Ibn ʿarabī’S Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Akbarian Concepts in the Light of Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān

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Article Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Akbarian Concepts in the Light of Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān

Gracia López-Anguita

Facultad de Filología, Universidad de Sevilla, C/Palos de la Frontera s/n, 41004 Sevilla, Spain; [email protected]

Abstract: The aim of this article is to trace the origins of some of the key concepts of Ibn Arabi’s metaphysics and cosmology in earlier Andalusian Sufi masters. Within the context of the seminal works on Ibn Arabi’s cosmology and metaphysics produced from the second half of the 20th century onwards and through a comparison of texts by the Sufi masters Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān, we will see which elements are taken from previous sources and how they are transformed or re-interpreted by Ibn ʿArabī in a philosophical-mystical system that would become the point of reference for the later Eastern and Western Sufi tradition.

Keywords: Sufism; al-Andalus; Ibn Arabi; metaphysics; cosmology; islamic mysticism; Ibn Masarra; Citation: López-Anguita, Gracia. Ibn Ibn Barrajān ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Ak- barian Concepts in the Light of Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān. Religions 1.religions Introduction 2021, 12, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/ We believe that the optimal methodology for the study and interpretation of Ibn xxxxx Article Ibn ʿArabīArabı’s¯’s work Metaphysics is self-exegesis, in the Context based on of a Andalusiancomparison of his texts and on the reconstruction Mysticism:of his organic Some Akbarianand dynamic Concepts thought, in the the Light keys ofto which are distributed throughout his Received: 1 December 2020 Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajan¯ Accepted: 30 December 2020 extensive work. Commenting on Ibn ʿArabī through Ibn ʿArabī emerges as the only pos- Published: 7 January 2021 Gracia Lsibleópez-Anguita method to understand an author who is the creator of his own worldview and lan-

guage. However,Facultad de Filologit isía, also Universidad evident de Sevilla, C/Palos that de la certain Frontera s/n, 41004 pre Sevilla,-existing Spain; ideas found in authors writing Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu- before the [email protected] may have been a point of reference for him, although establishing the tral with regard to jurisdictional origin and parentageAbstract: The aim of of this a articlecertain is to trace idea the origins or ofterm some of is the always key concepts ofa Ibn risky Arabi’s undertaking. A fundamen- metaphysics and cosmology in earlier Andalusian Sufi masters. Within the context of the seminal claims in published maps and insti- tal clue is providedworks on Ibn Arabi’s logically, cosmology and by metaphysics the producedexplicit from thementions second half of the in 20th centuryhis texts of works and authors ¯ tutional affiliations. onwards and through a comparison of texts by the Sufi masters Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajan, we will that were referencesee which elements points are taken fromfor previous him, sources which, and how theyhowever, are transformed does or re-interpreted not apply where philosophers, by Ibn Arab¯ı in a philosophical-mystical system that would become the point of reference for the not Sufis, arelater concerned. Eastern and Western SufiWe tradition. can gain an idea of Ibn ʿArabī’s learning background from the first part of his Ījāza li-l-mālik al-Muẓaffar1 which reveals the fundamental role played Keywords: Sufism; al-Andalus; Ibn Arabi; metaphysics; cosmology; islamic mysticism; Ibn Masarra; by the scienceIbn Barrajof an¯the hadith in his education. Among the scholars included in this work Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. are traditionists, exegetes, philologists, writers, faqihs, judges, etc.; philosophy is absent Submitted for possible open access Citation: Landópez-Anguita, scholastic Gracia. 1. Introduction theology (kalām) has a very minor presence. The most famous example of publication under the terms and 2021. Ibn Arab¯ı’s Metaphysics in the We believe that the optimal methodology for the study and interpretation of Ibn Context of Andalusian Mysticism: the attitude thatArab¯ı’s Ibn work isʿArabī self-exegesis, showed based on a comparisontowards of his philosophy texts and on the reconstruction is probably the passage in Futūḥāt conditions of the Creative CommonsSome Akbarian Concepts in the Light of his organic and dynamic thought, the keys to which are distributed throughout his 2 Attribution (CC BY) license of Ibn Masarrathat and Ibn indirectly Barrajan.¯ alludes to Alfarabi, whilst avoiding explicitly saying his name . Religions 12: 40. https://doi.org/ extensive work. Commenting on Ibn Arab¯ı through Ibn Arab¯ı emerges as the only possible (http://creativecommons.org/li- 10.3390/rel12010040 Withoutmethod entering to understand here an author into who the is the complex creator of his own issue worldview of andthe language. relationship between Akbarian However, it is also evident that certain pre-existing ideas found in authors writing before censes/by/4.0/). Received: 1thought December 2020 andthe philosophy, mystic may have been in athe point sense of reference of for falsafa him, although of Greek establishing origin, the origin it is sufficient to quote two Accepted: 30 December 2020 and parentage of a certain idea or term is always a risky undertaking. A fundamental Published: 8 January 2021 clue is provided logically, by the explicit mentions in his texts of works and authors that were reference points for him, which, however, does not apply where philosophers, not Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu- Sufis, are concerned. We can gain an idea of Ibn Arab¯ı’s learning background from the tral with regard to jurisdictional clai- first part of his Ij¯ aza¯ li-l-malik¯ al-Muzaffar1 which reveals the fundamental role played by 1 ˙ Edited by (Badawi 1955)ms. “ inAutobibliografía published maps and institutio- the de science Ibn of ʿ theArabi hadith” in. hisAl education.-Andalus Among, XX.2, the scholars pp. 107 included–28; in thisBadawi. work are 1979. Paris; S. ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ. 1995. Cairo. A comprehensivenal affiliations. list of Ibn ʿArabītraditionists,’s works exegetes, is philologists, to be found writers, in faqihs, (Aladdin judges, etc.; et philosophy al. 2009). is absent and scholastic theology (kalam¯ ) has a very minor presence. The most famous example of the 2 “I have seen an infidel declare in a book called The ideal city (I had found this book which I had not seen previously, at the home Copyright: © 2021 by the author. Li- of an acquaintance of minecensee in MDPI, Marchena Basel, Switzerland. of the Olives had picked it up to see what it was about and came across the following chapter: ‘In this chapter IThis wish article is to an openexamine access article how to postulate [the existence of a divinity in this world’. He had not said God (Allah)! distributed under the terms and con- I was amazed and threwditions the of thebook Creative Commonsat its At- owner’s face.” (Addas 1993, p. 108 and Ibn ʿArabī 1911, III, p. 178). On the one hand, C. tribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

1 Edited by (Badawi 1955). “Autobibliografía de Ibn Arabi”. Al-Andalus, XX.2, pp. 107–28; Badawi. 1979. Paris; S. Abd al-Fatta¯h. . 1995. Cairo. A Religions 2020, 11, x; doi: FOR PEERcomprehensive REVIEW list of Ibn Arab¯ı’s works is to be found in (Aladdin et al. 2009). www.mdpi.com/journal/religions

Religions 2021, 12, 40. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12010040 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions

Article Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 14 of 20 Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Akbarian[and finally] Concepts he finds the in place the ofLight the footstool of Ibn and the place of the spirit to be permanent and encompassing. (Ibn Masarra 2007a, 93 transl. Stroumsa and Sviri Masarra and Ibn Barrajān2009, pp. 219–21)

Gracia López-Anguita [Water] descends from heaven, even though it is not manifest (ẓāhir) heaven itself today, it is therein in a non-manifest (bāṭin) manner. Just as creatures that Facultad de Filoloaregía, engend Universidadered de Sevilla, from C/ waterPalos de la are Frontera from s/n, 41004heaven Sevilla,. Spain;(Ibn Barrajān, Tanbīh, vol. 5, p. 241 [email protected]. Casewit 2014) Abstract: TheThe aim higher of this article cor respondsis to trace the (originyantas ofẓim some) to of the key lower. concepts (Ibn of Ibn Barrajān, Arabi’s Īḍāḥ in Casewit metaphysics2014, and cosmology p. 297) in earlier Andalusian Sufi masters. Within the context of the seminal works on Ibn Arabi’s cosmology and metaphysics produced from the second half of the 20th century onwards and through a comparison of texts by the Sufi masters Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān, we will seeḤaqq which, khalq elements, raqīqa are taken from previous sources and how they are transformed or re-interpreted by Ibn ʿArabī in a philosophical-mystical system that would become the point of reference ḥ for the laterOne Eastern of and the Western most Sufi seminal tradition. concepts in Ibn Barrajān’s work is al- aqq al-makhlūq bihi al- ʿālam/al-samawāt wa-l-arḍ (the truth through which is created the world / creation / the Keywords:heavens Sufism; and al-Andalus; earth orIbn TheArabi; Real metaphysics; according cosmolo togy; Creation islamic mysticism; is created) Ibn Masarra; which appears in the three Citation: López-Anguita, Gracia. Ibn Ibn Barrajānworks mentioned above. This idea, based on various Qur’anic ayahs (Q 10:15; 15:85; 44:38– ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Ak- 39) which imply that the ḥaqq is an instrument of God in creation, would find a significant Religions 2021, 12, 40 barian Concepts in the Light of Ibn echo in Ibn ʿArabī. This idea had already appeared2 of 19 in Ibn Masarra when, speaking of the Masarra and Ibn Barrajān. Religions 1. Introduction 2021, 12, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/ letter ḥā, he explained that it represents al-Ḥaqq, the Truth or Reality with which God cre- We believe that the optimal methodology for the study and interpretation of Ibn xxxxx ated the heavens and the earth (Ibn Masarra 2007b, pp. 68, 81). Truth, Ibn Masarra tells us, attitude that Ibn ʿArabīArab¯ı’s showed work is towardsself-exegesis, philosophy based on is a probably comparison the of passage his texts in andFutu ¯onh. at¯ the reconstruction is the Name through which God creates the2 seven heavens and the earth, and is based on Received: 1 Decemberthat 2020 indirectly alludesof his to organic Alfarabi, an whilstd dynamic avoiding thought, explicitly the keys saying to hiswhich name are. distributed throughout his Accepted: 30 December 2020Without enteringextensivethe here ayah work. into the “ItCommenting complex is He issuewho on Ibn of created the ʿArabī relationship through the heavens betweenIbn ʿArabī Akbarianand emerges the asearth the only in truth;pos- and the day He says falsafa Published: 7 Januarythought 2021 and philosophy,sible‘ Bemethod’ in, and the to sense itunderstand is; ofHis sayingan ofauthor Greek is who true. origin, is the And it creator is sufficient His of is his the to own quote Kingdom worldview andthe lan-day the Trumpet is blown two passages fromguage.Futu¯ h.However,at¯ that reflect it is also quite evident concisely that his certain opinion pre- ofexisting this discipline, ideas found the in authors writing Publisher’s Note:usefulness MDPI stays neu- and truthbefore of(…)” whichthe mystic(Q he 6:73) underplays may to have explain withoutbeen a that,point completely ofas reference the rejecting two for attributes it: him, although that establishing support theand hold the heavens and tral with regard to jurisdictionalPhilosopher origin meansthe and lover earth parentage of wisdomare ofal -aḥ becausecertainaqq and idea the al wordor- mulkterm Sophia is, alwayseach (Suf¯ heavena¯ıy riskya),¯ means undertaking. has a foot A stoolfundamen- (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 87). claims in published mapswisdom and insti- in Greek;tal clue“Accordingphilosophy, is provided to therefore,logically, Ibn Barraj by means thea explicitn,̄ love the of Quran,mentions wisdom. thein Everyone his universe texts of works and and mankind authors are three aspects of the tutional affiliations. that were reference points for him, which, however, does not apply where philosophers, who is endowedsame with intelligence reality (al loves-Ḥaqq wisdom.), since However, al-Ḥaqq people is everything who think .” (Küçük 2013b, p. 385). reflectively arenot wrongSufis, are more concerned. often than We theycan gain are rightan idea with of Ibn regard ʿArabī to’ divines learning background from the first partThe of hisattribute Ījāza li-l- mālikor Divine al-Muẓaffar Name1 which al- revealsḤaqq (The the fundamental Truth / The role Trueplayed / The Real) which in Ibn sciences (ilah¯ ¯ıyat¯ ), both if they are philosophers and if they are Mu tazilites or by the science of the hadith in his education. Among the scholars included in this work Copyright: © 2021 by theAsh authors.arites. (Ibn ʿArabīArab¯ı 1999a—probably,, vol. 4, pp. as 227–28) we said earlier, under the influence of Ibn Barrajān—frequently ap- are traditionists, exegetes, philologists, writers, faqihs, judges, etc.; philosophy is absent Submitted for possible openDon’t access let yourselfpears be turned linked off, when to creation, you come acrossdesignated a problem in that the was first men- exegesis the action of God in the world. It and scholastic theology (kalām) has a very minor presence. The most famous example of publication under the termstioned and by a philosopherwas used or a mutakallim as a synonym or a speculative for islām, scholar dīn, in any hudà discipline, Qur´ān and was in opposition to bāṭil (vain, conditions of the Creative Commons the attitude that Ibn ʿArabī showed towards philosophy is probably the passage in Futūḥāt of knowledge, to such an extent that you would say about the person who men- 2 Attribution (CC BY) license that useless).indirectly alludes It is also to Alfarabi, understood whilst avoiding as something explicitly saying that hisensues name .( kāín ) and indeed is considered tions it and who is a truthful insightful (muh. aqqiq) Suf¯ ¯ı that he is a philosopher, Without entering here into the complex˙ issue of the relationship between Akbarian (http://creativecommons.org/li-just because the philosophersynonymous (al-faylas withuf¯ ) the mentioned end of that the very world problem because, and dis- according to the Qur’an, it is something censes/by/4.0/). thought and philosophy, in the sense of falsafa of Greek origin, it is sufficient to quote two cussed and believed it. (And don’t say) that the (Suf¯ ¯ı that discusses it) derived it that necessarily must happen.˙ Constructed with the preposition bi in front and in combi- from the philosophers, or that he has no religion, because the philosopher who had no religion (andnation was with no Muslim) verbs stated like it create earlier. Don’tor reveal, do that it friend! has Itthe meaning that God did not create the 1 Edited by (Badawiwould 1955 be). “ anAutobibliografía inconsequentialworld for de Ibn argument.nothing ʿArabi”. ForAl(see-Andalus not Nwiya all, theXX.2, philosopher’s 1970 pp. 107, pp.–28; Badawi. 4 knowledge1–42 1979). According. Paris; S. ʿAbd to al -AkbarianFattāḥ. cosmology, we can 1995. Cairo. A comprehensiveis untrue, and list that of particularIbn ʿArabī’s problem works is mayto be justfound involve in (Aladdin some et truth al.ḥ 2009). he possesses. 2 “I have seen an infidel declare in afind book calledmultiple The ideal correspondences city (I had found this book of alwhich- aqq I had with not seen other previously, elements: at the homeTrut h equates to First Intel- ( ... ) Your statement thatʿ the philosopher has no religion does not mean thatḥ of an acquaintanceeverything of mine in he Marchena possesseslect ( ofal (in-theaql the Olives al way-awwal had of knowledge)picked), Penit up to (al is see untrue.-qalam), what it Every was Spirit about intelligent and (Rū came), across Glorious the following Throne, Evident Guide (al- chapter: ‘In this chapter I wish to examine how to postulate [the existence of a divinity in this world’. He had not said God (Allah)! person would perceiveimām al that-mubīn right away.), Interpreting (Ibn Arab¯ı Spirit1999a, vol.(mutarjim I, p. 56) and of God, Universal Spirit (Rūḥ kullī), Justice I was amazed and threw the book at its owner’s face.” (Addas 1993, p. 108 and Ibn ʿArabī 1911, III, p. 178). On the one hand, C. Rosenthal 1988, p.(ʿadl 12)), “The Truth through which Creation exists", Muḥammadan Reality, Spirit of Spirits, The influence ofand philosophy even on“every the thought thing” of the53. It master is also from alluded Murcia is to a matter symbolically as Eagle (ʿuqāb) and White Religions 2020, 11that, x; doi: has FOR been PEER discussed REVIEWPearl. at great The length.expression Philosophy al-haqq was—initially al-makhluq at bi least—officially-hi www.mdpi.com/journal/religionswhich, as we saw above, had been coined by supported by the Almohad rulers (see Fierro 2016; Fierro and Fitz 2005) and Sufism was not persecuted unlessIbn the messianicBarrajān intentions from the ofits Qur leaders’an posedayah a“We challenge created or potential not the heavens and the earth, and all that danger to the authoritiesis between (Ferhat 2005 them,). At thesave time in whentruth Ibn (alArab-ḥaqq¯ı began)” (Q his15:85), journey is adopted by Ibn ʿArabī, acknowledg- on the mystical pathing and the developed explicit his attribution doctrine, a cultured to hisSufism master, already in Futū existedḥāt in(see Ibn ʿArabī 1911, vol. 2, pp. 60, 104; Al-Andalus, personified in the outstanding figures of Ibn al- Ar¯ıf (d. 536 H/1141 CE), Ibn Barrajan¯ (d. 536vol. H/1141 3, p. CE), 77) and. Ibn Masarra (d. 319 H/931 CE). It appears that this feeling of rejection or reservationThis “Truth towards through philosophy which that wecreation see in Ibn takesArab place”¯ı was would become, in Akbarian ontol- widespread in Westernogy, Sufism a mode at this time—Ibnof expression al- Ar¯ıf wouldof the refer barzakh, to this disciplinean indispensable in doctrine to understand any his Mifta¯h. al-sa ada¯ as a “reprehensible doctrine” (madhab madmun)¯ (see Shafik 2012 and Ibn al- Ar¯ıf 1993, pp.aspect 90–91)—which of the doesthought not mean of Ibn that ʿ weArab cannotī. This find philosophicalisthmus or intermediate realm, which shares in elements in the workthe of these two mystics: realities tools that like syllogismit separates,3 and notions which such can as have the ten a temporal, spatial, ontological, and epistemological meaning, is fundamental when it comes to relating the eternal and the 2 “I have seen an infidel declare in a book called The ideal city (Icontingent had found this book or which God I had with not seen creation. previously, atThe the home following of an acquaintance excerpt explains the ambiguous nature of of mine in Marchena of the Olives had picked it up to see what it was about and came across the following chapter: ‘In this chapter I wish to examine how to postulate [the existence of a divinity in this world’.this ḥ Heaqq had notand said the God (Allah)!extent I was to amazed which and it threw is therelated book at its to owner’s the Breath of the Merciful or the Cloud, face.” (Addas 1993, p. 108 and Ibn Arab¯ı 1911, III, p. 178). On the one hand, Addas(1993, p. 109) tells us that “to this lack of knowledge of Arab philosophy we must add a blatant ignorance of Greek philosophy.”; and on the other, researchers like J. A. Pacheco Paniagua assert that “judging by his intercession53 in( theSee debate Ḥakīm on substance, 1981, accidentspp. 111 and–13; their Ibn relationship ʿArabī with 2002 continuously, p. 109) renewed. In his creation, Īḍāḥ Ibn, Ibn Arabi Barrajān raises thearguments mentions ḥaqq mubīn or kitāb mubīn rather than adduced by the former [Ash arites and Mu tazilites] and rejects them with a highly philosophical demonstration and with terminology with clear Aristotelian roots”.imām (Pacheco mubīn Paniagua (see 2019 González, p. 227, transl. Costa by the 2013, author; p. see 234) also Pacheco. Paniagua 2017). Ibn Arab¯ı would frequently return to this “philosophy-illuminative experience” dialectic and works like The alchemy of happiness or even episodes in his life such as the supposed encounter with Averroes will act as allegories on the limitations of exclusively rational thought. 3 “The test always entails a triple composition and inevitably and because of this, two isolated elements and the meeting of them make up the third aspect, which must be found in each of the two premises (muqaddimatayn) to obtain the conclusion (intaj¯ ). For example, a = b and b = c, repeating b, the proof is made up of three elements a, b and c, and the unifying aspect is b as it is repeated in the two premises. The result is a = c.” (Ibn Arab¯ı 1999a, p. 104). On the use of syllogism and other philosophical and mathematical elements in Ibn Arab¯ı, (Pacheco Paniagua 2007, 2012, transl. by the author).

