava’,” The Beginnings of Jewish Mysticism in Medieval Europe (= Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought vi.3–4), ed. Joseph Dan, Jerusalem: the Hebrew University, 1987, pp. 141–156 (in Hebrew). Gril, Denis, “Adab and Revelation or: One of the Foundations of the Hermeneutics of Ibn ʿArabi,”Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi: a Commemorative Volume, ed. Stephen Hirtenstein and Michael Tiernan, Shaftesbury: Element, 1993, pp. 228–263. Gruenwald, “Myth and Historical Truth—Can Myths Be Shattered?” Myths in Judaism: History, Thought, Literature, ed. Itamar Gruenwald and Moshe Idel, Jerusalem: The Zalman Shazar Center, 2004, pp. 15–52 (in Hebrew); an English version in idem, Rit- uals and Ritual Theory in Ancient Israel, Leiden: Brill, 2003, pp. 94–138. Gruenwald, “Myth in Consciousness, History, and Research,” Maddaʿey ha-yahadūt 38 (1998), pp. 187–210 (in Hebrew). Gruenwald, “The Inevitable Presence of Myths—an Opening Essay,” Myth in Judaism (= Ešel Beer Ševa 4), ed. Haviva Pedayah, Beer Sheva: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press, 1996, pp. 1–14 (in Hebrew). Gruenwald, Itamar and Moshe Idel (eds.), Myths in Judaism: History, Thought, Litera- ture, Jerusalem: The Zalman Shazar Center, 2004 (in Hebrew). Harvey, Zev, “Post-Biblical and Post-Philosophical Myths,” Myth in Judaism (= Ešel Beer

Intellectual History of the IslamicateDownloaded World from 6 Brill.com09/29/2021 (2018) 359–387 04:16:55AM via free access “in truth you are the polytheist!” 385

Ševa 4), ed. Haviva Pedayah, Beer Sheva: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press, 1996, pp. 112–117 (in Hebrew). Homerin, Emil, “Ibn Arabi in the People’s Assembly: Religion, Press, and Politics in Sadat’s Egypt,” Middle East Journal 40 (1986), pp. 462–477. Huss, Boaz, “R. Joseph Gikatilla’s Definition of Symbolism and its Versions in Kabbalis- tic Literature,” Jerusalem Studies in JewishThought 12 (1996), pp. 157–176 (in Hebrew). Ibn al-ʿArabī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. ʿAlī, Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, ed. Abū l-ʿAlā ʿAfīfī, Cairo: ʿĪsā l-Bābī l-Ḥalabī, 1946. Ibn al-ʿArabī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. ʿAlī, al-Futūḥāt al-makkiyya, 12 vols., ed. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Sulṭān al-Manṣūb, Tarim: Wizārat al-Ṯaqāfa, 2010. Ibn al-ʿArabī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. ʿAlī, Inšāʾ al-dawāʾir, in Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-ʿArabī, ed. Henrik S. Nyberg, Leiden: Brill, 1919, pp. 3–38. Ibn Balabān al-Fārisī, ʿAlī, al-Iḥsān fī taqrīb ṣaḥīḥ ibn ḥibbān, 18 vols., ed. Šuʿayb al- Arnaʾūṭ, Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 1991. Ibn Barraǧān, Abū l-Ḥakam ʿAbd al-Salām b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Šarḥ asmāʾ Allāh al- ḥusnā, 2 vols., ed. Aḥmad Farīd al-Mazyadī, Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2010. Ibn Māǧa, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Yazīd, Sunan Ibn Māǧa, 5 vols., ed. Šuʿayb al- Arnaʾūṭ and Muḥammad Kāmil Qurrat Ballī, Damascus: Dār al-Risāla l-ʿĀlamiyya, 2009. Ibn Masarra, ʿAbdAllāh Muḥammad b. ʿAbdAllāh, KitābḪawāṣṣal-ḥurūf wa-ḥaqāʾiqihā wa-uṣūlihā, ed. P. Garrido Clemente, in Al-Andalus Magreb 14 (2007), pp. 51–89. Ibn Qasī, Abū l-Qāsim Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn, Kitāb Ḫalʿ al-naʿlayni wa-qtibās al-nūr min mawḍiʿ al-qadamayni, ed. Muḥammad al-Amrānī, Āsifī: IMBH, 1997. Idel, Moshe, Absorbing Perfections: Kabbalah and Interpretation, New Haven: Yale Uni- versity Press, 2002. Idel, Moshe, Kabbalah: New Perspectives, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. Idel, Moshe, “Leviathan and Its Consort: From Talmudic to Kabbalistic Myth,” Myths in Judaism: History, Thought, Literature, ed. Itamar Gruenwald and Moshe Idel, Jerusalem: The Zalman Shazar Center, 2004, pp. 145–186. Idel, Moshe, “The Place of Symbol in the Thought of Gershom Scholem,”Maddaʿey ha- yahadūt 38 (1998), pp. 43–72 (in Hebrew); English version in idem, Old Worlds, New Mirrors: on Jewish Mysticism and Twentieth-Century Thought, Philadelphia: Pennsyl- vania University Press, 2010, pp. 83–108. Karamustafa, Ahmet T., Sufism: The Formative Period, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. King, Karin L., What is Gnosticism? Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003. Knysh, Alexander D., Ibn ʿArabi in the Later Islamic Tradition: the Making of a Polemical Image in Medieval Islam, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999. Kraus, Paul, Jābir ibn Ḥayyān: contribution à l’histoire des idées scientifiques dans l’Is- lam. Volume II: Jābir et la science grecque, Cairo: l’institut français d’archéologie orientale, 1942.

Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 6Downloaded (2018) 359–387 from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:16:55AM via free access 386 ebstein

Krinis, Ehud, “Cyclical Time in the Ismāʿīlī Circle of Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ (Tenth Century) and in Early Jewish Kabbalists Circles (Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries),” Stu- dia Islamica 111 (2016), pp. 20–108. Lachower, Fischel and Isaiah Tishby, The Wisdom of the Zohar, 2 vols., Jerusalem: Bialik, 1996 (in Hebrew); English trans. by David Goldstein, 3 vols., Oxford: Oxford Univer- sity Press, 1989. Liebes, Yehuda, God’s Story: Collected Essays on the Jewish Myth, Jerusalem: Carmel, 2008 (in Hebrew); partial English trans. in idem, Studies in Jewish Myth and Jew- ish Messianism, trans. Batya Stein, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993, pp. 1–64. Liebes, Yehuda, “Myth and Orthodoxy: an Answer to Shalom Rosenberg,”Maddaʿey ha- yahadūt 38 (1998), pp. 180–185 (In Hebrew). Liebes, Yehuda, “Myth Versus Symbol in the Zohar and in Lurian Kabbalah,” Myth in Judaism (= Ešel Beer Ševa 4), ed. Haviva Pedayah, Beer Sheva: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press, 1996, pp. 192–209. Lorberbaum, Menachem, “Mythical Mysticism and Intellectual Mysticism,” Myth, Rit- ual and Mysticism: Studies in Honor of Professor Ithamar Gruenwald (= Teʿūda 26), ed. Gideon Bohak et al., Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 2014, pp. 671–702 (in He- brew). Lorberbaum, Yair, Image of God: Halakha and Aggadah, Tel-Aviv: Schoken, 2004 (in Hebrew). Margolin, Ron, “The Various Faces of the Jewish Myth: from the Bible to its Concep- tual Interiorization in Hasidism,” Myth, Ritual and Mysticism: Studies in Honor of Professor Ithamar Gruenwald (= Teʿūda 26), ed. Gideon Bohak et al., Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 2014, pp. 137–219. Massignon, Louis, Recueil de textes inédits concernant l’histoire de la mystique en pays d’islam, Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1929. Mopsik, Charles, Les grands textes de la Cabale: Les rites qui font Dieu. Pratiques reli- gieuses et efficacité théurgique dans la cabale des origines au milieu du XVIIIe siècle, Paris: Verdier, 1993. Muffs, Yochanan, The Personhood of God: BiblicalTheology, Human Faith, and the Divine Image, Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2005. Pedayah, Haviva (ed.), Myth in Judaism (= Ešel Beer Ševa 4), Beer Sheva: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press, 1996 (in Hebrew). Preus, James S., Explaining Religion: Criticism and Theory from Bodin to Freud, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987. Radtke, Bernd, Al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmiḏī: ein islamischer Theosoph des 3./9. Jahrhunderts, Freiburg: K. Schwarz, 1980. Rokéaḥ, David, Judaism and Christianity in Pagan Polemic, Jerusalem: Dinur Center, 1991 (in Hebrew).