Article Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Akbarian Concepts in the Light of Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 14 of 20 Gracia López-Anguita [and finally] he finds the place of the footstool and the place of the spirit to be Facultad de Filolopermanentgía, Universidad deand Sevilla, encompassing C/Palos de la Frontera. (Ibn s/n, 41004 Masarra Sevilla, Spain; 2007a, 93 transl. Stroumsa and Sviri [email protected] , pp. 219–21) Abstract: The aim[Water] of this articledescends is to trace from the origin heaven,s of some even of the though key concepts it is of not Ibn Arabimanifest’s (ẓāhir) heaven it- metaphysics andself cosmology today, in itearlier is therein Andalusian in Sufi a nonmasters.-manifest Within the (contextbāṭin )of manner. the seminal Just as creatures that works on Ibn Arabi’s cosmology and metaphysics produced from the second half of the 20th century onwards and throughare engend a comparisonered of from texts by water the Sufi are masters from Ibn Masarraheaven and. (Ibn Ibn Barrajān, Barrajān, we Tanbīh, vol. 5, p. 241 will see which elementstransl. areCasewit taken from 2014) previous sources and how they are transformed or re-interpreted by Ibn ʿArabī in a philosophical-mystical system that would become the point of reference for the later EasternThe and higher Western cor Sufiresponds tradition. (yantaẓim) to the lower. (Ibn Barrajān, Īḍāḥ in Casewit 2014, p. 297) Keywords: Sufism; al-Andalus; Ibn Arabi; metaphysics; cosmology; islamic mysticism; Ibn Masarra; Citation: López-Anguita, Gracia. Ibn Ibn BarrajānḤaqq , khalq, raqīqa ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context Religions 2021, 12, 40 of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Ak- One of the most seminal concepts3 of 19in Ibn Barrajān’s work is al-ḥaqq al-makhlūq bihi al- barian Concepts in the Light of Ibn ʿālam/al-samawāt wa-l-arḍ (the truth through which is created the world / creation / the Masarra and Ibn Barrajān. Religions 1. Introduction 2021, 12, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/ heavens and earth or The Real according to Creation is created) which appears in the three Aristotelian categories4 (maq¯ ul¯ at¯ ), “generationWe believe and that corruption” the optimal5 (al-takw methodology¯ın wa-l-fas forad/genesos¯ the study and interpretation of Ibn xxxxx kai fthoras), ﬁrst intellect6 (al-ʿArabīaql al-awwal’sworks work), is etc., mentionedself can-exegesis, be found based above. clearly, on a This tocomparison a greater idea, or ofbased lesserhis texts on and various on the reconstruction Qur’anic ayahs (Q 10:15; 15:85; 44:38–

Received:degree, 1 December in the 2020 work of Ibn ofArab his¯ı. organic39 The) which works and dynamic through imply whichthatthought, the Aristotelian the ḥaqq keys is toan and, which instrument above are distributed of God throughout in creation, his would find a significant all, Neoplatonic concepts and doctrines entered Al-Andalus mayʿ have been not strictlyʿ Accepted: 30 December 2020 extensiveecho work. in Commenting Ibn ʿArabī. on This Ibn Arabīidea throughhad already Ibn Arabī appeared emerges as in the Ibn only Masarra pos- when, speaking of the Published:philosophical 7 January but2021 rather theosophicalsible method in nature, to understand such as the anEpistles author of who the Brethrenis the creator of Purity of .his own worldview and lan- ḥ 7 Ḥ The master cited the mostguage. times However,letter in Fut u¯āh. it,at¯ heisis also Abexplainedu ¯evident Madyan that that(d. certain 594 it represents H/1194pre-existing CE), ideas aal- aqqfound, the in authors Truth writing or Reality with which God cre- Publisher’sshepherd Note: from MDPI the stays town neu- of Cantillanabefore theated mystic in the Seville, mayheavens who have gained been and a enormousthe point earth of reference recognition (Ibn Masarra for ashim, although 2007b, establishingpp. 68, 81). the Truth, Ibn Masarra tells us, trala spiritualwith regard to master jurisdictional in the Islamicorigin West. andis the parentage His Name written of through worka certain comprises idea which or term poetry, God is always prayers, creates a risky an the undertaking. seven heavens A fundamen- and the earth, and is based on claimsinitiation in published manual maps and (Bid insti-ayat¯ al-murtal ¯ıdclue), and is provided a creed ( aq logically,¯ıda), i.e., devotionalby the explicit and mentions wisdom works in his texts of works and authors tutionalbut not affiliations. speculative writings.that Ibn wereArabthe reference ¯ıayah provides “Itpoints ais brief forHe biographyhim, who which, created of however, the Andalusianthe does heavens not apply and where the philosophers, earth in truth; and the day He says 8 masters of whom he was a directnot discipleSufis,‘Be are’ in, andconcerned. his R u¯ith. al-Qudsis; WeHis can, asaying work gain writtenan is idea true. asof an Ibn And apologia ʿArabī His’s learningis the Kingdombackground thefrom day the Trumpet is blown for Western Sufism in the facethe offirst Eastern part of Sufismhis Ījāza which li-l-mālik may al- wellMuẓaffar be interpreted1 which reveals as a the fundamental role played (…)” (Q 6:73) to explain that, as the two attributes that support and hold the heavens and declaration of intent in favorby of the an science illiterate of but the authentic hadith in Sufismhis education. as opposed Among to a the more scholars included in this work Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. the earth are al-ḥaqq and al-mulk, each heaven has a footstool (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 87). bookish and speculative yet superficialare traditionists, one. It couldexegetes, be said, philologists, therefore, writers, that the Sufifaqihs, masters judges, etc.; philosophy is absent Submitted for possible open access who receive greater and moreand explicit scholastic“According recognition theology from to (kal Ibn ām) Arab Barrajhas a¯ı areveryan,̄ those minor the who, Quran, presence. a priori, the The universe most famous and example mankind of are three aspects of the publicationlack education under the terms and and philosophical intention. conditions of the Creative Commons the attitudesame that reality Ibn ʿArabī (al showed-Ḥaqq), towards since alphilosophy-Ḥaqq is is everything probably the .”passage (Küçük in Futū 2013bḥāt , p. 385). Theology (kalam¯ ) was also considered by Sheikh al-akbar to be a limited science which, 2 Attribution (CC BY) license that indirectly alludes to Alfarabi, whilst avoiding explicitly saying his name . in trying to defend religion from attacks basedThe onattribute rationalist or arguments, Divine Name had resorted al-Ḥaqq to (The Truth / The True / The Real) which in Ibn (http://creativecommons.org/li- Without entering here into the complex issue of the relationship between Akbarian using the same tool to respond (Ibn ʿArabīArab¯ı 1972—probably,, pp. 34–36). Aas theologian we said of earlier, the stature under of the influence of Ibn Barrajān—frequently ap- censes/by/4.0/). thought and philosophy, in the sense of falsafa of Greek origin, it is sufficient to quote two Ghazal¯ ¯ı (d. 1111 CE), however, is inevitablypears presentlinked in to the creation, work of Ibn designated Arab¯ı. His presence in the first exegesis the action of God in the world. It is controversial at times because he reproaches him for his speculative arguments about God and His Names and Attributes,was thus used revealing as a significant synonym differences for islām, between dīn, thehudà, Qur´ān and was in opposition to bāṭil (vain, 1 Edited by (Badawi 1955). “Autobibliografía de Ibn ʿArabi”. Al-Andalus, XX.2, pp. 107–28; Badawi. 1979. Paris; S. ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ. two thinkers. He is, in fact, the theologianuseless). who probablyIt is also had understood the greatest influence as something on his that ensues (kāín) and indeed is considered 1995. Cairo. A comprehensive list of Ibn ʿArabī’s works is to be found in (Aladdin et al. 2009). metaphysics9. 2 “I have seen an infidel declare in a booksynonymous called The ideal city with (I had the found end this of book the which world I had because,not seen previously, according at the home to the Qur’an, it is something Regarding the self-affiliation of Ibn Arab¯ı to a specific discipline, W. Chittick (Chittick of an acquaintance of mine in Marchenathat of thenecessarily Olives had picked must it uphappen. to see what Constructed it was about and with came acrossthe preposition the following bi in front and in combi- 2020chapter:) states ‘In thatthis chapter he never I wish referred to examine to himself how to aspostulate a Sufi—a [the termexistence widely of a divinity used by in modernthis world’. He had not said God (Allah)! scholars—andI was amazed that and “hethrew can the be book considered at itsnation owner the greatest’swith face.” (Addas ofverbs all Muslim 1993 like, p. philosophers,create108 and Ibnor ʿ Arabīreveal, provided 1911, itIII, hasp. 178). the On meaningthe one hand, that C. God did not create the we understand philosophy in the broad,world modern for nothing sense and (see not simplyNwiya as 1970 the discipline, pp. 41–42). According to Akbarian cosmology, we can of falsafa”. The term Sufi, however, is explicitly mentioned in the introduction to Futu¯hat¯ find multiple correspondences of al-ḥaqq. with other elements: Truth equates to First Intel- Religions(in the 2020 fragment, 11, x; doi: quoted FOR PEER above) REVIEW in which he asserts that the fact that a philosopher and www.mdpi.com/journal/religions a realized Sufi (s.uf¯ ¯ı muh. aqqiq) may concurlect ( onal- someʿaql al matters-awwal does), Pen not mean (al-qalam), that the latter Spirit (Rūḥ), Glorious Throne, Evident Guide (al- derived from the former. It is logicalimām to think al-mubīn that Ibn), InterpretingArab¯ı included Spirit himself ( inmutarjim that ) of God, Universal Spirit (Rūḥ kullī), Justice category of s.uf¯ ¯ı muh. aqqiq and, indeed, his own disciples considered that to be the case, for ḥ example, Abd al-Gan¯ı al-Nabulus¯ ¯ı (d.(ʿadl 1143), “The H/1731 Truth CE) (Al-N throughabulus¯ ¯ıwhich 1995, pp. Creation 137–38). exists", Mu ammadan Reality, Spirit of Spirits, 53 The muh. aqqiq is regarded in anotherand passage even in the“every same workthing” as a higher. It is levelalso within alluded to symbolically as Eagle (ʿuqāb) and White the category of Sufi: “I mean by ourPearl. companions The expression the possessors al of-haqq hearts, al- witnessingsmakhluq bi-hi which, as we saw above, had been coined by and unveilings, not the worshippers (al- ubbad¯ ), nor the pious renouncers (al-zuhhad¯ ), nor the Sufis without restriction -only thoseIbn amongBarrajān them from who arethe the Qur people’an ofay realitiesah “We and created not the heavens and the earth, and all that 10 verification (tah. q¯ıq)” (see Ibn Arab¯ı is1972 between, p. 261 in them, Chittick save 1989, in p. 392)truth. (al-ḥaqq)” (Q 15:85), is adopted by Ibn ʿArabī, acknowledging the explicit attribution to his master, in Futūḥāt (see Ibn ʿArabī 1911, vol. 2, pp. 60, 104; vol. 3, p. 77). This “Truth through which creation takes place” would become, in Akbarian ontology, a mode of expression of the barzakh, an indispensable doctrine to understand any aspect of the thought of Ibn ʿArabī. This isthmus or intermediate realm, which shares in 4 (Ibn Arab¯ı 1911, v. III, p. 10 and Chittick 1998, p. 360). 5 (Ibn Arab¯ı 1919, p. 71). the two realities that it separates, which can have a temporal, spatial, ontological, and 6 (Ibn Arab¯ı 1919, pp. 72, 74). epistemological meaning, is fundamental when it comes to relating the eternal and the 7 See Cornell(1996). The Way of Ab u¯ Madyan. Doctrinal and Poetic Works of Abu¯ Madyan Shu ayb ibn al-Husayn al-Ansar¯ ¯ı (c. 509/1115-16-594/1198). contingent or God˙ with. creation. The following excerpt explains the ambiguous nature of Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society. 8 Ru¯h. al-quds f¯ı muh. asabat¯ al-nafs. 2004. Edited by Ali b. Ahmad Sasi. Tunis: Dar¯ this al-kutub ḥaqq li-l-kit andab.¯ Translated the extent by Asín Palaciosto which in 1933 it as Vidasis related de to the Breath of the Merciful or the Cloud, santones andaluces: la “Epístola de la santidad” de Ibn Arab¯ı de Murcia, Madrid: Estanislao Mestre; English translation together with Al-durrat al-Fakhira¯ by R. W. J. Austin, 1971. Sufis of Andalusia: the R uh ¯ . al-Quds and the Dhurrat al-f akhira¯ , London: Allen and Unwin. 9 See (Zine 2004; Nakamura 199453; Addas (See 1993 Ḥ, pp.akīm 102–3). 1981, pp. 111–13; Ibn ʿArabī 2002, p. 109). In his Īḍāḥ, Ibn Barrajān mentions ḥaqq mubīn or kitāb mubīn rather than 10 Unlike Ibn Masarra or Ibn Barrajan,¯ imām Ibn Arab mubīn¯ı did consider (see IbnGonzález al- Ar¯ıf a muh Costa. aqqiq. See2013, (Addas p. 1992234), p.. 926).

Article Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Akbarian Concepts in the Light of Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān

Gracia López-Anguita

Religions 2021, 12, 40 4 of 19 Facultad de Filología, Universidad de Sevilla, C/Palos de la Frontera s/n, 41004 Sevilla, Spain; [email protected]

Abstract:2. Ibn Masarra The aim of this article is to trace the origins of some of the key concepts of Ibn Arabi’s metaphysics2.1. Cosmogony, and Languagecosmology and in earlier Prime Andalusian Matter Sufi masters. Within the context of the seminal works on Ibn Arabi’s cosmology and metaphysics produced from the second half of the 20th century Ibn Masarra al-Jabal¯ı, from Córdoba, (d. 319 H/ 931 CE) is considered to be the onwards and through a comparison of texts by the Sufi masters Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān, we first Sufi and, in general terms, the first speculative thinker in Al-Andalus. Although it will see which elements are taken from previous sources and how they are transformed or re-inter- was underpinned by Eastern foundations, Western Sufism, “in contradistinction to the preted by Ibn ʿArabī in a philosophical-mystical system that would become the point of reference psychologically-oriented and ethically-minded Sufi tradition that developed in the East, for the later Eastern and Western Sufi tradition. the discourse of Ibn Masarra and his Andalus¯ı heirs can be defined as “theosophical”, not in the modern-spiritual sense of the word, but rather as it is used in the academic study of Keywords: Sufism; al-Andalus; Ibn Arabi; metaphysics; cosmology; islamic mysticism; Ibn Masarra; Kabbalah” (Ebstein 2020, p. 41). In his indispensable Mysticism and Philosophy in al-Andalus, Citation: López-Anguita, Gracia. Ibn EbsteinIbn Barrajān (Ebstein 2014) argues that the flourishing of Sufism and Kabbalah in Spain in the ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context 12th and 13th centuries is largely explained by the presence of the Ismaili tradition in the of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Ak- neighbouring lands of Africa where the Fatimid dynasty had established itself. Ismaili barian Concepts in the Light of Ibn literature comprised the middle link between Eastern Neoplatonism, Hermeticism, and Masarra and Ibn Barrajān. Religions Pythagoreanism1. Introduction and the Andalusian mystics. One of the arguments advanced by Ebstein 2021, 12, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/ (EbsteinWe 2014 believe, pp. that 10, the 11) optimal11 in favor methodology of Shiite Ismaili for the influence study and on Ibn interpretation Masarra and of Ibn Ibn xxxxx ʿArabīArab¯ı’ iss work the fact is self that-exegesis, they were based accused on a of comparison being Shiites of byhis sometexts authors,and on the most reconstruction notably Ibn

Received: 1 December 2020 Khaldof his un¯organic (d. 808 an H/1406d dynamic CE). thought, Caution the should keys be to exercised which are when distributed evaluating throughout accusations his Accepted: 30 December 2020 ofextensive this type work. because, Commenting as Alexander on Ibn Knysh ʿArabī (Knysh through 1999 Ibn) showed, ʿArabī emerges the controversy as the only against pos- Published: 7 January 2021 IbnsibleArab method¯ı occurred to understand after his an death author and who was is instigated the creator mainly of his byown Ibn world Taymiyyaview and and, lan- as regardsguage. However, Ibn Khald itun,¯ is also Knysh evident maintains that certain that the pre Tunisian’s-existing stanceideas found towards in authors Sufism becamewriting Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu- morebefore radical, the mystic probably may forhave political been a reasons,point of while reference he was for holdinghim, although important establishing official posts the tral with regard to jurisdictional inorigin Egypt. and In parentage addition, of some a certain of the idea Akbarian or term doctrinesis always criticiseda risky undertaking. by Ibn Khald A fundamen-un¯ such as claims in published maps and insti- Mahdism,tal clue is wereprovided taken logically, not from by Ibn theArab explicit¯ı directly, mentions but from in his supposed texts of disciplesworks and of hisauthors such 12 tutional affiliations. asthat Ibn were Ab¯ı reference Watil¯ . points for him, which, however, does not apply where philosophers, not Sufis,Leaving are asideconcerned. the extent We can of Fatimid gain an political idea of Ibn influence ʿArabī in’s learning the Islamic background West, the truthfrom isthe that first Ismaili part of doctrines his Ījāza li spread-l-mālik throughout al-Muẓaffar1 al-Andalus which reveals due the to fundamental the early arrival role ofplayed both

theby theEpistles science of the of Brethrenthe hadith of Purityin his (c.education. between Among C9 and the C11 scholars CE)—which included were in introduced, this work Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. accordingare traditionists, to the ideaexegetes, most widelyphilologists, accepted writers, by researchers, faqihs, judges, by al-Majr etc.; philosophy¯ıt.¯ı (d. c. 468 is H/1007 absent Submitted for possible open access 13 CE)and scholastic—and from theology the corpus (kalām of alchemical) has a very texts minor attributed presence. to JTheabir¯ most b. Hayy famousan¯ (d. example 200 H/815 of publication under the terms and ˙ CE?)—athe attitude set ofthat treatises Ibn ʿArabī that showed are also heavilytowards steeped philosophy in Shiite, is probably specifically the Qarmationpassage in Futū Ismaili,ḥāt conditions of the Creative Commons 14 ideology . 2 Attribution (CC BY) license that indirectly alludes to Alfarabi, whilst avoiding explicitly saying his name . Two works by Ibn Massara have survived to this day: The Epistle on Interpretation15 and (http://creativecommons.org/li- Without entering here into the complex issue of the relationship between Akbarian The Book of the Properties of Letters, Their True Nature And Their Origin16. It is in this domain, censes/by/4.0/). thought and philosophy, in the sense of falsafa of Greek origin, it is sufficient to quote two the Science of Letters, that Ibn Arab¯ı acknowledges his debt to Ibn Masarra without referring to any specific titles (Stroumsa 2016), while also recognising his reservations regarding this discipline. There is at least one explicit mention of the Book of The Properties 1 Edited by (Badawi 1955). “Autobibliografía de Ibn ʿArabi”. Al-Andalus, XX.2, pp. 107–28; Badawi. 1979. Paris; S. ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ. of Letters in Futu¯hat¯ when he puts forward the idea of the Kaaba and the black stone as 1995. Cairo. A comprehensive list of Ibn ʿArabī’s. works is to be found in (Aladdin et al. 2009). interpreters of the various levels of Revelation, an idea which, however, does not appear in 2 “I have seen an infidel declare in a book called The ideal city (I had found this book which I had not seen previously, at the home the version of Ibn Masarra’s text that has reached us (Stroumsa 2016, p. 87). of an acquaintance of mine in Marchena of the Olives had picked it up to see what it was about and came across the following Abenmasarra y su escuela chapter: ‘In this chapter I wish to examineEver since how Asto postulateín Palacios [the published existence of a divinity in this world’. He(As hadín not Palacios said God 1914 (Allah)!) and I was amazed and threw the bookattributed at its owner to the’s philosopherface.” (Addas from1993, p. C ó108rdoba and Ibn an intellectualʿArabī 1911, III, affiliation p. 178). On with thethe one workhand, ofC. the Pseudo-Empedocles, Ibn Masarra has been associated with many currents of thought: Mu tazilisim, Ba¯t.inism, Neoplatonism, Sufism, Ismailism, etc., even after his manuscripts— Religions 2020, 11, x; doi: FOR PEER REVIEWwhich were considered lost—were discovered in the seventies.www.mdpi.com/journal/religions The rejection of Asín Palacios’s hypothesis by most Arabists during the 20th century has given way to recog-

11 See also (De Callataÿ 2014–15, Brown 2006; Al-Affifi 1964 and Tornero Poveda 1985). 12 On Ibn Khaldun’s¯ position on Sufism (Knysh 1999, pp. 184–97). 13 Fierro(1996) maintains that they were introduced even earlier by Ab u¯ l-Qasim¯ Maslama b. Qasim¯ al-Qurt.ub¯ı, (353 H/964 CE). See Fierro, Ba¯.tinism in al-Andalus, pp. 106–8. On Jabir¯ ibn Hayyan¯ see (Lory 1989). ˙ 14 See Lory(2004). Alchimie et mystique en Terre dÍslam. Paris: Gallimard. 15 Critical editions in (Kenny 2002 and Ibn Masarra 2007a). 16 See English translation of the former in (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009), Spanish translation in (Garrido Clemente 2008c) and a summary of the contents of the latter in (Tornero Poveda 1993). Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 14 of 20

[and finally] he finds the place of the footstool and the place of the spirit to be permanent and encompassing. (Ibn Masarra 2007a, 93 transl. Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, pp. 219–21)

[Water] descends from heaven, even though it is not manifest (ẓāhir) heaven it- ṭ Article self today, it is therein in a non-manifest (bā in) manner. Just as creatures that are engendered from water are from heaven. (Ibn Barrajān, Tanbīh, vol. 5, p. 241 Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Contexttransl. Casewitof Andalusian 2014) Mysticism: Some Akbarian ConceptsThe in higher the corLightresponds of Ibn(yanta ẓim) to the lower. (Ibn Barrajān, Īḍāḥ in Casewit Masarra and Ibn Barrajān 2014, p. 297)

Gracia López-Anguita Ḥaqq, khalq, raqīqa One of the most seminal concepts in Ibn Barrajān’s work is al-ḥaqq al-makhlūq bihi al- Facultad de Filología, Universidad de Sevilla, C/Palos de la Frontera s/n, 41004 Sevilla, Spain; [email protected] ʿālam/al-samawāt wa-l-arḍ (the truth through which is created the world / creation / the heavens and earth or The Real according to Creation is created) which appears in the three Abstract: The aim of this article isworks to trace mentioned the origins of some above. of the This key concepts idea, based of Ibn Arabi on various’s Qur’anic ayahs (Q 10:15; 15:85; 44:38– Religions 2021, 12, 40 metaphysics and cosmology in earlier Andalusian Sufi masters. Within the context5 of 19 of the seminal works on Ibn Arabi’s cosmology and39 )metaphysics which imply produced that from the the ḥsecondaqq is half an of instrumentthe 20th century of God in creation, would find a significant onwards and through a comparisonecho of texts in Ibnby the ʿArabī. Sufi masters This Ibn idea Masarra had and already Ibn Barrajān, appeared we in Ibn Masarra when, speaking of the will see which elements are takenletter from previous ḥā, he sour explainedces and how that they are it transformedrepresents or real--inter-Ḥaqq, the Truth or Reality with which God cre- nition from a significant strand of studies over the last decade that, beyond the influence preted by Ibn ʿArabī in a philosophicalated- mysticalthe heavens system that and would the become earth the(Ibn point Masarra of reference 2007 b, pp. 68, 81). Truth, Ibn Masarra tells us, of Empedoclesfor orthe pseudo-Empedocles, later Eastern and Western As Sufiín was tradition. right in associating Ibn Masarra with Neoplatonic doctrines. The elements of the cosmosis the asName it appears through in Ibn Masarra’swhich God work creates are the seven heavens and the earth, and is based on arranged in tiers, contemplation of which can allow humans to ascend through them and Keywords: Sufism; al-Andalus; Ibnthe Arabi; ayah metaphysics; “It is He cosmolo whogy; icreatedslamic mysticism; the heavens Ibn Masarra; and the earth in truth; and the day He says bear witness to the great chain that unites beings to the final link, the creator: Citation: López-Anguita, Gracia. Ibn Ibn Barrajān ‘Be’, and it is; His saying is true. And His is the Kingdom the day the Trumpet is blown ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the ContextThe world, then, with all its creatures and signs is a ladder (daraj) by which those Religions 2020, 11, xof FOR Andalusian PEER REVIEWMysticism: Somewho Ak- contemplate ascend to the greatest(…)” signs (Q of 6:73) God on to high. explain He who that, climbs, 5as of the20 two attributes that support and hold the heavens and barian Concepts in the Light ofmust Ibn climb from the lower to the higher.the They earth climb are by al means-ḥaqq of and the intellectsal-mulk, each heaven has a footstool (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 87). Masarra and Ibn Barrajān. Religions[…][ ... Thereupon ] Thereupon1. Introduction you will you find will your find Lord your and Lord Creator; and Creator; you will you meet will Him meet in ̄ your- Him in 2021, 12, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/ “According to Ibn Barrajan, the Quran, the universe and mankind are three aspects of the selfyourself.. (Stroumsa (Stroumsa Weand believeSviri and 2009, Sviri that p .2009 the224) optimal, p. 224) methodology for the study and interpretation of Ibn xxxxx same reality (al-Ḥaqq), since al-Ḥaqq is everything.” (Küçük 2013b, p. 385). ForFor Ibn Ibn ʿArabī,ʿArabīArab in¯ı,’s inawork similar a similar is self way- wayexegesis, to toIbn Ibn basedMasa Masarra,r onra, athe comparison the world world is is “arrangedof “arranged his texts inand indegrees on degrees the reconstruction (marātib)” and this orderly and hierarchical arrangementThe ofattribute the cosmos or is specificallyDivine Name what al-Ḥaqq (The Truth / The True / The Real) which in Ibn Received: 1 December 2020(mar atib¯ )” andof this his orderly organic and and hierarchical dynamic thought, arrangement the keys of the to cosmos which isare specifically distributed what throughout his makes it intelligible to human beings (see Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p. 95), but with no “occasional Accepted: 30 December makes2020 it intelligibleextensive to humanwork. Commenting beings (Ibn ʿonArabīArab Ibn¯ı 1919 ʿ—Arabīprobably,, p. through 95), but Ibn withas ʿArabīwe no “occasionalsaid emerges earlier, as or the under only pos- the influence of Ibn Barrajān—frequently ap- or causal succession” between its elements (Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p. 49). On this subject, how- Published: 7 January 2021causal succession”sible method between to its understand elements (Ibn anpears authorArab ¯ılinked 1919who, is p. theto 49). creatorcreation, On this of subject, his designated own however, worldview in theand lan-first exegesis the action of God in the world. It ever,Ibn IbnArab ʿArabī¯ı explains: explains: guage. However, it is also evidentwas that used certain as prea synonym-existing ideas for found islām, in authors dīn, hudà writing, Qur´ān and was in opposition to bāṭil (vain, Publisher’s Note: MDPI staysWe Weneu- have have beenbefore been silent silentthe withmystic with regard regardmay haveto toexplaining explaining been a point the the true of true reference nature nature of for ofthe thehim, causes causes although so so establishing the tral with regard to jurisdictionalthatthat anyone anyoneorigin who who and speculates speculates parentage on on ofthem thema certain will willuseless). not idea not imagine or imagine term It thatis is that alwaysalso we we are understood area amongrisky among undertaking. those those as something A fundamen- that ensues (kāín) and indeed is considered claims in published maps andwho whoinsti- attribute attributetal clue the the actionis actionprovided to tosomeone someone logically, other other synonymousby than the than explicitGod God or or mentionsthose thosewith who whothe in attribute his attributeend texts of the of thethe works world and authorsbecause, according to the Qur’an, it is something tutional affiliations. actionaction to toGod,that God, associatingwere associating reference the thecausespoints causes tofor Him. thathim, to Him. […] which,necessarily He [ ... createshowever,] He the createsmust does thing nothappen. the by applyway thing of where by Constructed philosophers, with the preposition bi in front and in combi- a causeway ofif aHenot cause wants Sufis, if to, Heare or wantsconcerned. if He to,does or We not if Hecan want does gain to, not anHe idea wantdoes of n to, otIbn Hecreate ʿArabī does a ’causes not learning create for background from the first part of his Ījāza li-l-māliknation al-Mu ẓwithaffar1 whichverbs reveals like thecreate fundamental or reveal, role playedit has the meaning that God did not create the it, abecause cause forin His it, becausewisdom inHe His has wisdom already planned He hasalready to create planned it in this to way, create as we itin explained earlier.by the scienceAnd it isof impossible the hadith forin hisit to education. be otherwise, Among because the itscholars is impos- included in this work Copyright: © 2021 by the authors.this way, as we explained earlier. Andworld it is impossible for nothing for it (see to be Nwiya otherwise, 1970, pp. 41–42). According to Akbarian cosmology, we can are traditionists, exegetes, philologists, writers, faqihs, judges, etc.; philosophy is absent Submitted for possible opensible accessbecause for a thing it is impossible to be different for afrom thing how tofind it be is different knownmultiple [by from God].correspondences how For it isthis known reason, [by of al-ḥaqq with other elements: Truth equates to First Intel- and scholastic theology (kalām) has a very minor presence. The most famous example of publication under the termswe andGod]. have not For made this reason, special we mention have notof anything madelect special (relatingal-ʿaql mention to al the-awwal causal of anything), relationship Pen relating (al-qalam), Spirit (Rūḥ), Glorious Throne, Evident Guide (al- conditions of the Creative Commonsbetweento the causalthethe Pen attitude relationship and the that Tablet Ibn between ʿArabī because theshowed Penit has andtowards already the Tablet philosophy been because discussed is itprobably has by alreadythose the passage in Futūḥāt 2 Attribution (CC BY) license whobeen support discussedthat the indirectly Revealed by those alludes Law, who the supportto Alfarabi,Peopleimām the of whilstTruth, Revealed al-mubīn avoidingwho Law, consider), theexplicInterpreting People theitly adherents saying of Truth, Spirithis name (mutarjim. ) of God, Universal Spirit (Rūḥ kullī), Justice (http://creativecommons.org/li-ofwho [the considerdoctrine]Without the of adherents"the enteringcause ofand [thehere the doctrine] intocaused”(ʿadl the), ofcomplex to“The “the be ungodly. cause Truth issue and of (Ibnthrough the ʿ caused”relationshipArabī 1919,which to be between Creation Akbarian exists", Muḥammadan Reality, Spirit of Spirits, censes/by/4.0/). thought and philosophy, in the sense of falsafa of Greek origin, it is sufficient to quote two p. ungodly.81) (Ibn Arab¯ı 1919, p. 81) and even “every thing”53. It is also alluded to symbolically as Eagle (ʿuqāb) and White TwoTwo of ofthe the fundamental fundamental elements elements of ofthe thePearl. Ibn Ibn Masarra Masarra’sThe expression’s cosmogony cosmogony alare,- are,haqq on on the al the -onemakhluq one bi-hi which, as we saw above, had been coined by hand, hand, Prime Prime or or Universal Universal Matter Matter (habā (hab a¯ ᾿ ) and,) and, on on the the other, other, the the Word Word or or Logos Logos (kalima (ka- ). 1 Edited by (BadawilimaIn). Ibn In1955 Masarra’sIbn). “ MaAutobibliografíasarra emanationist’s emanationist de Ibn system, ʿArabi system,” the. Al first-theIbnAndalus first hypostasisBarrajān, hypostasisXX.2, pp. was from 107 was formed–28; theformed Badawi. ofQur “an of1979’ an“an intelligible,. Paris;ay intel-ah S. “WeʿAbd al created-Fattāḥ. not the heavens and the earth, and all that 1995. Cairo. Aligible, comprehensiveintangible intangible prime list prime Matterof Ibn ʿMatterArabī ( uns’urs (works),ʿun coeternalṣur is), tocoeternal be with found God, within (Aladdin from God, which fromet al. God2009).which made God all made particular allḥ 2 . is between them, save in truth (al- aqq)” (Q 15:85), is adopted by Ibn ʿArabī, acknowledg- “I have seen particulaanbeings infidel r arise”declare beings ( Loryin arise” a book 2006 (see called, p. Lory 834), The 2006, ideal which cityp. is834 (I alsohad), which found identified is this also book with identified which letters: I hadwith not letters: seen previously, at the home of an acquaintance of mine in Marchena of the Olives had pickeding it the up to explicit see what itattribution was about and to came his across master, the following in Futū ḥāt (see Ibn ʿArabī 1911, vol. 2, pp. 60, 104; chapter: ‘In this chapterSahlSahl alI wish- al-TustarTustarī to examine said:¯ı said: Letters how Letters to postulateare are the the Primordial [the Primordialvol. existence 3, Dust p. Dustof a77) (divinityal (-al-hab.habā ᾿)ina¯ and this) and worldthe the origin’ origin. He had of of not said God (Allah)! I was amazed andthings threwthings andthe and book the the beginningat beginningits owner of’s oftheirface. their” creation. (Addas creation. 1993 From From, p. them108 them and was wasIbn created ʿArabī created 1911,order order III, and andp. 178).the the On the one hand, C. dominiondominion became became manifest.” manifest.” (Ibn (Ibn Masarra Masarra 2007 2007bThisb, pp., pp. “Truth62– 62–63)63) through which creation takes place” would become, in Akbarian ontol- TheThe letter letter hā᾿h ais¯ theis the Primordial Primordial Dust, Dust, it is it theogy, is the totality totalitya mode of ofletters, letters, of fromexpression from which which things things of the barzakh, an indispensable doctrine to understand any Religions 2020, 11, x; doi:are FORare created. PEER created. REVIEW It is It islocated located below below kunkun. (Ibn.(Ibn Masarraaspect Masarra 2007of 2007b theb, p. , thought68) p. 68) of www.mdpi.com/journal/religionsIbn ʿArabī. This isthmus or intermediate realm, which shares in WithoutWithout assigning assigning it itsuch such a a central central value valuethe in thetwo genesisgenesis realities ofof creationcreation that as asit Ibn Ibnseparates, Masarra, Masarra, Ibn which can have a temporal, spatial, ontological, and Ibn ʿArabī speaks cryptically and succinctly in his work of a Supreme Element (ʿunṣur17 Arab¯ı speaks cryptically and succinctly in his work of a Supreme Element ( uns.ur a zam) , 17 epistemological meaning, is fundamental˙ when it comes to relating the eternal and the aʿẓwhicham) , which may well may relate well torelate that to of that his predecessorof his predecessor from C fromórdoba: Córdoba: “[The Supreme Element] kept in the mostcontingent hidden of the or hidden God (...)with is thecreation. most The following excerpt explains the ambiguous nature of “[The Supreme Element] kept in the most hidden of the hidden (...) is the most perfect of created beings and were we notthis to ḥ haveaqq anda pact the of concealment extent to thatwhich it is related to the Breath of the Merciful or the Cloud, perfect of created beings and were we not to have a pact of concealment that prevents prevents us us from from explaining explaining its essential reality, reality, we we would would speak speak more more extensively extensively about it, showing how all creation (mā siwà Allāh) is united to it.” (Ibn 53about (See it, showingḤakīm 1981 how, all pp creation. 111–13; (ma¯ Ibn siwà ʿAllArabīah¯ ) is 2002 united, p. to 109) it.” (.Ibn In hisArab Īḍ¯ıāḥ, Ibn Barrajān mentions ḥaqq mubīn or kitāb mubīn rather than ʿArabī1919 ,1919, p. 50) p. 50) “We haveimām made mubīn the (seecentre González [of the Universe] Costa 2013,the receptacle p. 234) .of the Supreme Ele- ment as a warning that the higher rules over the lower.”18 (Ibn ʿArabī 1972, v. II, p. 317) 19 Ḥ 17 This Element, which is closely related to water and the Divine Name al- ayy al- Regarding this see López Anguita, Gracia (López-Anguita 2018). “Notas en torno al concepto de Elemento Supremo ( uns.ur a zam) en Ibn Arab¯ı y ˙ su escuela” in Ibn Arabi y su épocaQayyūm. Edited by (The G. L óLivingpez-Anguita. One; University the Self- ofSubsisting), Seville. is needed to produce life in creation and for the step from potential to action:

17 Regarding this see López Anguita, Gracia (López-Anguita 2018). “Notas en torno al concepto de Elemento Supremo (ʿunṣur aʿẓam) en Ibn ʿArabī y su escuela” in Ibn Arabi y su época. Edited by G. López-Anguita. University of Seville. 18 Cf. this idea with Ibn Masarra, Risālat al-iʿtibār: “(…) the one who brings them together despite their differences and makes them perform contrary to their nature must be above them, encompassing them, higher and greater than them.”; “the testimony of innate knowledge requires that he who governs them should be above them and encompass them.” (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 220). 19 See the cosmogonic importance of water in Risālat al-iʿtibār by Ibn Masarra: “The first thing to be created was the Throne and the water” (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 224).

Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 14 of 20

[and finally] he finds the place of the footstool and the place of the spirit to be permanent and encompassing. (Ibn Masarra 2007a, 93 transl. Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, pp. 219–21) [Water] descends from heaven, even though it is not manifest (ẓāhir) heaven itself today, it is therein in a non-manifest (bāṭin) manner. Just as creatures that are engendered from water are from heaven. (Ibn Barrajān, Tanbīh, vol. 5, p. 241 transl. Casewit 2014) The higher corresponds (yantaẓim) to the lower. (Ibn Barrajān, Īḍāḥ in Casewit 2014, p. 297)

Ḥaqq, khalq, raqīqa

One of the most seminal concepts in Ibn Barrajān’s work is al-ḥaqq al-makhlūq bihi al- ʿ ḍ Article ālam/al-samawāt wa-l-ar (the truth through which is created the world / creation / the heavens and earth or The Real according to Creation is created) which appears in the three Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Contextworks of mentionedAndalusian above. This idea, based on various Qur’anic ayahs (Q 10:15; 15:85; 44:38– Mysticism: Some Akbarian Concepts in39 )the which Light imply ofthat Ibn the ḥ aqq is an instrument of God in creation, would find a significant echo in Ibn ʿArabī. This idea had already appeared in Ibn Masarra when, speaking of the Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 5 of 20 Masarra and Ibn Barrajān letter ḥā, he explained that it represents al-Ḥaqq, the Truth or Reality with which God cre-