Intellectual History of the IslamicateDownloaded World from 6 Brill.com09/29/2021 (2018) 359–387 04:16:55AM via free access “in truth you are the polytheist!” 387

Rosenberg, Shalom, “The Myth of Myths,” Maddaʿey ha-yahadūt 38 (1998), pp. 145–179 (In Hebrew). Segal, Robert A., Myth: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Segal, Robert A. (ed.), The Myth and Ritual Theory: An Anthology, Malden: Blackwell, 1998. Segal, Robert A., Theorizing about Myth, Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 1999. Stroumsa, Sarah, “Ibn Masarra’s (d. 931) Third Book,” The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Philosophy, ed. Khaled el-Rouayheb and Sabine Schmidtke, Oxford: Oxford Univer- sity Press, 2017, pp. 83–100. Stroumsa, Sarah, “‘Wondrous Paths’: the Ismāʿīlī Context of Saadya’s ‘Commentary on Sefer Yeṣira’,”Bochumer Philosophisches Jahrbuch für Antike und Mittelalter 18 (2015), pp. 74–90. Sviri, Sara, “Between Fear and Hope: On the Coincidence of Opposites in Islamic Mys- ticism,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 9 (1987), pp. 316–349. Sviri, Sara, “Kun—the Existence-Bestowing Word in Islamic Mysticism: a Survey of Texts on the Creative Power of Language,” The Poetics of Grammer and the Meta- physicsof SoundandSign, ed. Sergio La Porta and David Shulman, Leiden: Brill, 2007, pp. 35–67. Sviri, Sara, The Mystical Psychology of al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmiḏī, PhD thesis, Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 1979 (in Hebrew). Sviri, Sara, “Words of Power and the Power of Words: Mystical Linguistics in the Works of al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 27 (2002), pp. 204– 244. Al-Ṭabarānī, Abū l-Qāsim Sulaymān b. Aḥmad, al-Muʿǧam al-awsaṭ, 10 vols., ed. Ṭāriq b. ʿIwaḍ Allāh b. Muḥammad and ʿAbd al-Muḥsin b. Ibrāhīm al-Ḥusaynī, Cairo: Dār al-Ḥaramayni, 1995. Todd, Richard, The Sufi Doctrine of Man: Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Qūnawī’s Metaphysical Anthro- pology, Leiden: Brill, 2014. Urvoy, Dominique, “Ibn al-Marʾa,” Biblioteca de al-Andalus: de Ibn al-Labbāna a Ibn al- Ruyūlī, ed. Jorge L. Delgado, Almería: Fundación Ibn Tufayl, 2006, vol. 4, pp. 110–112. Valabregue-Perry, Sandra, Concealed and Revealed: ‘Ein Sof’ inTheosophic Kabbalah, Los Angeles: Cherub, 2010 (in Hebrew). Valabregue-Perry, Sandra, “The Concept of Infinity (Eyn-Sof) and the Rise of Theosoph- ical Kabbalah,” The Jewish Quarterly Review 102 (2012), pp. 405–430.

Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 6Downloaded (2018) 359–387 from Brill.com09/29/2021 04:16:55AM via free access