[…] Thereupon you willGracia find yourLópez Lord-Anguita and Creator; you will meet Him in your- ated the heavens and the earth (Ibn Masarra 2007b, pp. 68, 81). Truth, Ibn Masarra tells us, self. (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 224) is the Name through which God creates the seven heavens and the earth, and is based on For Ibn ʿArabī, in a similar way to Ibn Masarra, the world is “arranged in degrees Facultad de Filología, Universidad de Sevilla, C/Palosthe de laayah Frontera “It s/n, is41004 He Sevilla, who Spain; created the heavens and the earth in truth; and the day He says (marātib)” and this orderly and hierarchical arrangement [email protected] the cosmos is specifically what makes it intelligible to human beings (see Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p. 95), but with no “occasional ‘Be’, and it is; His saying is true. And His is the Kingdom the day the Trumpet is blown or causal succession” between its elements (Ibn ʿArabī 1919,Abstract: p. 49). The On aim this of thissubject, article how- is to trace the(…)” origin s(Q of some6:73) of to the explain key concepts that, of Ibn as Arabithe ’twos attributes that support and hold the heavens and ever, Ibn ʿArabī explains: metaphysics and cosmology in earlier Andalusianthe Sufiearth masters. are Withinal-ḥaqq the andcontext al of-mulk the seminal, each heaven has a footstool (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 87). Religions 2021, 12, 40 6 of 19 We have been silent with regard to explaining the workstrue nature on Ibn ofArabi the’s causes cosmology so and metaphysics“According produced from to the Ibn second Barraj half ofa n,̄ the the 20th centuryQuran, the universe and mankind are three aspects of the that anyone who speculates on them will not imagineonwards that weand are through among a comparison those of texts by the Sufi masters Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān, we who attribute the action to someone other than Godwill or see those which who elements attribute are thetaken from previoussame sources reality and how (al they-Ḥ aqqare transformed), since al or-Ḥ reaqq-inter- is everything.” (Küçük 2013b, p. 385). action to God, associating the causes “Weto Him. have […] made Hepreted thecreates centre by theIbn [of thingʿArabī the Universe]by in waya philosophical of the receptacle-mystical of thesystem SupremeThe that attribute would Element become or Divinethe point ofName reference al -Ḥaqq (The Truth / The True / The Real) which in Ibn a cause if He wants to, or if He does asnot a want warning to, He thatfor does thethe higherlaternot createEastern rules a and overcause Western the for lower.” Sufi 18tradition.(Ibn ʿArabīArab ¯ı 1972—probably,, v. II, p. 317) as we said earlier, under the influence of Ibn Barrajān—frequently ap- it, because in His wisdom He has already planned to create it in this way, as we This Element, which is closely related to water19 and thepears Divine linked Name to al- Hcreation,ayy al- designated in the first exegesis the action of God in the world. It explained earlier. And it is impossible for it to be otherwise,Keywords: because Sufism; it a lis-Andalus; impos- Ibn Arabi; metaphysics; cosmology; islamic˙ mysticism; Ibn Masarra; Qayyum¯ (The Living One; the Self-Subsisting), is needed to produce life in creation and for sible for a thing to be Citation:different López from-Anguita how, Gracia it is. Ibn known Ibn [by Barrajān God]. For this reason, was used as a synonym for islām, dīn, hudà, Qur´ān and was in opposition to bāṭil (vain, the step from potential to action: we have not made specialʿArabī mention’s Metaphysics of inanything the Context relating to the causal relationship useless). It is also understood as something that ensues (kāín) and indeed is considered between the Pen and ofthe Andalusian Tablet Mysticism:because“Through Some it has Ak- already the Supreme been discussed Element, theby those essences of the potentialsynonymous worlds [that with re- the end of the world because, according to the Qur’an, it is something who support the Revealedbarian ConceptsLaw, the in thePeoplemained] Light of of Ibn Truth, in a present who consider with no beforethe adherents or after [i.e., outside the world of the contin- of [the doctrine] of "theMasarra cause and and Ibn Barrajān thegent, caused”. Religions unaffected to be1. ungodly. byIntroduction the passage (Ibn ʿArabī of time] 1919, became manifest,that until necessarily God decided must to happen. Constructed with the preposition bi in front and in combi- 2021, 12, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/ p. 81) see them as concreteWe beings.” believe (Ibn thatArab the optimal¯ı 1919, p. methodology 44) nation for with the studyverbs and like interpretation create or of reveal, Ibn it has the meaning that God did not create the xxxxx Two of the fundamental elements ofAlthough the Ibn Masarra Ibn ʿArabīArab’s cosmogony¯ı’s does work not is self directly are,-exegesis, on identifythe onebased this on element a comparisonworld with for theof nothing his prime texts matter and (see on Nwiyathe reconstruction 1970, pp. 41–42). According to Akbarian cosmology, we can hand, Prime or Universal Matter (habā(hab a¯ ᾿ / hay ) and,ul¯ à/madda on theoful¯ other,hisà, etc.), organic the that Word isan howd dynamicor someLogos of thought,(ka- his Eastern the commentatorskeys to which and are disciplesdistributed throughout his Received: 1 December 2020 find multiple correspondences of al-ḥaqq with other elements: Truth equates to First Intel- lima). In Ibn Masarra’s emanationist understandsystem, the first it: “Thehypostasisextensive Supreme was work. Elementformed Commenting of is “an the intel- Singular on Ibn PrimeʿArabī Matterthrough that Ibn balancesʿArabī emerges the as the only pos- Accepted: 30 December 2020 lect (al-ʿaql al-awwal), Pen (al-qalam), Spirit (Rūḥ), Glorious Throne, Evident Guide (al- ligible, intangible prime MatterPublished: (ʿ un7 Januaryṣessencesur), 2021coeternal of the with four sible elements.God, method from It which is to the understand matterGod made of thean all author heavens who and is the the earth” creator (Qash of hisan¯ ¯ıown 2005 world, view and lan- particular beings arise” (see Lory 2006,p. 535)p. 83420;), “God which made is alsoguage. manifest identified However, the with form it isletters: of also the evident universe that from certainimām the Dustpre al-existing- andmubīn separated ideas), Interpreting found the in authors Spirit writing (mutarjim ) of God, Universal Spirit (Rūḥ kullī), Justice 21 Sahl al-Tustarī said: LettersPublisher’s are Note: heavensthe MDPI Primordial stays and neu- the Dust earthbefore (al from-habā the the᾿) mysticandratq the maycalled origin have the of Supremebeen a point Element” (ofʿadl reference), (“TheQunaw for Truth¯ı 1983him,, although p.through 19). establishing which Creation the exists", Muḥammadan Reality, Spirit of Spirits, tral with regardConsidering to jurisdictional that IbnoriginArab and¯ı identifies parentage the of term a certainhaba¯ withidea theor term intermediate is always reality a risky in undertaking. which A fundamen- things and the beginning of their creation. From them was created order and the and even “every thing”53. It is also alluded to symbolically as Eagle (ʿuqāb) and White dominion became manifest.”claims in published (Ibnbeings Masarra maps exist, and 2007 insti- potentiallyb, pp.tal 6 2clue– also63 )is called provided Muhammadan logically, by reality the (explicith. aq¯ıqa mu mentionsh. ammadiyya), in hisBreath texts of of works and authors tutional affiliations.the Merciful (nafas al-Rathat hwereman)¯ ,reference Cloud ( ampointsa¯ ) or for even him, Immutable which,Pearl. however, Entities The does (a expressionyan¯ not th abita¯apply) or where al-haqq philosophers, al-makhluq bi-hi which, as we saw above, had been coined by The letter hā᾿ is the Primordial Dust, it is the totality of letters,. from which things Divine Names, etc.,not it should Sufis, beare confined concerned. to a We metaphysical can gain an reality idea of more Ibn thanʿArabī the’s conceptlearning background from are created. It is located below kun. (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 68) Ibn Barrajān from the Qur’an ayah “We created not the heavens and the earth, and all that of Prime Matter as understoodthe first part by of alchemists, his Ījāza li for-l-mālik example, al-Mu inẓaffar which1 which case Supremereveals the Element fundamental role played 22 is between them, save in truth (al-ḥaqq)” (Q 15:85), is adopted by Ibn ʿArabī, acknowledg- Without assigning it such a centralseems value more in appropriatethe genesisby the of .science creation of asthe Ibn hadith Masarra, in his education. Among the scholars included in this work ʿ Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. ʿ ṣ 23 Ibn Arabī speaks cryptically and succinctlyThe in interrelation his workare of oftraditionists, a the Supreme concept Elementexegetes, of the Word( philologists,un ur of God (writers,kalimaing ),the faqihs, the explicit imperative judges, attribution etc.;kun philosophy to his is absent master, in Futūḥāt (see Ibn ʿArabī 1911, vol. 2, pp. 60, 104; aʿẓam)17, which may well relateSubmitted to that for possible(be), of his the open predecessor Divine access command from Córdoba: (amr), and the Divine will (irada¯ ) as the beginning of creation publication under the terms and and scholastic theology (kalām) has a veryvol. minor 3, presence.p. 77). The most famous example of “[The Supreme Element] kept inin the Ibn most Masarra hidden and ofthe Ibn the attitude Arabhidden¯ı andthat (...) Ibn Ismailiis the ʿArabī most writings, showed along towards with philosophy their Biblical is probably and Greek the passage in Futūḥāt conditions of the Creative Commons This “Truth through24 which creation takes place” would become, in Akbarian ontol- forerunners, has been extensively studied by Ebstein(2014). The use of the term dhikr is 2 perfect of created beingsAttribution and (CCwere BY) licensewe not to havethat a pact indirectly of concealment alludes to that Alfarabi, whilst avoiding explicitly saying his name . characteristic of Ibn Masarra and relates to both rememberingogy, and a mentioning, mode of evoking expression of the barzakh, an indispensable doctrine to understand any prevents us from explaining(http://creativecommons.org/li- its essential reality, we wouldWithout speak entering more exten- here into the complex issue of the relationship between Akbarian the Platonic theory of reminiscence. The dhikr is synonymous with First Intellect and sively about it, showingcenses/by/4.0/). how all creation (mā siwàthought Allāh) is and united philosophy, to it.” (Ibn in the sense of falsafaaspect of Greek of the origin, thought it is sufficient of Ibn to ʿquoteArab twoī. This isthmus or intermediate realm, which shares in ʿArabī 1919, p. 50) ontologically is below the kun (see Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 88). Creation through the Divine word is also very present in the work of Ibn Arab¯ı, who usesthe the two term realitieskalima—among that it separates, which can have a temporal, spatial, ontological, and “We have made the centre [of the Universe] the receptacle of the Supreme Ele- others like kalam¯ —to refer to the Word of God, frequently placingepistemological it in a Christic context meaning,25, is fundamental when it comes to relating the eternal and the ment as a warning that1 theEdited higher by (rulesBadawi over 1955 the). “lower.”Autobibliografía18 (Ibn ʿArabī de Ibn 1972, ʿArabi v. ”II,. Al -Andalus, XX.2, pp. 107–28; Badawi. 1979. Paris; S. ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ. p. 317) 1995. Cairo. A comprehensive list of Ibn ʿArabī’s works is to be found in (Aladdincontingent et al. 2009). or God with creation. The following excerpt explains the ambiguous nature of 2 This Element, which is closely“I have relatedseen an infidelto water declare19 and in thea book Divine called Name The ideal al -cityḤayy (I had al- found thisthis book ḥ whichaqq and I had thenot seen extent previously, to which at the home it is related to the Breath of the Merciful or the Cloud, of an acquaintance of mine in Marchena of the Olives had picked it up to see what it was about and came across the following Qayyūm (The Living One; the Self-Subsisting), is needed to produce life in creation and 18 Cf. this idea with Ibn Masarra,chapter:Risalat¯ ‘In al-i thistib chapterar¯ : “( ... I) wish the one to who examine brings how them to together postulate despite [the their existence differences of a anddivinity makes in them this performworld’. contraryHe had not said God (Allah)! for the step from potential to action: to their nature must be aboveI was them, amazed encompassing and threw them, the higher book53 and at (its greaterSee owner Ḥ thanakīm’s face. them.”; 1981” (Addas “the, testimonypp 1993. 111, p. of– 10813; innate andIbn knowledge Ibn ʿArabī ʿArabī requires 1911,2002 thatIII,, p. hep. 109) who178). .On In the his one Īḍ hand,āḥ, Ibn C. Barrajān mentions ḥaqq mubīn or kitāb mubīn rather than governs them should be above them and encompass them.” (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 220). 19 See the cosmogonic importance of water in Risalat¯ al-i tibar¯ by Ibn Masarra:imām “Themubīn first thing(see toGonzález be created was Costa the Throne 2013, and p. the 234) water”. (Stroumsa 17 Regarding this see López Anguita, Graciaand (López Sviri 2009-Anguita, p. 224). 2018). “Notas en torno al concepto de Elemento Supremo (ʿunṣur aʿẓam) Religions 2020, 11, x; doi: FOR PEER REVIEW www.mdpi.com/journal/religions 20 en Ibn ʿArabī y su escuela” in Ibn Arabi ySee su alsoépoca his. Edited glossary by of G. sufi López terms-Anguita. -Is..tilah¯ . at¯ -( UniversityQashan¯ ¯ı 1992 of) Seville. 18 Cf. this idea with Ibn Masarra, Risālat21 al-Aiʿtibār Qur’anic: “(…) concept the one (Qur’an who brings 21:30) thatthem literally together means despite “stitched” their anddifferences refers to theand homogeneous makes them whole that formed the earth and the heavens perform contrary to their nature must bebefore above God them, tore them encompassing apart (fataqa) them, and made higher them and separate. greater The than attribution them. of”; the“the two testimony works referred of to here (Mir at al- arif¯ ¯ın and La.ta¯ if al-i lam¯ ) innate knowledge requires that he who governsis disputed, them but should they undoubtedly be above belongthem and to the encompass Eastern Akabarian them.” school.(Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 22 220). It seems difficult to draw a definitive conclusion concerning this concept; based on the Akbarian texts, the Prime Matter—expressed under many 19 See the cosmogonic importance of waternames—may in Risālat al- conformiʿtibār by to Ibn a greater Masarra: or lesser “The extent first tothing a philosophical, to be created alchemical was the orThrone another and kind the of definition. In his Kitab¯ Anqa¯ Mugrib and R. water” (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 224)Itti. h. ad¯ al-kawn¯ı he uses the symbol of the griffin or phoenix ( anqa¯ ) to refer to haba¯ , highlighting its spiritual and ineffable character: “I am the Anqa¯ Mugrib, my home is in the West, in the middle station, on the shore of the Surrounding Ocean. Glory contains me from both sides and no finite essence reveals me.” (Ibn Arab¯ı 2006, p. 46). Ebstein(2014, p. 92 ff.) sees a clear influence of the work of the alchemist J abir¯ ibn Hayyan¯ in the ˙ Akbarian concept of haba¯ . Pierre Lory also proposes points in common with Jabir¯ although he considers that the doctrinal depth of Ibn Arab¯ı goes

far beyond the Jabirian¯ identiﬁcation between the name of a thing and its essence. (Lory 2004, p. 118). 23 Reference to Qur’an 16:40: “The only words We say to a thing, when We desire it, is that We say to it: Be! (kun) and it is.” 24 It is worth noting that in the Had¯ıth we ﬁnd the term dhikr with the meaning of Qur’an or Divine Register, close to that used by Ibn Masarra: “His ˙ throne was on the water, he wrote all things in the dhikr and created the heavens and the earth”. (Al-kutub al-sitta 2000, Bukhar¯ ¯ı, Bad’al-khalq, 3191). 25 “Know that the existent beings are the worlds of Allah¯ which do not cease. [Allah]¯ exalted be He, said concerning the existence of Jesus, peace be upon him, that he is [the messenger of God] and His word (kalima) which He has cast unto Mary [Q 4:171]; this is Jesus, peace be upon him. So this is why we say that the existent beings are the word of Allah”.¯ Ibn Arab¯ı, II, p. 385, translation by (Ebstein 2014, p. 53).

Article Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Akbarian Concepts in the Light of Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān

Gracia López-Anguita

Religions 2020Facultad, 11, xde FOR Filolo PEERgía, Universidad REVIEW de Sevilla, C/Palos de la Frontera s/n, 41004 Sevilla, Spain; 14 of 20 [email protected] [and finally] he finds the place of the footstool and the place of the spirit to be Abstract: The aim of this article is to trace the origins of some of the key concepts of Ibn Arabi’s metaphysics and cosmology in earlierpermanent Andalusian Sufi and masters. encompassing Within the context. (Ibn of theMasarra seminal 2007a, 93 transl. Stroumsa and Sviri works on Ibn Arabi’s cosmology and2009 metaphysics, pp. 21produced9–21) from the second half of the 20th century onwards and through a comparison [Water]of texts by thedescends Sufi masters from Ibn Masarra heaven, and Ibneven Barrajān, though we it is not manifest (ẓāhir) heaven it- will see which elements are taken from previous sources and how they are transformed or re-interpreted by Ibn ʿArabī in a philosophicalself-mystical today, system it is that therein would become in a nonthe point-manifest of reference (bā ṭin) manner. Just as creatures that for the later Eastern and Western Sufiare tradition. engend ered from water are from heaven. (Ibn Barrajān, Tanbīh, vol. 5, p. 241 transl. Casewit 2014) Keywords: Sufism; al-Andalus; Ibn Arabi; metaphysics; cosmology; islamic mysticism; Ibn Masarra; Citation: López-Anguita, Gracia. Ibn Ibn Barrajān The higher corresponds (yantaẓim) to the lower. (Ibn Barrajān, Īḍāḥ in Casewit ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context 2014, p. 297) Religions 2021, 12, 40 of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Ak- 7 of 19 barian Concepts in the Light of Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān. Religions 1. Introduction Ḥaqq, khalq, raqīqa 2021, 12, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/ identifying it with the imperativeWekun believe26 or using that it the as a optimal synonym methodology for universal for human the study being and interpretation of Ibn xxxxx One of the most seminal concepts in Ibn Barrajān’s work is al-ḥaqq al-makhlūq bihi al- 27 as microcosm (kalima jami¯ ʿArabīa, comprehensive’s work is self Word)-exegesis,ʿālam/al. Inbased other -onsamawāt passages a comparison of waFut- ofl-u¯ar h.hisat¯ḍ textsand(the and truth on the throu reconstructiongh which is created the world / creation / the Received:Fus.u ¯1s. Decemberal-h. ikam 2020the divine wordsof his (kalimorganicat)¯ correspondand dynamic to Immutablethought, the Entities, keys to a which specifically are distributed throughout his heavens and earth or28 The Real according to Creation is created) which appears in the three Accepted:Akbarian 30 December concept 2020 that refersextensive to beings work. in a potentialCommenting state ofon creation Ibn ʿArabī (mumkin throughat¯ ) Ibn: “‘There ʿArabī emerges as the only pos- Published:is no 7 January changing 2021 the wordssible of God’ method (Q 10:64),to understand and theworks an Words author mentioned of who God is are the no above.creator more of than This his own idea, world basedview on and various lan- Qur’anic ayahs (Q 10:15; 15:85; 44:38– 29 the Immutable Essences ofguage. things However, that have it appeared is also evident39 in) existence”which that certain imply. The pre that Christological-existing the ideasḥaqq foundis an ininstrument authors writing of God in creation, would find a significant Publisher’sdimension Note: MDPI that stays we neu- highlightedbefore above the mystic is not merelymay have confined been a to point the identification of reference for of Jesushim, although establishing the tral withwith regard the to Word jurisdictional of God as expressedorigin and in theparentage Holy Qur’an of a certainecho 4:171but ideain isIbn or also term ʿArabī. closely is always related This a risky toidea the undertaking. had already A fundamen- appeared in Ibn Masarra when, speaking of the claimsarticulation in published maps of lettersand insti- throughtal clue breathing. is provided This subject logically,letter is addressed by theḥā ,explicit he in explained chapter mentions 2 of Fut inthat uhis¯h. at¯ ittexts, represents of works and al- authorsḤaqq, the Truth or Reality with which God cre- tutionalin chapteraffiliations. 198 “The Breath ofthat the were All-Merciful” reference andpoints in ated chapterfor him, the 20 which, “Onheavens the however, science and particulardoes the not earth apply (Ibn where Masarra philosophers, 2007 b, pp. 68, 81). Truth, Ibn Masarra tells us, to Jesus”. When he talks aboutnot vowelsSufis, are and concerned. how their We existence can gain facilitates an idea articulation of Ibn ʿArabī of the’s learning background from Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 5 of 20 consonant ductus, he explainsthe first that theypart of are his what Ījāza puts li-isl- wordsmālik the alName into-Muẓ motionaffar through1 which and, ultimately,reveals which the God fundamental creates role the played seven heavens and the earth, and is based on

gives them life. Giving life orby causingthe science resuscitation of the hadith bythe exhaling in hisayah education. air “It is, in is Ibn HeAmongArab who¯ı’s the words, createdscholars includedthe heavens in this workand the earth in truth; and the day He says Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. […] Thereupon you will find your Lord and Creator; you will meet Him in your- knowledge that correspondsare to traditionists, Jesus: exegetes, philologists, writers, faqihs, judges, etc.; philosophy is absent Submitted for possible open access self. (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009,‘Be p. ’224), and it is; His saying is true. And His is the Kingdom the day the Trumpet is blown Know—and may Godand help scholastic you in your theology search (kal forām knowledge—that) has a very minor the presence. science The most famous example of publication under the terms and For Ibn ʿArabī, in a similar way(…)” to (QIbn 6:73)Masar ra,to theexplain world that,is “arranged as the in two degrees attributes that support and hold the heavens and particular to Jesus is thethe science attitude of that letters Ibn (ʿhArabīuruf¯ ). showed For this towards reason, Jesusphilosophy received is probably the passage in Futūḥāt conditions of the Creative Commons(marātib )” and this orderly and. hierarchical arrangement of the cosmos is specifically what the power of breathingthat in lifeindirectly (nafakh )alludes30 which to consists Alfarabi,the earth of whilst the airare avoiding that al- comesḥaqq explic fromanditly al saying-mulk his, each name heaven2. has a footstool (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 87). Attribution (CC BY) license makes it intelligible to human beings (see Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p. 95), but with no “occasional (http://creativecommons.org/li-the depths of the heart andWithout is the spirit entering of life. here Since“ Accordinginto breath the complex makes to stopsIbnissue Barraj onof the the relationshipan,̄ the Quran, between the Akbarian universe and mankind are three aspects of the or causal succession” between its elements (Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p. 49). On this subject, how- censes/by/4.0/).path of exhalation to thethought mouth, and we philosophy, call these places in the [where sense of the falsafa air] stops, of Greek letters, origin, it is sufficient to quote two ever, Ibn ʿArabī explains: same reality (al-Ḥaqq), since al-Ḥaqq is everything.” (Küçük 2013b, p. 385). and that is where the entities inherent in the letters manifest. When these form31, tangible life manifests We in have intelligible been silent meanings with regard (ma an¯ ¯ıto)The and explaining thisattribute is the the first trueor thing Divinenature of Name the causes al- Ḥsoaqq (The Truth / The True / The Real) which in Ibn 1 Editedthe by Divine (Badawi Presence 1955). “Autobibliografíathat manifests anyone to who the de world. speculates Ibn ʿArabi (Ibn ” ʿon.ArabīArab Al -themAndalus¯ı 1999a— willprobably,, XX.2,, vol.not pp.imagine 1, 256 107 cf.–as28; that with weBadawi. we said are 1979 amongearlier,. Paris; those S. underʿAbd al- Fattātheḥ influence. of Ibn Barrajān—frequently ap- 1995. ValsanCairo. A 2016 comprehensive, p. 136).who list attribute of Ibn ʿArabī the ’actions works to is someonetopears be found linked other in (Aladdin than to Godcreation, et al. or 2009). those designated who attribute inthe the first exegesis the action of God in the world. It 2 action to God, associating the causes to Him. […] He creates the thing by way of “I haveEarlier seen an we infidel pointed declare out thein atranscendent book called The qualities ideal city and (I had macrocosmic found this book implications which I had of thenot seen previously, at the home a cause if He wants to, or if Hewas does used not want as a to, synonym He does not for create islām, a cause dīn, for hudà , Qur´ān and was in opposition to bāṭil (vain, ofletters an acquaintance of the Arabic of mine alphabet; in Marchena through of the Olives expression had picked of His it willup to God see what creates it was a universe about and came across the following chapter: ‘In this chapter I wishit, becauseto examine in howHis wisdomto postulate He [the has existence already of planned a divinity to in create this world it in ’this. He hadway, not as said we God (Allah)! that, in addition to being intelligible, is intellective anduseless). “speaking”: It is “Thealso cosmos, understood in its as something that ensues (kāín) and indeed is considered I was amazed and threw theexplained book at its earlier. owner ’Ands face. it” is(Addas impossible 1993, p. for 108 it andto be Ibn otherwise, ʿArabī 1911, because III, p. 178).it is impos-On the one hand, C. entirety, is rational, alive and rationally expressed (na¯tsynonymousiq)” (Ibn Arab¯ı 1999a with, vol. the I, p.end 185); of the world because, according to the Qur’an, it is something sible for a thing to be different. from how it is known [by God]. For this reason, “The heavens were made endowed with reason ( aqila¯ ), hearing and obedient, and for each we have not made special mentionthat necessarilyof anything relating must to happen.the causal relationshipConstructed with the preposition bi in front and in combi- star and planet a path was drawn for it to follow.” (Ibn Arab¯ı 1999a, vol. 6, p. 179). This Religions 2020, 11, x; doi: FOR PEER REVIEW www.mdpi.com/journal/religions idea connects in a certainbetween way with the the Pen text and of Qur’anthe Tabletnation ayah because 17:44: with “Theit has verbs seven already heavenslike been create discussed and or byreveal, those it has the meaning that God did not create the the earth, and whosoeverwho in themsupport is, the extol Revealed Him. Nothing Law,world the is, People for that nothing does of Truth, not proclaim who(see consider Nwiya His the 1970 adherents, pp. 41–42). According to Akbarian cosmology, we can of [the doctrine] of "the cause and the caused” to be ungodly. (Ibn ʿArabī 1919, praise, but you do not understand their extolling. Surelyfind He multiple is All-clement, correspondences All-forgiving.” of al-ḥaqq with other elements: Truth equates to First Intel- p. 81) ¯ ¯ The science of letters is covered in general termslect in (chaptersal-ʿaql 2al and-awwal 198 of), Fut Penuh. at (al-qalam), Spirit (Rūḥ), Glorious Throne, Evident Guide (al- and in K. al-Mabadi¯ wa-l-gayTwoat¯ of f¯ı mathe an¯fundamental¯ı l-h. uruf¯ wa-l-ay elementsat¯ and, of regarding the Ibn Masarra specific’s letters cosmogony in are, on the one particular, in bookletshand, such Prime as K. al-m or ¯ımUniversal wa¯ wa-l-n Matterun¯ andimām (K.habā al-y a¯al ᾿ /al-huwa.- mubīn ) and, 32),on As Interpretingthe we other, indicated the Word Spirit or Logos(mutarjim (ka- ) of God, Universal Spirit (Rūḥ kullī), Justice above, the mysticismlima of). theIn Ibn letters Masarra of the’s alphabetemanationist ranks(ʿadl system,), among “The the the Truth first most hypostasis characteristicthrough was which formed Creation of “an intel- exists", Muḥammadan Reality, Spirit of Spirits, ʿ ṣ ligible, intangible prime Matter (andun ur even), coeternal “every with thing”God, from53. whichIt is alsoGod madealluded all to symbolically as Eagle (ʿuqāb) and White particular beings arise” (see Lory 2006, p. 834), which is also identified with letters: 26 “All existent things are the inexhaustible words of God (Q 18:120)Sahl that come al-Tustarī from the said: divine Letters Command arePearl.kun the, and PrimordialThekun is theexpression word Dust of God.” (al-habā Fuals.-u¯haqqs.᾿), 142and al the-makhluq origin of bi-hi which, as we saw above, had been coined by in (Hak¯ım 1981, p. 976). ˙ things and the beginning of theirIbn creation.Barrajān From from them the was Qur created’an orderayah and “We the created not the heavens and the earth, and all that 27 Ibn Arab¯ı, Fusu¯s, 50; Futu¯hat¯ 146 in (Hak¯ım 1981, p. 977). This expression echoes the hadith “[Prophet Muhammad] was given the synthesis of . . . ˙ . all-comprehensive words (jawami¯ al-kilam)” (Bukhar¯ ¯ı 20/7099), indominion the sense that—according became manifest.” to Ibn Arabis (Ibn between¯ı- he Masarra received 2007 thethem, wholeb, pp. ofsave the62– Revelation63 in) truth (al-ḥaqq)” (Q 15:85), is adopted by Ibn ʿArabī, acknowledg- including the former prophets, knowledge of the first and last people,The letter everything hā᾿ is that the the Primordial human beinging Dust, has the gained it explicitis the in thistotality world; attribution of not letters, only all from the to hiswhich master, things in Futūḥāt (see Ibn ʿArabī 1911, vol. 2, pp. 60, 104; names of the patterns of the cosmos -adamic knowledge- but alsoare their created. essences. It is Furthermore, located below he has kun the. ability (Ibn Masarra to synthesize 2007 words,b, p. whereby68) each law is manifested and all knowledge is inherent to Muh. ammad, at all times, for every messengervol. and 3, prophet, p. 77) from. Adam until the Day of Judgement (Chittick 1998, pp. 216, 222, 246). This idea has to do withWithout Muh. ammad assigning´s role it of such Seal of a Prophecy central (Chittickvalue in 1989 the, p. genesis 241). of creation as Ibn Masarra, 28 Ibn Arab¯ı, Futuh¯ at¯ , 65 in (Hak¯ım 1981, p. 976). ʿ This “Truth through which creationʿ ṣ takes place” would become, in Akbarian ontol- . ˙ Ibn Arabī speaks cryptically and succinctly in his work of a Supreme Element ( un ur 29 (Ibn Arab¯ı 2009, p. 257). aʿẓam)17, which may well relate to ogy,that of a his mode predecessor of expression from Córdoba: of the barzakh, an indispensable doctrine to understand any 30 Allusion to the Qur’anic episode in which Jesus gives life to some“[The clay birds Supreme by breathing Element] into them: kept Qaspect 3:49. in the That mostof is none the hidden other thought than of thethe breath hiddenof Ibn from (...) ʿArab is theī .most This isthmus or intermediate realm, which shares in the All-Merciful. perfect of created beings and were we not to have a pact of concealment that 31 The verb that is used means to compose harmoniously ta allafa. Cf. this use with Ibn Masarra(2007bthe, p. 63). two realities that it separates, which can have a temporal, spatial, ontological, and prevents us from explaining its essential reality, we would speak more exten- 32 K. al-m¯ım and K. al-ya¯ published in the Rasa¯ il Ibn Arab¯ı, Hayderabad, ( Arab¯ı 1948), the former re-published in an edition by Charles André Gilis, sively about it, showing howepistemological all creation (mā siwà meaning, Allāh) is united is fundamental to it.” (Ibn when it comes to relating the eternal and the Beirut, 2002 and the latter by M. Fawz¯ı al-Jabr, Beirut, 2004. The K. al-mabadi¯ was edited by Abd al-Fatta¯h. , Beirut, 2006. The Kitab¯ al-alif or Kitab¯ al-ah. adiyya, centring on divine unity symbolised in the first letterʿArabī of the alphabet,1919, p. could50) be includedcontingent in this group. Compare or God with with Ibn Masarra’s creation. The following excerpt explains the ambiguous nature of alif Alif tawh¯ıd identification of the letter with unity: “ is the first proof of“We divine have unity made ( . )the as itcentre is isolated [of at the the ḥUniverse] beginning [of the the receptacle word] and does of notthe Supreme Ele- join with any of the other letters [that follow it]” (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 64). this aqq and the extent to which it is related to the Breath of the Merciful or the Cloud, ment as a warning that the higher rules over the lower.”18 (Ibn ʿArabī 1972, v. II, p. 317) 53 (See Ḥakīm 1981, pp. 111–13; Ibn ʿArabī 2002, p. 109). In his Īḍāḥ, Ibn Barrajān mentions ḥaqq mubīn or kitāb mubīn rather than This Element, which is closely related to water19 and the Divine Name al-Ḥayy al- imāmQayyūm mubīn (The (see Living González One; the Costa Self-Subsisting), 2013, p. 234) is needed. to produce life in creation and for the step from potential to action:

Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 14 of 20

[and finally] he finds the place of the footstool and the place of the spirit to be

permanent and encompassing. (Ibn Masarra 2007a, 93 transl. Stroumsa and Sviri

Article 2009, pp. 219–21) Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics[Water] indescends the Context from heaven, of evenAndalusian though it is not manifest (ẓāhir) heaven itself today, it is therein in a non-manifest (bāṭin) manner. Just as creatures that Mysticism: Some Akbarianare engend Conceptsered from water in arethe from Light heaven of. (IbnIbn Barrajān, Tanbīh, vol. 5, p. 241 Masarra and Ibn Barrajāntransl. Casewit 2014) The higher corresponds (yantaẓim) to the lower. (Ibn Barrajān, Īḍāḥ in Casewit Gracia López-Anguita 2014, p. 297)

Facultad de Filología, Universidad de Sevilla, C/Palos de la Frontera s/n, 41004 Sevilla, Spain; [email protected]Ḥaqq, khalq, raqīqa One of the most seminal concepts in Ibn Barrajān’s work is al-ḥaqq al-makhlūq bihi al- Abstract: The aim of this article is to trace the origins of some of the key concepts of Ibn Arabi’s metaphysicsʿālam/al- andsamawāt cosmology wa in-l earlier-arḍ (theAndalusian truth Sufi throu masters.gh Within which the contextis created of the seminal the world / creation / the worksheavens on Ibn Arabiand’ searth cosmology or Theand metaphysics Real according produced fromto Creation the second halfis created) of the 20th century which appears in the three onwardsworks and mentioned through a comparison above. of This texts idea,by the Sufibased masters on Ibnvarious Masarra Qur and Ibn’an Barrajān,ic ayahs we (Q 10:15; 15:85; 44:38– will39 see) which which elements imply are that taken the from ḥ aqqprevious is an sour instrumentces and how they of areGod transformed in creation, or re-inter- would find a significant preted by Ibn ʿArabī in a philosophical-mystical system that would become the point of reference forecho the later in EasternIbn ʿArabī. and Western This Sufi idea tradition. had already appeared in Ibn Masarra when, speaking of the letter ḥā, he explained that it represents al-Ḥaqq, the Truth or Reality with which God cre- Keywords:ated the Sufism; heavens al-Andalus; and Ibn the Arabi; earth metaphysics; (Ibn Masarra cosmology; 2007 islamicb, mpp.ysticism; 68, 81). Ibn Masarra; Truth, Ibn Masarra tells us, Citation: López-Anguita, Gracia. Ibn Ibn Barrajān ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context is the Name through which God creates the seven heavens and the earth, and is based on Religions 2021, 12, 40 of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Ak- the ayah “It is He who created8 of 19 the heavens and the earth in truth; and the day He says barian Concepts in the Light of Ibn ‘Be’, and it is; His saying is true. And His is the Kingdom the day the Trumpet is blown Masarra and Ibn Barrajān. Religions 1. Introduction 2021, 12, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/ (…)” (Q 6:73) to explain that, as the two attributes that support and hold the heavens and contributions made by Ibn Masarra’s thought and itWe is the believe one that that gained the optimal him the methodology most for the study and interpretation of Ibn xxxxx explicit recognition in later authors such as Ibn ʿArabīArabthe ¯ı.’earths In work his K.areis self al-m al-exegesis,¯ım-ḥ wa-l-waqq and basedaw¯ wa-l-n al on-mulk aun¯ comparison, each heaven of his texts has and aon foot the reconstructionstool (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 87).

(The Book of the lettersReceived: m¯ım, 1 December waw and 2020 nun)¯ , he quotesof“ hisAccording Ibnorganic Masarra, an tod cautiouslydynamic Ibn Barraj thought, distancingan,̄ thethe keysQuran, to which the universeare distributed and throughout mankind his are three aspects of the himself from the realm of magic or theurgy33: “Our discourse is about the secrets [ofʿ the ʿ Accepted: 30 December 2020 extensivesame reality work. Commenting (al-Ḥaqq), onsince Ibn alArabī-Ḥaqq through is everything Ibn Arabī emerges.” (Küçük as the 2013b only pos-, p. 385). letters] in the manner of Ibn Masarra al-Jabal¯ı andsible others, method and to notunderstand about their an author operative who is the creator of his own worldview and lan- Published: 7 January 2021 The attribute or Divine Name al-Ḥaqq (The Truth / The True / The Real) which in Ibn virtues [khawa¯s.s.], since a discourse on the operativeguage. virtues However, of things it is leads also inevident most casesthat certain to pre-existing ideas found in authors writing the author being suspectedPublisher’s Note: of MDPI imposture.” stays neu- (IbnbeforeʿArabīArab the¯ı 2001b— mysticprobably,, K. may al-m ¯ım,have as p. beenwe 87). said Indeed,a point earlier, of reference under for him,the althoughinfluence establishing of Ibn Barrajān the —frequently ap- the relationship betweentral with regard lunar to mansionsjurisdictional and letters,originpears the and esotericlinked parentage interpretation to ofcreation, a certain of idea designated isolated or term is always in the a riskyfirst undertaking. exegesis the A fundamen- action of God in the world. It letters at the headclaims of some in published surahs maps of theand insti- Qur’an and the symbolic interpretation of the pen talwas clue usedis provided as a logically,synonym by thefor explicit islām, mentions dīn, hudà in ,his Qur´ān texts of worksand was and authorsin opposition to bāṭil (vain, strokes of letters intutional Ibn Arabaffiliations.¯ı show a clear influencethat were of K. Khawreferencea¯s.s. al- pointsh. uruf¯ byfor Ibn him, Masarra. which, however, does not apply where philosophers, This basis, added to other influences and a brilliantnotuseless). reworking, Sufis, are It takeconcerned. is thisalso idea understoodWe of thecan universegain an as idea something of Ibn ʿArabī that’s learning ensues background (kāín) fromand indeed is considered as a “linguistic structure” even further. It is striking,the first however, part of that hisother Ījāza textsli-l-mālik that al address-Muẓaffar1 which reveals the fundamental role played synonymous with the end34 of the world because, according to the Qur’an, it is something this issue omit the name of Ibn Masarra and citeby the the famous science Iraqi of the Sufi hadith al-H allinaj ¯his (d.education. 309 Among the scholars included in this work Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. that necessarily must˙ happen. Constructed with the preposition bi in front and in combi- H/922 CE), a follower of Sahl al-Tustar¯ı—the firstare reference traditionists, in the Scienceexegetes, of philologists, Letters—about writers, faqihs, judges, etc.; philosophy is absent Submitted for possible open access whose teachings he provides little new information,andnation scholastic other with than theology regarding verbs ( kallike theām) doctrine hascreate a very ofor minor reveal, presence. it has The the most meaning famous example that Godof did not create the kun. This is the mentionpublication that under Ibn the termsArab and¯ı makes of this author: conditions of the Creative Commons theworld attitude for that nothing Ibn ʿArabī (see showed Nwiya towards 1970 philosophy, pp. 41 –is42 probably). According the passage to in Akbarian Futūḥāt cosmology, we can 2 When you hearAttribution someone (CC BY) on license our path speakthat offind letters indirectly multiple and sayalludes that correspondences to a certain Alfarabi, letter whilst avoidingof al-ḥaqq explic withitly sayingother his elements: name . Truth equates to First Intel- is so many fathoms(http://creativecommons.org/li- or so many spans in height orWithout length, entering as al- Hall hereaj¯ and into others the complex issue of the relationship between Akbarian lect (al-ʿaql al-awwal˙ ), Pen (al-qalam), Spirit (Rūḥ), Glorious Throne, Evident Guide (al- do, know thatcenses/by/4.0/). by “height” they mean operativethought virtues and philosophy, (fi l) in the in worldthe sense of of falsafa of Greek origin, it is sufficient to quote two spirits and “length” refers to their operativeimām force inal the-mubīn world), of Interpreting bodies ( ... ) Spirit (mutarjim) of God, Universal Spirit (Rūḥ kullī), Justice this technical terminology ( i s t il a¯ h at¯ ) was introduced by al- Hallaj.¯ Those among .. . (ʿadl), “The Truth˙ through which Creation exists", Muḥammadan Reality, Spirit of Spirits, 1 muhaqqiqun¯ kun the realised Sufis Edited ( . by (Badawi) who 1955 understand). “Autobibliografíaand theeven deep de “ realityIbnevery ʿArabi of thing””. Al,- possesAndalus53. It, XX.2, is also pp. 107 alluded–28; Badawi. to 1979 symbolically. Paris; S. ʿAbd al as-Fattā Eagleḥ. (ʿuqāb) and White the science of Jesus1995. (Cairo.ilm isawA comprehensive¯ı)35.(Ibn Arab list of¯ı Ibn1972 ʿArabī, vol.’s works 3, p. is 95 to cf. be found transl. in (Aladdin et al. 2009). Valsan 2016, pp.2 “ 141–42)I have seen an infidel declare inPearl. a book The called expression The ideal city (I hadal- haqqfound althis-makhluq book which bi I -hadhi which,not seen previously, as we saw at the above, home had been coined by of an acquaintance of mine in Marchena of the Olives had picked it up to see what it was about and came across the following Chapter 2 of Futu¯h. at¯ (see partial translation, commentaryIbn Barrajān and studyfrom of the the backgroundQur’an ayah “We created not the heavens and the earth, and all that chapter: ‘In this chapter I wish to examine how to postulate [the existence of a divinity in this world’. He had not said God (Allah)! to the mysticism of letters in Gril 2004) explains these doctrines in an exhaustive and intri- ḥ ʿ I was amazed and threw the bookis between at its owner ’them,s face.” (Addas save 1993in truth, p. 108 (andal- Ibnaqq ʿArabī)” (Q 1911, 15:85), III, p. 178). is adopted On the one hand,by Ibn C. Arabī, acknowledg- cate way, taking into account the mathematical implicationsing the explicit of the combination attribution of letters, to his master, in Futūḥāt (see Ibn ʿArabī 1911, vol. 2, pp. 60, 104; cycles of time, and movements of the celestial spheres on the basis of which, according to his theory, letters are created. In K. al-m¯ım he citesvol. Pythagoras 3, p. 77). (F¯ıthagurus)¯ as the pre- Religions 2020, 11, x; doi: FOR PEER REVIEW www.mdpi.com/journal/religions Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW cursor of this discipline that operates with letters andThis numbers,5 “Truthof 20 and thethrough numerologists which creation takes place” would become, in Akbarian ontol- ( adadiyyun¯ ). In the same way that human beingsogy, are made a mode of spirit, of soul expression and body, words of the barzakh, an indispensable doctrine to understand any […] Thereupon youalso will have find a your triple Lord dimension: and Creator; they can you be will thought, meet Him articulated, in your- or written (Lory 2004, p. 119). self. (Stroumsa andThis Sviri triplicity 2009, p.is 224) recurrent and we also find it in theaspect commentary of the on thought the isolated of letters Ibn alifʿArab, ī. This isthmus or intermediate realm, which shares in For Ibn ʿArabī, in laam,¯ similar m¯ım atway the to head Ibn ofMasa ther Surahra, the of world the Cow: is “arranged “Therethe two are in threedegrees realities archetypes that of it books: separates, the which can have a temporal, spatial, ontological, and (marātib)” and this orderly“drawn” and hierarchical (mastur¯ ) book, arrangement the “inscribed” of the (cosmosmarqum¯ )is bookepistemological specifically and the what “unknown” meaning, (majhul¯ ) book.”is fundamental when it comes to relating the eternal and the makes it intelligible to (humanGril 2004 beings, p. 173) (see Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p. 95), but with no “occasional or causal succession” betweenIn addition,its elements Ibn (IbnArab ʿArab¯ı’s useī 1919, of Arabicp. 49). On grammar thiscontingent subject, rules how- to or support God explanationswith creation. of The following excerpt explains the ambiguous nature of ever, Ibn ʿArabī explains:certain metaphysical questions does not appear tothis be found ḥaqq in Ibnand Masarra. the extent In his propheto-to which it is related to the Breath of the Merciful or the Cloud, We have been silentlogical with work regardFu s.tou¯s. explainingal-h. ikam we the find true an examplenature of of the this causes when so he explains the hadith “I have 36 that anyone who speculatesbeen made on to them love threewill not things imagine in this that world: we are women, among perfume those and prayer” saying that 53 Ḥ ʿ ḍ ḥ ḥ who attribute the Prophetaction to Musomeone h. ammad(See other gaveakīm than priority 1981 God, orp top those the. 111 feminine who–13; attributeIbn by mentioningArabī the 2002 the, p. word 109) three. In his in the Ī ā , Ibn Barrajān mentions aqq mubīn or kitāb mubīn rather than action to God, associatingfeminine the form causesimām (thal toath),¯ mubīnHim.instead […] (see He of González creates the masculine the thingCosta form by 2013, way (thal atha)of¯p. 234)which. would have been a cause if He wantscorrect, to, or if from He does the grammatical not want to, pointHe does of n view,ot create in an a enumerationcause for including a masculine it, because in His wisdomelement He and has he already goes on planned to explain to create that whicheverit in this way, theological as we or philosophical school you follow, the terms that express metaphysical principles are feminine in gender; (di- explained earlier. And it is impossible for it to be otherwise, because it is impos- vine attribute, sifa; capacity, qudra; cause, illa; essence, dhat¯ , etc.) because they allude to sible for a thing to be different from. how it is known [by God]. For this reason, we have not made special mention of anything relating to the causal relationship between the Pen and the Tablet because it has already been discussed by those 33 He would not show this critical attitude when speaking of his teacher Nuna Fa¯tima bint al-Muthanna who mastered the science of letters to such a who support the Revealed Law, the People of Truth, who. consider the adherents point that she had the power to press the Surah Fatih¯ a into her service (Ibn Arab¯ı 1971, p. 143). of [the doctrine] of "the cause and. the caused” to be ungodly. (Ibn ʿArabī 1919, 34 For al-Hallaj¯ the highest knowledge was that granted by the letters as they appear in the Qur’an: “The knowledge of all things resides in the Qurán,¯ ˙ and the knowledgep. 81) of the Qurán¯ resides in the letters that are placed at the beginnings of the suras.” (Al-Hallaj¯ 1936, p. 95 in Gril 2004, p. 139). ˙ 35 The 1999a editionTwo of reads theilm fundamentalulw¯ı (science of elements the higher spheres)of the Ibn vol. 1,Masarra p. 257. ’s cosmogony are, on the one 36 Hadithhand, quoted Prime with variants or Universal in Al-kutub Matter al-sitta 2000(habā Nis a¯ ᾿ ¯ı, Kit) aband,¯ ashara on al-nis thea ¯other,, 36: 1, the hadith Word No. 3391. or Logos (kalima). In Ibn Masarra’s emanationist system, the first hypostasis was formed of “an intelligible, intangible prime Matter (ʿunṣur), coeternal with God, from which God made all particular beings arise” (see Lory 2006, p. 834), which is also identified with letters: Sahl al-Tustarī said: Letters are the Primordial Dust (al-habā᾿) and the origin of things and the beginning of their creation. From them was created order and the dominion became manifest.” (Ibn Masarra 2007b, pp. 62–63) The letter hā᾿ is the Primordial Dust, it is the totality of letters, from which things are created. It is located below kun. (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 68) Without assigning it such a central value in the genesis of creation as Ibn Masarra, Ibn ʿArabī speaks cryptically and succinctly in his work of a Supreme Element (ʿunṣur aʿẓam)17, which may well relate to that of his predecessor from Córdoba: “[The Supreme Element] kept in the most hidden of the hidden (...) is the most perfect of created beings and were we not to have a pact of concealment that prevents us from explaining its essential reality, we would speak more extensively about it, showing how all creation (mā siwà Allāh) is united to it.” (Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p. 50) “We have made the centre [of the Universe] the receptacle of the Supreme Ele- ment as a warning that the higher rules over the lower.”18 (Ibn ʿArabī 1972, v. II, p. 317) This Element, which is closely related to water19 and the Divine Name al-Ḥayy al- Qayyūm (The Living One; the Self-Subsisting), is needed to produce life in creation and for the step from potential to action:

Article Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Akbarian Concepts in the Light of Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān

Gracia López-Anguita

Facultad de Filología, Universidad de Sevilla, C/Palos de la Frontera s/n, 41004 Sevilla, Spain; [email protected]

Eastern figures such as Hakim¯ TirmThe¯ıdh ¯higherı or the imam corresponds Ja far al-byS adiq¯the (yanta science as referencesẓim of )the to hadith inthe the lower. in his education. (Ibn Barrajān, Among the Īḍ āscholarsḥ in Casewit included in this work ˙ Copyright: © 2021 by the authors.38 ˙ science of letters (see Ibn Arab¯ı K. al-m¯ım, pp. 83, 86) . are traditionists, exegetes, philologists, writers, faqihs, judges, etc.; philosophy is absent Submitted2014, for p. possible 297 open) access and scholastic theology (kalām) has a very minor presence. The most famous example of 2.2. Throne and Angelology publication under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons the attitude that Ibn ʿArabī showed towards philosophy is probably the passage in Futūḥāt The First Intellect/Pen andḤ the Universal Soul/Protected Tablet are two fundamental 2 aqqAttribution, khalq (CC, raqīqaBY) license that indirectly alludes to Alfarabi, whilst avoiding explicitly saying his name . principles in Ibn Arab¯ı’s cosmology. From the Intellect, which represents the first being (http://creativecommons.org/li- Without entering here into the complex issue of the relationship between Akbarian created by God, arises39 the Soul, andOne from of the the interaction most seminal that takes concepts place between in theIbn two Barrajān’s work is al-ḥaqq al-makhlūq bihi al- censes/by/4.0/). thought and philosophy, in the sense of falsafa of Greek origin, it is sufficient to quote two by way of writing, the Pen beingʿālam/al the- activesamawāt and luminous wa-l-arḍ element (the truth that projects throu ontogh thewhich is created the world / creation / the Tablet, the passive and darkheavens element, arises and everything earth or The that occurs Real inaccording creation. This to sameCreation is created) which appears in the three idea, referring to the intellect and the human soul, is expressed by Ibn Masarra through the Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 1 Edited by (Badawi5 of 201955 ). “Autobibliografía de Ibn ʿArabi”. Al-Andalus, XX.2, pp. 107–28; Badawi. 1979. Paris; S. ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ. metaphor of the sun and theworks moon: thementioned rational human above. soul (Thisnafs n aidea,¯tiqa) receives based the on light various Qur’anic ayahs (Q 10:15; 15:85; 44:38– 1995. Cairo. A comprehensive list of. Ibn ʿArabī’s works is to be found in (Aladdin et al. 2009). of the Intellect, as the moon receives it from the sun (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 69). Knowledge […] Thereupon you will find your Lord and Creator; you will39 )meet 2which “ IHim have implyin seen your- an infidelthat thedeclare ḥaqq in a isbook an called instrument The ideal city of (I hadGod found in creation,this book which would I had not find seen a previously, significant at the home is found synthetically in the Intellect and analytically in the Tablet; the Tablet is “the self. (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 224) echo inof anIbn acquaintance ʿArabī. Thisof mine idea in Marchena had already of the Olives appeared had picked init up Ibn to see Masarra what it was when, about and speaking came across of the the following receptacle (mahall) of the dictate of the Intellect”40. Ibn Masarra had previously put forward For Ibn ʿArabī, in a similar way to Ibn Masa. rra, the world is “arrangedchapter: ‘ Inin thisdegrees chapter I wish to examine how to postulate [the existence of a divinity in this world’. He had not said God (Allah)! this schema, and he added toletter this pair ḥā, ofhe opposite explained terms that a third it consisting represents of the al Throne-Ḥaqq, the Truth or Reality with which God cre- (marātib)” and this orderly and hierarchical arrangement of the cosmos Iis was specifically amazed and what threw the book at its owner’s face.” (Addas 1993, p. 108 and Ibn ʿArabī 1911, III, p. 178). On the one hand, C. and the Footstool ( arsh-kursated¯ı), two the classic heavens elements and of Islamic the earth cosmology (Ibn that Masarra symbolized 2007b, pp. 68, 81). Truth, Ibn Masarra tells us, makes it intelligible to human beings (see Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p. 95), but with no “occasional the sphere that encompassed the entire universe beyond which lay the realm of the divine. or causal succession” between its elements (Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p.is 49). the On Name this subject, through how- which God creates the seven heavens and the earth, and is based on Sometimes he equates both the Pen and the Tablet with the Intellect (see K. Khawa¯s al-huruf¯ ever, Ibn ʿArabī explains: Religions 2020, 11, x; doi: FOR PEER REVIEW . . www.mdpi.com/journal/religions ed. Ja‘far pp. 154, 164 in Ebsteinthe 2014ayah, pp. “It 52, is 53). He “The whoDhikr created(word/remembrance) the heavens is theand the earth in truth; and the day He says We have been silent with regardUniversal to explaining Intellect the designated true nature‘Be by’, God—may ofand the causesit is He; Hisso be exalted—for saying is thetrue. Universal And Soul,His whichis the Kingdom the day the Trumpet is blown that anyone who speculates onis them the Pedestal.” will not imagine (Ibn Masarra that(…)” we 2007b are (Q, among p. 6:73) 88). those to explain that, as the two attributes that support and hold the heavens and who attribute the action to someoneThe other Throne than (Godarsh ),or finally, those who is also attribute understood the as a Tablet by Ibn Masarra: “[In the action to God, associating the causesayah] ‘Andto Him. it is […] He whoHe creates createdthe the theearth thing heavens byare way and al of- theḥ aqq earth and in sixal- days,mulk and, each His Throneheaven was has a footstool (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 87). a cause if He wants to, or if Heupon does thenot waters.’want to, (QHe 11:7), does ‘He’“nAccordingot create is an allusiona cause to for toIbn His Barraj essencean,̄ and the ‘Throne’ Quran, is an the allusion universe and mankind are three aspects of the it, because in His wisdom He hasto the already letter plannedlam¯ and theto create Tablet.”same it in (Ibn this reality Masarra way, as(al 2007bwe-Ḥ aqq, p.), 77). since The al Intellect,-Ḥaqq inis theeverything words of .” (Küçük 2013b, p. 385). explained earlier. And it is impossibleIbn Masarra, for it isto submergedbe otherwise, (mustagriq because )it in is theimpos- Soul and the latter, in turn, in the universal sible for a thing to be differentBody. from Forhow Ibn it isArab known¯ı the [by Soul God]. arises ForThe from this attribute the reason, Intellect, or part Divine of which Name was breathed al-Ḥaqq into (The it at Truth / The True / The Real) which in Ibn we have not made special mentionthe time of anything of its creation relating (Ibn to theʿArabīArab causal¯ı 1919— relationshipprobably,, p. 55). For bothas we of them, said the earlier, Soul depends under on the the influence of Ibn Barrajān—frequently ap- between the Pen and the TabletIntellect because and it has there already is a total been correspondencepears discussed linked by thosebetweento creation, them and designated a continuous in provision the first of exegesis the action of God in the world. It knowledge from one to the other (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 237). who support the Revealed Law, the People of Truth, who consider the adherents ṭ of [the doctrine] of "the cause and Despitethe caused” the polyhedralto be ungodly.was cosmology (Ibnused ʿArabī thatas 1919,a Ibn synonym Arab¯ı displays for i inslām, his work, dīn, thehudà Throne, Qur´ān and was in opposition to bā il (vain, p. 81) and the Footstool usually appearuseless). with It a clearis also distinction understood and, unlike as something Ibn Masarra, thethat ensues (kāín) and indeed is considered Two of the fundamental elements of the Ibn Masarra’s cosmogonysynonymous are, on with the one the end of the world because, according to the Qur’an, it is something hand,37 PrimeSee this or type Universal of analysis Matter also in the (habāK. al-y a¯ ᾿ when ) and, he explains on the the other, relationshipthat the necessarilyWord between or the Logos divine must ( essenceka- happen. and the notion Constructed of self symbolised inwith the the preposition bi in front and in combi- lima). Inpronouns Ibn Masarrahuwa (he)’s emanationist and hiya (she). system, the first hypostasis was formed of “an intelligible,38 intangibleSee also (Ebstein prime and SviriMatter 2011 ().ʿunṣur), coeternal with God, fromnation which with God verbs made alllike create or reveal, it has the meaning that God did not create the particula39 Asr beings we saw whenarise” causality (see Lory was discussed,2006, p. although834), which it is true is also that inidentified someworld passages withfor of nothingletters: his work, Ibn (seeArab ¯ıNwiya implies that 1970 some, elements pp. 4 of1– creation42). According to Akbarian cosmology, we can arise through or from others, at the same time he rejects the idea of intermediate cause and, we believe, avoids frequent use of theḥ term “emanation” Sahl(fay ald. )-Tustarī when speaking said: Letters of creation. are When the Primordial he does use it,Dust he tries (al- tohabā distancefind᾿) and multiple himself the origin from correspondences its of Neoplatonic meaning by of mentioning al- aqq Divine with Will other elements: Truth equates to First Intel- thingsimmediately and the afterwards. beginning “The of Supremetheir creation. Pen bestowed From spirits them [upon was created lectcreated beings,(al order-ʿaqlinsha and alat¯- ]awwalthe and God), entrusted Pen their(al- custodyqalam), to it. [These Spirit spirits] (Rūḥ), Glorious Throne, Evident Guide (alare a marvellous emanation (fayd), essential with regard to the Pen and voluntary as regards God—may he be exalted. The Tablet was expressly dominion became manifest.” .(Ibn Masarra 2007b, pp. 62–63imām) al-mubīn), Interpreting Spirit (mutarjim) of God, Universal Spirit (Rūḥ kullī), Justice Thecreated letter by hā᾿ the is willthe of Primordial God.” (Ibn Dust,Arab¯ı 1919 it is, p.the 56). totality “[The Pen] of letters, radiates emanationsfrom which (fay thingsd. ) from both sides: an emanation [relating to the] essence, and an emanation [relating to the] divine Will.” (Ibn Arab¯ı 1919, p. 51). ḥ are created. It is located below kun. (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. (68)ʿadl ), “The Truth through which Creation exists", Mu ammadan Reality, Spirit of Spirits, 40 (Ibn Arab¯ı 1919). Uqlat al-mustawfiz. Edited by Nyberg. Leiden. 53 Without assigning it such a central value in the genesis ofand creation even as “Ibnevery Masarra, thing” . It is also alluded to symbolically as Eagle (ʿuqāb) and White Ibn ʿArabī speaks cryptically and succinctly in his work of a Pearl.Supreme The Element expression (ʿunṣur al-haqq al-makhluq bi-hi which, as we saw above, had been coined by aʿẓam)17, which may well relate to that of his predecessor from Córdoba:Ibn Barrajān from the Qur’an ayah “We created not the heavens and the earth, and all that “[The Supreme Element] kept in the most hidden of the hiddenis between (...) is the them, most save in truth (al-ḥaqq)” (Q 15:85), is adopted by Ibn ʿArabī, acknowledg- perfect of created beings and were we not to have a pact of concealment that prevents us from explaining its essential reality, we woulding speak the moreexplicit exten- attribution to his master, in Futūḥāt (see Ibn ʿArabī 1911, vol. 2, pp. 60, 104; sively about it, showing how all creation (mā siwà Allāh)vol. is united 3, p. to 77) it.”. (Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p. 50) This “Truth through which creation takes place” would become, in Akbarian ontol- “We have made the centre [of the Universe] the receptacleogy, of the a Supreme mode Ele-of expression of the barzakh, an indispensable doctrine to understand any 18 ment as a warning that the higher rules over the lower.” (Ibn ʿArabī 1972, v. II, ʿ p. 317) aspect of the thought of Ibn Arabī. This isthmus or intermediate realm, which shares in This Element, which is closely related to water19 and thethe Divine two Name realities al-Ḥayy that al- it separates, which can have a temporal, spatial, ontological, and Qayyūm (The Living One; the Self-Subsisting), is needed to produceepistemological life in creatio nmeaning, and is fundamental when it comes to relating the eternal and the for the step from potential to action: contingent or God with creation. The following excerpt explains the ambiguous nature of ḥ this aqq and the extent to which it is related to the Breath of the Merciful or the Cloud, 17 Regarding this see López Anguita, Gracia (López-Anguita 2018 ) . “ Notas en torno al concepto de Elemento Supremo (ʿunṣur aʿẓam) en Ibn ʿArabī y su escuela” in Ibn Arabi y su época. Edited53 by G.(See López Ḥ-akīmAnguita. 1981 University, pp. 111 of Seville.–13; Ibn ʿArabī 2002, p. 109). In his Īḍāḥ, Ibn Barrajān mentions ḥaqq mubīn or kitāb mubīn rather than 18 Cf. this idea with Ibn Masarra, Risālat al-iʿtibār: “(…) the one who brings them together despite their differences and makes them perform contrary to their nature must be above them, encompassingimām mubīn them, (seehigher González and greater Costa than them. 2013,”; “p.the 234) testimony. of innate knowledge requires that he who governs them should be above them and encompass them.” (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 220). 19 See the cosmogonic importance of water in Risālat al-iʿtibār by Ibn Masarra: “The first thing to be created was the Throne and the water” (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 224).

Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 14 of 20

transl. Casewit 2014) Article The higher corresponds (yantaẓim) to the lower. (Ibn Barrajān, Īḍāḥ in Casewit

Religions 2020, 11, xIbn FOR PEER ʿArabī REVIEW ’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian2014, p.5 297of 20) Mysticism: Some Akbarian Concepts in the Light of Ibn […] Thereupon you will find your Lord and Creator; you will meetḤaqq Him, khalq in your-, raqīqa Masarra andself. (StroumsaIbn Barrajān and Sviri 2009, p. 224) For Ibn ʿArabī, in a similar way to Ibn Masarra, the world is “arrangedOne in of degrees the most seminal concepts in Ibn Barrajān’s work is al-ḥaqq al-makhlūq bihi al- (marātib)” and this orderly and hierarchical arrangement of the cosmosʿālam/al is specifically-samawāt what wa-l-arḍ (the truth through which is created the world / creation / the Gracia López-Anguita makes it intelligible to human beings (see Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p. 95), butheavens with no “ andoccasional earth or The Real according to Creation is created) which appears in the three or causal succession” between its elements (Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p. 49). On this subject, however, Ibn ʿArabīFacultad explains: de Filolo gía, Universidad de Sevilla, C/Palos de la Fronteraworks s/n, 41004 mentioned Sevilla, Spain; above. This idea, based on various Qur’anic ayahs (Q 10:15; 15:85; 44:38– [email protected] We have been silent with regard to explaining the true nature39 of) the which causes imply so that the ḥaqq is an instrument of God in creation, would find a significant that anyoneAbstract: who speculates The aim of on this them article will is notto trace imagine the origin thats we of echosomeare among of in the Ibn keythose ʿconceptsArabī. of This Ibn Arabi idea’s had already appeared in Ibn Masarra when, speaking of the who attributemetaphysics the action and to cosmology someone in other earlier than Andalusian God or thoseSufi masters. wholetter attribute Within ḥā, he the the explained context of the thatseminal it represents al-Ḥaqq, the Truth or Reality with which God cre- action to God, associating the causes to Him. […] He creates the thing by way of works on Ibn Arabi’s cosmology and metaphysics producedated from the the second heavens half of and the 20 theth century earth (Ibn Masarra 2007b, pp. 68, 81). Truth, Ibn Masarra tells us, a cause if Heonwards wants and to, throughor if He a does comparison not want of textsto, He by doesthe Sufi not masters create Ibna cause Masarra for and Ibn Barrajān, we it, because in His wisdom He has already planned to create it inis this the way, Name as we through which God creates the seven heavens and the earth, and is based on Religions 2021, 12, 40 will see which elements are taken from previous sources and how they are transformed10 of 19 or re-inter- explained earlier. And it is impossible for it to be otherwise, because it is impos- preted by Ibn ʿArabī in a philosophical-mystical system thatthe would ayah become “It isthe He point who of reference created the heavens and the earth in truth; and the day He says sible for a thing to be different from how it is known [by God]. For this reason, for the later Eastern and Western Sufi tradition. ‘Be’, and it is; His saying is true. And His is the Kingdom the day the Trumpet is blown we have not made special mention of anything relating to the causal relationship (…)” (Q 6:73) to explain that, as the two attributes that support and hold the heavens and betweenThrone the isKeywords: identified Pen and Sufism; withthe Tablet the al-Andalus; Pen because or Intellect Ibn it Arabi; has but already m notetaphysics; with been the cdiscussedosmolo Tabletgy; (even ibyslamic those though m ysticism; Intellect Ibn Masarra; whoand support Soul are the usually Revealed considered Law, the realities People aboveof Truth, the who Throne consider and Footstool): the adherents ḥ Citation: López-Anguita, Gracia. Ibn Ibn Barrajān the earth are al- aqq and al-mulk, each heaven has a footstool (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 87). of [the doctrine] of "the cause and the caused” to be ungodly. (Ibn ʿArabī 1919, ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context Therefore, from this point of view, [it is called] Intellect;“ fromAccording the point ofto viewIbn Barrajan,̄ the Quran, the universe and mankind are three aspects of the p. 81) of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Ak- of the world of Inscription and Archetypal Writing, it issame called reality Pen; from (al- theḤaqq), since al-Ḥaqq is everything.” (Küçük 2013b, p. 385). barian Concepts in the LightTwo of Ibn ofpoint the fundamental of view of the elements government of the of theIbn worldMasarra (tas’sarruf cosmogony), Spirit; fromare, on the the point one of . Ḥ Masarra and Ibn Barrajānhand,. Religions Prime view or1. Universal ofIntroduction the Divine Matter Seat (habā (istiw a¯ ᾿ ), Throne;) and, on and the from other, the the point Word ofThe viewor Logosattribute of Divine (ka- or Divine Name al- aqq (The Truth / The True / The Real) which in Ibn 2021, 12, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/lima). In Ibn Masarra’s emanationist¯ system, the first¯ hypostasis¯ 41 was formed of “an intel- CalculationWe (ih believe. s.a ), Evident that the Guide optimal (im am methodology mubın) .(Ibn for ʿ theArabīArab study¯ı 1919— probably, and, p. 52). interpretation as we of said Ibn earlier, under the influence of Ibn Barrajān—frequently ap- xxxxx ligible, intangible prime Matter (ʿunṣur), coeternal with God, from which God made all Ibn ʿArabīArab¯ı’ usess work the is symbol self-exegesis, of the Thronebased on profusely a comparison in a numberpears of his texts oflinked treatises, and on to relatingthe creation, reconstruction it designated in the first exegesis the action of God in the world. It particular beings arise” (see Lory 2006, p. 834), which is also identified with letters: Received: 1 December 2020 to variousof realities, his organic various and degreesdynamic of thought, the same the reality, keys or to various whichwas modes areused distributed of as the a manifesta- synonym throughout for his islām, dīn, hudà, Qur´ān and was in opposition to bāṭil (vain, Sahltion al of-Tustarī divine omnipotence.said: Letters are To the the Primordial quintessential Dustʿ throne—the (al-habā᾿) andarsh theʿ al-Ra originhman¯ ofor Throne of Accepted: 30 December 2020 extensive work. Commenting on Ibn Arabī throughuseless). Ibn Arabī. emergesIt is also as theunderstood only pos- as something that ensues (kāín) and indeed is considered Published: 7 January 2021 thingsthe Merciful andsible the mentionedbeginning method to of inunderstand their the Qur’an—with creation. an authorFrom its them who already wasis the variedcreated creator symbology, order of his and own the the world followingview and lan- dominionuses of the guage.became term shouldHowever, manifest.” be added:it (Ibnis also Masarra The evident Delimited 2007 thatb, certain Thronepp. 62– pre63 (ma) -hexisting. dsynonymousud¯ ), which ideas is found nothing with in butauthors the the endwriting of the world because, according to the Qur’an, it is something Publisher’s Note: MDPI staysThehuman neu- letter being hā᾿before is the itself, the Primordial mystic the Throne may Dust, ofhave theit is been Spirit the totalitya (pointarsh al-rofof letters, ureference¯h. ), referring fromthat for which necessarilyhim, to the thingsalthough rational humanestablishingmust happen. the Constructed with the preposition bi in front and in combi- al- ama¯ al-fasl tral with regard to jurisdictionalaresoul, created. theorigin Throne It is locatedand of parentage the below Cloud kun of ( a. (Ibncertain Masarra), theidea Throne or 2007 termb of, isp. the always68) Ruling nation a risky and with undertaking. the Decree verbs ( A like fundamen-. create or reveal, it has the meaning that God did not create the claims in published maps andwa-l-qa insti- da¯ ) which alludes to the throne on which God will reveal himself on Judgement Without .assigningtal clue is it provided such a central logically, value by in the the explicit genesis mentions of creation in hisas Ibntexts Masarra, of works and authors tutional affiliations. Day (yawm al-hashr), the Throne of the Qur’an referring toworld the heart for of nothing the believer (see or Nwiya 1970, pp. 41–42). According to Akbarian cosmology, we can Ibn ʿArabī speaksthat cryptically were. reference and succinctlypoints for him,in his which, work however,of a Supreme does Elementnot apply ( ʿwhereunṣur philosophers, the Throne of Manifestation (takw¯ın) that corresponds to the sphere that encompasses all 17 not Sufis, are concerned. We can gain an idea of Ibnfind ʿArabī multiple’s learning correspondences background from of al-ḥaqq with other elements: Truth equates to First Intel- aʿẓam) , which may well42 relate to that of his predecessor from Córdoba: created beingsthe first. part of his Ījāza li-l-mālik al-Muẓaffar1 which reveals the fundamental role played “[The Supreme Element] kept in the most hidden of the hiddenlect (...) (isal the-ʿaql most al -awwal), Pen (al-qalam), Spirit (Rūḥ), Glorious Throne, Evident Guide (al- Speakingby the of science the Throne-bearing of the hadith angels in his ineducation. chapter 13 Among of Futu¯ h.theat¯ “On scholars the Divine included Throne” in this work Copyright: © 2021 by the authors.perfect of created beings and were we not to have a pact of concealment that and in Uqlatare traditionists, al-mustawfiz exegetes,, Ibn Arab philologists,¯ı explicitly writers, acknowledges faqihs,imām judges, that al he- mubīnetc.; is following philosophy), Interpreting Ibn is absent Spirit (mutarjim) of God, Universal Spirit (Rūḥ kullī), Justice Submitted for possible openprevents access us from explaining its essential reality, we would speak more exten- Masarra:and scholastic theology (kalām) has a very minor presence.(ʿadl), The“The most Truth famous through example whichof Creation exists", Muḥammadan Reality, Spirit of Spirits, publication under the termssively and about it, showing how all creation (mā siwà Allāh) is united to it.” (Ibn 53 ḥ conditions of the Creative Commons We havethe attitude related, that following Ibn ʿArabī Ibn showed Masarra towards al-Jabal philosophy¯ı, who wasand is one probablyeven of the “ everythe greatest passage thing” in Futū. ātIt is also alluded to symbolically as Eagle (ʿuqāb) and White ʿArabī 1919, p. 50) 2 Attribution (CC BY) license menthat of the indirectly Sufi Way alludes both in to knowledge Alfarabi, whilst and in avoiding spiritual explic state anditly saying enlightenment his name . “We have made the centre [of the Universe] the receptacle of thePearl. Supreme The Ele-expression al-haqq al-makhluq bi-hi which, as we saw above, had been coined by (http://creativecommons.org/li- (kashf ), thatWithout the transported entering here Throne into the refers complex to the issue dominion of the ( mulkrelationship). And this between is Akbarian 18 ʿ censes/by/4.0/). ment asreduced a warningthought to spirit, andthat philosophy,the body, higher sustenance rules in the over andsense the grade. of lower.” falsafa Adam of (Ibn Greek andIbn Arabī Israf origin, Barrajān¯ıl 1972, bear it isv. the sufficient II, from forms, the to quote Qur two’an ayah “We created not the heavens and the earth, and all that p. 317) Jibr¯ıl and Muh. ammad, the spirits, Mika¯ ¯ıl and Ibrah¯ ¯ım, theis provisions, between and them, Malik¯ save in truth (al-ḥaqq)” (Q 15:85), is adopted by Ibn ʿArabī, acknowledg- This Element, and Ri d . wwhichan,¯ the is closely eschatological related rewardsto water19 and and punishments. the Divineing Name the (Ibn explicit alArab-Ḥayy¯ı 1972 alattribution- , to his master, in Futūḥāt (see Ibn ʿArabī 1911, vol. 2, pp. 60, 104; 1 Edited by (BadawiQayyūm 1955 (The).vol. “Autobibliografía Living 2, p. 348) One; the de SelfIbn ʿ-ArabiSubsisting),”. Al-Andalus is needed, XX.2, topp. produce 107–28; Badawi.life in creatio 1979. Paris;n and S. ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ. vol. 3, p. 77). 1995. Cairo. Afor comprehensive the stepHe from made—praise list potential of Ibn ʿArabī to action: be’s uponworks Him—eightis to be found bearersin (Aladdin tocarry et al. 2009). the Throne on the day 2 “I have seen an infidel declareof Resurrection. in a book called Today The ideal four city angels (I had carry found it: this One book under which the I had imageThis not ofseen “Truth Isr previously,af¯ ¯ıl, the through at the home which creation takes place” would become, in Akbarian ontol- of an acquaintance of minesecond in Marchena under theof the image Olives of had Gabriel, picked theit up third to see under what theit wasogy, image about a of andmode Michael, came of across the expression the following of the barzakh, an indispensable doctrine to understand any 17 chapter: ‘In this chapter I wish to examine how to postulate [the existence of a divinity in this world’. He had not said God (Allah)! Regarding this see López Anguita, Gracia fourth(López- underAnguita the 2018 image). “Notas of Ri end tornowan,¯ al the concepto fifth under de Elemento the image Supremo of M alik,¯(ʿunṣur the aʿẓ sixtham) I was amazed and threw the book at its owner’s face.” (Addas. 1993, p. 108 and Ibn ʿArabīaspect 1911, III,of p. the 178). thought On the one ofhand, Ibn C. ʿArabī. This isthmus or intermediate realm, which shares in en Ibn ʿArabī y su escuela” in Ibn Arabi y suunder época. theEdited image by G. of López Adam,-Anguita. the seventh University under of Seville. the image of Abraham and the 18 Cf. this idea with Ibn Masarra, Risālat al-iʿtibār: “(…) the one who brings them together despite their differencesthe two and makesrealities them that it separates, which can have a temporal, spatial, ontological, and eighth under the image of Muh. ammad—God’s peace and blessings be upon him. perform contrary to their nature must beThese above arethem, the encompassing images of their them, spiritual higher station, and greater not the than images them.epistemological of”; “ theirthe testimony constitution. of meaning, is fundamental when it comes to relating the eternal and the Religions 2020, 11, x; doi: FOR PEER REVIEW www.mdpi.com/journal/religions innate knowledge requires that he who governsWhen them Ibn Masarra should be al-Jabal above them¯ı—God and have encompass mercy them. on him—mentioned” (Stroumsa and Sviri them 2009, in thep. 220). contingent or God with creation. The following excerpt explains the ambiguous nature of same way that we mention them, he said [the following] regarding this: Israf¯ ¯ıl 19 See the cosmogonic importance of water in Risālat al-iʿtibār by Ibn Masarra: “The first thing to be created was the Throne and the and Adam [are in charge] of the images, Muhammad—God’sthis peace ḥaqq and and blessings the extent to which it is related to the Breath of the Merciful or the Cloud, water” (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 224). . be upon him—and Gabriel of the spirits, Mik a¯ ¯ıl and Abraham of the favors (arzaq¯ ) [of Providence]. Ridwan¯ and Malik¯ [are in charge] of the reward and the 53 (See. Ḥakīm 1981, pp. 111–13; Ibn ʿArabī 2002, p. 109). In his Īḍāḥ, Ibn Barrajān mentions ḥaqq mubīn or kitāb mubīn rather than threat [of punishment]. The Throne, in Ibn Masarra, is an expression that alludes

to the dominion (mulkimām). (Ibn mubīnArab¯ı 1919(see, González p. 58) Costa 2013, p. 234). If we turn to the work of Ibn Masarra, we ﬁnd that this idea appears in quite succinct form in the K. Khawa¯s.s. al-h. uruf¯ and the distribution of angelological functions attributed to him by Ibn Arab¯ı is not present: Four angels carry the Throne of God, and four carry the Footstool, this makes eight. Seven carry the seven heavens and the worlds. Each heaven has an angel

41 The identiﬁcation (to be found in Ibn Barrajan¯ as well as Ibn Arab¯ı) of imam¯ mub¯ın with divine calculation (ih. s.a¯ ) is supported by Q. 36:12, “Lo! We it is Who bring the dead to life. We record that which they send before (them), and their footprints. And all things We have kept (ah. s.aynahu¯ ) in a clear Register”. Trans. Pickthal. 42 Su ad¯ Hak¯ım lists fourteen types of thrones. (SeeH ak¯ım 1981, p. 791). ˙ ˙ ˙

Article Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian

Religions 2020, 11Mysticism:, x FOR PEER REVIEW Some Akbarian Concepts in the Light of Ibn 14 of 20 Masarra and Ibn Barrajān [and finally] he finds the place of the footstool and the place of the spirit to be Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW Gracia López-Anguita permanent and encompassing5 of 20 . (Ibn Masarra 2007a, 93 transl. Stroumsa and Sviri

[…] Thereupon you will find your Lord and Creator; you2009 will, meet pp. Him219 –in21 your-) self. (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 224) Facultad de Filología, Universidad de Sevilla, C/Palos de la Frontera s/n, 41004 Sevilla, Spain; ẓ [Water][email protected] descends from heaven, even though it is not manifest ( āhir) heaven it- For Ibn ʿArabī, in a similar way to Ibn Masarra, the worldself today,is “arranged it is in therein degrees in a non-manifest (bāṭin) manner. Just as creatures that (marātib)” and this orderly and hierarchical arrangement of theAbstract: cosmos The is specifically aim of this articlewhat is to trace the origins of some of the key concepts of Ibn Arabi’s makes it intelligible to human beings (see Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p.are 95), engend but with eredno “occasional from water are from heaven. (Ibn Barrajān, Tanbīh, vol. 5, p. 241 transl.metaphysics Casewit and cosmology 2014) in earlier Andalusian Sufi masters. Within the context of the seminal or causal succession” between its elements (Ibn ʿArabī 1919,works p. 49). on On Ibn this Arabi subject,’s cosmology how- and metaphysics produced from the second half of the 20th century ʿ ever, Ibn Arabī explains: Theonwards higher and through corresponds a comparison (yanta of textsẓ byim the) to Sufi the masters lower. Ibn Masarra (Ibn Barrajān,and Ibn Barrajān, Īḍā ḥwe in Casewit We have been silent with regard to explaining the truewill nature see which of the elements causes soare taken from previous sources and how they are transformed or re-inter- Religions 2021, 12, 40 2014, p. 297) 11 of 19 that anyone who speculates on them will not imagine thatpreted we by are Ibn among ʿArabī thosein a philosophical -mystical system that would become the point of reference who attribute the action to someone other than God or forthose the laterwho Eastern attribute and the Western Sufi tradition. action to God, associating the causes to Him. […]Ḥ Heaqq creates, khalq the, raqīqathing by way of a cause if He wants to, or if He does not want to, He does not create a cause for that transports it, thanks to whom theOne sphereKeywords: of moves the Sufism; most and al who-Andalus; seminal is in Ibn charge Arabi;concepts of metaphysics; in Ibn cosmolo Barrajāngy; islamic’s work mysticism; is al Ibn-ḥ Masarra;aqq al- makhlūq bihi al- it, because in Hisestablishing wisdom Citation:He order has López inalready it.-Anguita (Ibn planned, MasarraGracia. Ibn to 2007b createIbn, Barrajān p.it in 84) this way, as we explained earlier. And it isʿArabī impossible’s Metaphysics for in it the to Context beʿ otherwise,ālam/al -samawāt because it is wa impos--l-arḍ (the truth through which is created the world / creation / the The fact that there are four now and eight in the Other Life suggests, as Asín Palacios sible for a thing to be differentof Andalusian from Mysticism: how it isSome known Ak- [by God]. For this reason, deduced (Asín Palacios 1914, pp. 72–75),heavens that each and of these earth four functionsor The Real has a dualaccording reality: to Creation is created) which appears in the three we have not made special barianmention Concepts of anything in the Light ofrelating Ibn to the causal relationship an exoteric one that manifests in this life and an esoteric one that will be shown in the Other Masarra and Ibn Barrajān. Religionsworks mentioned above. This idea, based on various Qur’anic ayahs (Q 10:15; 15:85; 44:38– between theLife. Pen In and the casethe Tablet of the because first three it pairs,has already at least, been1. which Introduction discussed combine by a those prophet (external reality) 2021, 12, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/39 ) which imply that the ḥaqq is an instrument of God in creation, would find a significant who supportand the an Revealed angel (internal Law, the reality), People this of theoryTruth, who seems consider toWe hold believe 43the. Regarding adherents that the the optimal identification methodology of for the study and interpretation of Ibn xxxxx of [the doctrine]the dominion of "the (causemulk) and with the the caused” Throne thattoecho be Ibn ungodly. inʿArabīArab Ibn¯ı’ alsos (Ibn ʿworkArabī. attributes ʿArabī is self This 1919,-exegesis, to Ibn idea Masarra, based had onalready we a cancomparison appeared of his texts in Ibnand onMasarra the reconstruction when, speaking of the p. 81) ascertain that thisReceived: identification 1 December 2020 occurs letter not with ofḥā his, the he organic Throne—to explained and whichdynamic that the it thought, letterrepresentslam¯ theand keys al- toḤ aqqwhich, the are Truth distributed or Reality throughout with his which God cre- Two of thethe fundamental Tablet (lawh )elements correspond—but of the Ibn with Masarra the Footstool.’s cosmogony Talking are, about on the the one letter m¯ım, aʿ letter ʿ . Accepted: 30 December 2020 ated theextensive heavens work. and Commenting the earth on (IbnIbn Arabī Masarra through 2007 Ibnb Arabī, pp. emerges68, 81). as Truth, the only Ibn pos- Masarra tells us, hand, Prime orassociated Universal withMatterPublished: Will (habā (mash 7 January ¯ ı᾿ a ), ) 2021 the and, dominion on the other, ofsible the themethod physical Word to ( mulkor understand Logos) and with(ka- an place author (mak whoan¯ ), is the creator of his own worldview and lan- lima). In Ibn MaIbnsarra Masarra’s emanationist tells us that system, in every the heavenfirst ishypostasis therethe guage.Name is a was footstool However, formedthrough (kurs of it¯ı ),“anis which givenalso intel- evident that God what that creates makes certain the pre- existingseven heavensideas found and in authors the earth, writing and is based on ligible, intangiblethe prime heavens Matter andPublisher’s the (ʿun earthṣur Note:), standcoeternal MDPI firm stays with areneu-the the God, ayah attributesbefore from “It the which Al-is mysticH Heaqq God who andmay made al-Mulk havecreated all been (Ibn athe Masarra point heavens of reference and for the him, earth although in establishingtruth; and the the day He says ˙ particular beings2007b arise”, p. (see 81) Lorytral with2006, regard p. 834to jurisdictional), which ‘ isBe also’, and originidentified it and is; withparentageHis letters: saying of a certain is true. idea And or term His is always is the a Kingdomrisky undertaking. the day A fundamen- the Trumpet is blown Returningclaims to chapter in published 13 ofmapsFut andu¯h .insti-at¯ , Ibn Arabtal clue¯ı alludes is provided once more logically, to the by master the explicit from mentions in his texts of works and authors Sahl al-Tustarī said: Letters are the Primordial Dust(…)” (al -(Qhabā 6:73)᾿) and tothe explain origin of that, as the two attributes that support and hold the heavens and things andC theórdoba, beginning stating oftutional that:their affiliations. creation. From them wasthat created were referenceorder and points the for him, which, however, does not apply where philosophers, dominion becameWhat manifest.” is told about (Ibn Masarra the form 2007 of theseb,the pp. bearers 6earth2–not63 )Sufis, isare approximately areal- ḥconcerned.aqq and the Weal same-mulk can as gain that, each an idea heaven of Ibn hasʿArabī a’ sfoot learningstool background (Ibn Masarra from 2007b, p. 87). the first part of his Ījāza li-l-mālik al-Muẓaffar1 which reveals the fundamental role played The letter hā᾿ is whichthe Primordial Ibn Masarra Dust, stated. it is the One totality is“ saidAccording of letters, to have from a to human which Ibn form,Barraj things the an,̄ second the Quran, that the universe and mankind are three aspects of the of a lion, the third an eagle, and the fourthby the a bull. science This of [bull] the hadith was the in his one education. the Among the scholars included in this work are created. It is located belowCopyright: kun ©. 202(Ibn1 by Masarra the authors. same2007 b, p.reality 68) (al-Ḥaqq), since al-Ḥaqq is everything.” (Küçük 2013b, p. 385). Samaritan saw, imagining that it was theare god traditionists, of Moses. Thatexegetes, is why philologists, he built a writers, faqihs, judges, etc.; philosophy is absent Without assigning it suchSubmitted a central for possiblevalue openin the access genesis of creation as Ibn Masarra, calf for his people and said: “This is yourTheand God scholasticattribute and the God theology or of Divine Moses," (kalām accordingName) has a very al-Ḥ minoraqq (The presence. Truth The / most The famous True /example The Real) of which in Ibn Ibn ʿArabī speaks cryptically andpublication succinctly under the interms his and work of a Supreme Element (ʿunṣur to the story [in the Qur’an]. (Ibn ʿArabīArab¯ı 1972the— attitudeprobably,, p. 355) that Ibn as ʿArabīwe said showed earlier, towards under philosophy the influence is probably theof passageIbn Barrajān in Futūḥāt— frequently ap- aʿẓam)17, which may well relateconditions to that of the his Creative predecessor Commons from Córdoba: that indirectly alludes to Alfarabi, whilst avoiding explicitly saying his name2. Once more,Attribution the works (CC byBY) Ibn license Masarra pears that havelinked survived to creation, do not include designated this description— in the first exegesis the action of God in the world. It “[The Supreme Element] kept in the most hidden of the hiddenWithout (...) is entering the most here into the complex issue of the relationship between Akbarian which is, however,(http://creativecommons.org/li- found in Ibn Barrajan¯ 44—although this does not prevent us from think- ṭ perfect of created beings censes/by/4.0/).and were we not to havewas a pactusedthought of asconcealment and a synonym philosophy, that forin the islām, sense ofdīn, falsafa hudà of Greek, Qur´ān origin, and it is sufficientwas in toopposition quote two to bā il (vain, ing that they are in lost works or were transmitted orally by his disciples. This is the prevents us from explaining its essential reality, we would speak more exten- opinion held by Stroumsa (Stroumsa anduseless). Sviri 2009 It, pp. is 96–97)also who,understood moreover, hasas studiedsomething that ensues (kāín) and indeed is considered sively about it, showing how all creation (mā siwà Allāh) is united to it.” (Ibn the biblical echo of this description in synonymous the vision of the chariotwith the in Ezekiel end of and the Jewish world and because, according to the Qur’an, it is something ʿArabī 1919, p. 50) 1 Christian elaborations Edited (Stroumsa by (Badawi 2006 1955,that pp.). “Autobibliografía 103–5). necessarily demust Ibn ʿArabi happen.”. Al-Andalus Constructed, XX.2, pp. 107 with–28; Badawi. the preposition 1979. Paris; S. ʿAbd bi inal- Fattāfrontḥ. and in combi- “We have madeIbn the Arabcentre¯ı defines[of1995. the Cairo.Universe] the Footstool A comprehensive the receptacle as the list place of Ibnthe of ʿ theSupremeArabī two’s works feetEle- is [of to God]be found using in (Aladdin Ibn et al. 2009). ment as a warning that the2 higher “I have rules seen over an infidel the nationlower.” declare18 in with(Ibn a book ʿArabī verbs called 1972, The like idealv. II, createcity (I had or found reveal, this book it whichhas Ithe had meaningnot seen previously, that Godat the home did not create the Masarra’s term mawd. i . The Word (kalima/kalam¯ ), according to Akbarian doctrine, is one p. 317) on the Throne andof divides an acquaintance into two of on worldmine the in Footstool, Marchenafor nothing thereby of the Olives(see introducing Nwiyahad picked the 1970 it principle up, to pp. see 4what1–42 it was). According about and came to across Akbarian the following cosmology, we can chapter: ‘In this chapter I wish to examine how to postulate [the existence of a divinity in this world’. He had not said God (Allah)! This Element,of multiplicity which is closely in creation, related and to itwater continues19 and tothe expand Divine downwards, Name al-Ḥayy doubling al- itself: “His I was amazed and threwfind the multiple book at its owner correspondences’s face.” (Addas 1993 of, p. al 108-ḥ aqqand Ibnwith ʿArabī other 1911, elements:III, p. 178). On Trut the oneh hand,equates C. to First Intel- Qayyūm (The LivingWord acquiredOne; the aSelf fourfold-Subsisting), character is needed withlect the to ( creational produce-ʿaql ofal life- theawwal in fourth creatio), sphere Penn and (al [i.e., -qalam), the sphere Spirit (Rūḥ), Glorious Throne, Evident Guide (al- for the step fromof potential the fixed to stars]” action: (Ibn Arab¯ı 1919, p. 69). The Footstool constitutes the differentiation necessary for the unity represented byimām the Throne al-mubīn of God), Interpreting to manifest. Each Spirit of the ( twomutarjim) of God, Universal Spirit (Rūḥ kullī), Justice Religions 2020, 11, x; doi: FOR PEER REVIEW www.mdpi.com/journal/religions feet is related to two groups of opposing(ʿadl divine), “The attributes Truth (Ibn throughArab¯ı 1919 which, p. 59). Creation In the exists", Muḥammadan Reality, Spirit of Spirits, 17 Risala¯ al-i tibar¯ Epistle of contemplation Regarding this see López Anguita, Gracia (López-Anguita 2018(). “Notas en torno al concepto),and Ibn de Masarra evenElemento “ speaksevery Supremo of thething” (ʿun Throneṣur aʿ53ẓam). asIt the is firstalso being alluded to symbolically as Eagle (ʿuqāb) and White en Ibn ʿArabī y su escuela” in Ibn Arabi y su épocacreated. Edited and, by G. in López this case,-Anguita. he does University identify of it Seville. with the Intellect. 18 Cf. this idea with Ibn Masarra, Risālat al-iʿtibār: “(…) the one who brings them together despitePearl. their The differences expression and makes al- themhaqq al-makhluq bi-hi which, as we saw above, had been coined by perform contrary to their nature must be above them, encompassing them, higher andIbn greater Barrajān than them. from”; “the the testimony Qur ’ofan ayah “We created not the heavens and the earth, and all that innate knowledge requires that he who governs them should be above them and encompass them.” (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 43 This distribution of functions can be explained as follows: Adam, the first phenomenalis between manifestation ofthem, the body, save and Isr inaf¯ ¯ıl, truth are in charge (al- ofḥaqq bodies)” (Q 15:85), is adopted by Ibn ʿArabī, acknowledg- 220). in the future life, to be understood in close connection with the trumpet—s.ur¯ - that sounds on the Day of Resurrection, since it shares a lexical 19 See the cosmogonic importance of water in Risālat al-iʿtibār by Ibn Masarra: “The first thinging to thebe created explicit was the attribution Throne and the to his master, in Futūḥāt (see Ibn ʿArabī 1911, vol. 2, pp. 60, 104; root—SWR—with s.uwar (images), as explained in Uqla (Ibn Arab¯ı 1919, p. 86). The realm of creative imagination—understood not as a faculty ˙ water” (Stroumsabut and as a Sviri realm 2009, of creation—is p. 224). identified with the trumpet of light that will be soundedvol. by 3, Isr p.af¯ ¯ıl on77) the. Day of Resurrection. The Arabic word for trumpet coincides with the plural of the word image, thus, according to Ibn Arab¯ı, when Israf¯ ¯ıl blows the trumpet he will also breathe life into those images. The upper, broader part of the trumpet reaches to the Cloud (al- ama¯ ) and the lowerThis part to“Truth the ground. through Abraham’s functionwhich as acreation provider takes place” would become, in Akbarian ontol- seems more evident; described in the Qur’an as the intimate of God, he is also knownogy, for thea biblicalmode and of Qur’anic expression episode in which of hethe offers barzakh, food an indispensable doctrine to understand any to his guests without knowing that they are angels. He will be joined by Mika¯ ¯ıl, probably because he is responsible for the subsistence of the Self. Muh. ammad—whose pre-existence in the form of Muh. ammadan reality prior to Adamaspect himself grantsof the him thought pre-eminence of in the Ibn spiritual ʿArab world—joinsī. This isthmus or intermediate realm, which shares in Gabriel, the highest of the angels. The last pair consists of two angels, Malik¯ andthe Rid. w twoan,¯ the realities guardians of hellthat and it paradise, separates, respectively. which See can have a temporal, spatial, ontological, and also The alchemy of happiness (Ibn Arab¯ı 2019) and chapter 167 of Futu¯h. at,¯ where the functions of the Throne-bearing angels are explained again. (López-Anguita 2014). Regarding the throne in Ibn Masarra see also (Garrido Clementeepistemological 2008a, 2008b). meaning, is fundamental when it comes to relating the eternal and the 44 “It is frequently said in the ancient books (kutub mutaqaddima) and primal knowledgecontingent ( ilm awwal) that or the carriersGod ofwith the throne creation. are four angels. The One following excerpt explains the ambiguous nature of of them resembles a human, the others an ox, lion, and eagle.” (Ibn Barrajan,¯ Tanb¯ıh in Casewit 2014). Could Ibn Arab¯ı have derived this idea from Ibn Barrajan¯ and not from Ibn Masarra? this ḥaqq and the extent to which it is related to the Breath of the Merciful or the Cloud,

53 (See Ḥakīm 1981, pp. 111–13; Ibn ʿArabī 2002, p. 109). In his Īḍāḥ, Ibn Barrajān mentions ḥaqq mubīn or kitāb mubīn rather than imām mubīn (see González Costa 2013, p. 234).

Article Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Akbarian Concepts in the Light of Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān

Gracia López-Anguita

Facultad de Filología, Universidad de Sevilla, C/Palos de la Frontera s/n, 41004 Sevilla, Spain; [email protected] Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 14 of 20 Abstract: The aim of this article is to trace the origins of some of the key concepts of Ibn Arabi’s metaphysics and cosmology in earlier Andalusian Sufi masters. Within the context of the seminal Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 5 of 20 works on Ibn Arabi’s cosmology and metaphysics[and produced finally] from he the findssecond halfthe of placethe 20th centuryof the footstool and the place of the spirit to be […] Thereupon you will findonwards your Lord and andthrough Creator; a comparison you will of meet texts Him bypermanent the in Sufiyour- masters and Ibn encompassingMasarra and Ibn Barrajān,. (Ibn we Masarra 2007a, 93 transl. Stroumsa and Sviri self. (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009,will p see. 224) which elements are taken from previous2009 sour, cespp. and 21 how9–21 they) are transformed or re-interpreted by Ibn ʿArabī in a philosophical-mystical system that would become the point of reference For Ibn ʿArabī, in a similar way to Ibn Masarra, the world is “arranged in degrees for the later Eastern and Western Sufi tradition.[Water] descends from heaven, even though it is not manifest (ẓāhir) heaven it- (marātib)” and this orderly and hierarchical arrangement of the cosmos is specifically what makes it intelligible to human beings (see Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p. 95), but withself no “ today,occasional it is therein in a non-manifest (bāṭin) manner. Just as creatures that Keywords: Sufism; al-Andalus; Ibn Arabi; metaphysics; cosmology; islamic mysticism; Ibn Masarra; or causal succession” between its elements (Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p. 49). On this subject, how- Citation: López-Anguita, Gracia. Ibn Ibn Barrajān are engendered from water are from heaven. (Ibn Barrajān, Tanbīh, vol. 5, p. 241 ever, Ibn ʿArabī explains: ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context transl. Casewit 2014) Religions 2021of Andalusian,We12, 40have Mysticism: been silent Some Ak- with regard to explaining the true nature of the causes so 12 of 19 barianthat Concepts anyone in the who Light speculatesof Ibn on them will not imagine that we are amongThe thosehigher corresponds (yantaẓim) to the lower. (Ibn Barrajān, Īḍāḥ in Casewit Masarrawho and attribute Ibn Barrajān the. Religions action to 1.someone Introduction other than God or those who attribute2014, p.the 297 ) 2021,action 12, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/ to God, associating the causes to Him. […] He creates the thing by way of We can sayWe that believe in Ibn that Masarra the optimal the denotation methodology of divine for sovereignty the study and is shared interpretation by the of Ibn xxxxxa cause if He wants to, or if He does not want to, He does not create a cause for Throne (ʿArabīarsh) and’s work by theis self Footstool-exegesis, (kurs based¯ı), an on identification a comparison fostered of his texts by and the Qur’anon the reconstruction itself, it, because in His wisdom He has already planned to create it inḤ aqqthis ,way, khalq as, we raqīqa in whichof both his termsorganic are an mergedd dynamic in the thought, same meaning the keys (Q to 11:7; which Q 2:55). are distributed throughout his Received:explained 1 December earlier. 2020 And it is impossible for it to be otherwise, because itOne is impos- of the most seminal concepts in Ibn Barrajān’s work is al-ḥaqq al-makhlūq bihi al- Accepted: 30 December 2020 extensive work. Commenting on Ibn ʿArabī through Ibn ʿArabī emerges as the only possible for a thing to 3.be Ibn different Barraj froman¯ how it is known [by God]. For this reason, Published: 7 January 2021 sible method to understand an authorʿālam/al who is-samawāt the creator wa of -hisl-ar ownḍ (the world truthview and throu lan-gh which is created the world / creation / the we have not made special mention of anything relating to the causal relationship Thanksguage. to theHowever, research it carriedis also evident out over that the certain last two pre decades-existing45 ideasthat led, found among in authors other writing between the Pen and the Tablet because it has already been discussedheavens by and those earth or The Real according to Creation is created) which appears in the three Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays things,neu- tobefore the publication the mystic of may previously have been unpublished a point of works reference by Ab foru¯ l- him,Hakam although Ibn Barraj establishingan¯ of the who support the Revealed Law, the People of Truth, who consider the adherents ˙ tral with regard to jurisdictionalSeville (d.origin 536 H/1136 and parentage CE), we of have a certain an idea ideaworks of notor term only mentioned is the always thought a risky ofabove. one undertaking. of Al-Andalus’sThis idea, A fundamen- based on various Qur’anic ayahs (Q 10:15; 15:85; 44:38– of [the doctrine] of "the cause and the caused” to be ungodly. (Ibn ʿArabī46 1919, claims in published maps and mostinsti- importanttal clue andis provided least known logically, mystical by the authors39 explicit) whichbut mentions alsoimply the in intellectualthat his textsthe ofḥ environmentaqq works is anand instrument authors of God in creation, would find a significant p. 81) tutional affiliations. from whichthat thinkerswere reference such as points Ibn Arab for him,¯ı developed.echo which, in however, TheIbn available ʿArabī. does not works This apply byidea where this had master, philosophers, already appeared in Ibn Masarra when, speaking of the Two of the fundamentaldubbed elements “the Ghaz ofal ¯the¯ı of Ibn Al-Andalus” Masarra’s47 cosmogonyin some sources, are, on are the a Commentaryoneʿ on the Names of not Sufis, are concerned. We can gainletter an ideaḥā, heof Ibn explained Arabī’s learning that it background represents from al- Ḥaqq, the Truth or Reality with which God cre- hand, Prime or UniversalGod Matter (Shartheh. (al-asmhabā first parta¯ ᾿ al- )ofh .and,usn hisà Ījāzaon/Tarjum the li- lother,-anmālik¯ lis an¯theal- al-Mu WordHẓaqqaffar), or1 widely which Logos circulatedreveals (ka- the in fundamental the East, which role played ˙ lima). In Ibn Masarra’s emanationistlists oneby hundred the system, science and the fortyof first the Divine hypostasishadith Names,in his was atededucation. andformed thethe commentariesof heavensAmong “an intel- the and scholars on the the Qur’anincludedearth (IbnTafs in ¯ırthis Masarra work 2007b, pp. 68, 81). Truth, Ibn Masarra tells us, Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. ¯ ligible, intangible primeal-Qur Matteran¯ are(ʿ(orun traditionists,ṣTanbur), ¯ıhcoeternal) and I dexegetes,. a¯ h.withal-h. ikmaGod, philologists, f¯ ıfrom ah. kam¯ which al- writers,ibra God(translated madefaqihs, all byjudges, Böwering etc.; philosophy and Casewit is absent Submitted for possible open access is the Name through which God creates the seven heavens and the earth, and is based on particular beings arise” as(seeElucidation Loryand 2006, scholastic of p. Wisdom). 834), theologywhichIbnBarraj is also(kalan¯ām identified is) has considered a very with minor letters: to have presence. introduced The intomost Al-Andalus famous example of publication under the terms and the ayah “It is He who created the heavens and the earth in truth; and the day He says Sahl al-Tustarī said:a newLetters waythe areof attitude the doing Primordial that hermeneutics, Ibn ʿDustArabī ( alshowed which-habā᾿) some towardsand classicalthe originphilosophy historians of is probably identify the with passage the Sufi in Futūḥāt conditions of the Creative Commons 48 method . ‘Be’, and it is; His saying is true.2 And His is the Kingdom the day the Trumpet is blown Attributionthings (CC and BY) the license beginning ofthat their indirectly creation. alludesFrom them to Alfarabi, was created whilst order avoiding and the explic itly saying his name . We know that Ibn Arab¯ı studied Ibn Barrajan’s¯ Qur’an commentary, I¯da¯h al-hikma (http://creativecommons.org/li-dominion became manifest.” (IbnWithout Masarra entering 2007b, pp. here 62 into–63) the(…)” complex (Q issue6:73) of to the explain relationship that,. between. as. the Akbarian two attributes that support and hold the heavens and together with his master al-Mahdaw¯ı (d. 621H/1224 CE) in Tunis in 590 H/1194 CE censes/by/4.0/).The letter hā᾿ is the Primordialthought Dust, andit is thephilosophy, totality of in letters, the sense from of which falsafa thingsof Greek origin, it is sufficient to quote two although, according to Addas (Addas 1993, hethe may earth have hadare prioral-ḥaqq knowledge and al of-mulk this work, each heaven has a footstool (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 87). are created. It is located below kun. (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 68) through Abd al-Haqq al-Ishbil¯ı (d. 581 H/1185“According CE). Ibn toArab Ibn¯ı refers Barraj to thisan,̄ tafsthe¯ır Quran,in a the universe and mankind are three aspects of the ˙ Without assigning letterit such to a Mahdaw central value¯ı as The in Bookthe genesis of Wisdom of creation(K. al-H asikma Ibn) (seeMasarra,Tahir¯ Hasanayn 1985, p. 12 1 Edited by (Badawi 1955). “Autobibliografía de Ibn ʿArabi”. Al-Andalussame, XX.2,˙ reality pp. 107– 28;(.al Badawi.-Ḥaqq˙ ), 1979 since. Paris; al S.-Ḥ ʿAbdaqq alis-Fattā everythingḥ. .” (Küçük 2013b, p. 385). Ibn ʿArabī speaks crypticallyand Elmore and succinctly 2001, p. 611).in his Ibn work Barraj of an¯a Supreme is cited explicitlyElement ( inʿunFutṣuru¯ hat¯ when he speaks of 1995. Cairo. A comprehensive list of Ibn ʿArabī’s works is to be found in (Aladdin et al. 2009). . aʿẓam)17, which may wellthe relate mystic to that making of his the predecessor Names of from God Córdoba: his own49 Theand asattribute a precursor or ofDivine the notion Name “The al-Ḥaqq (The Truth / The True / The Real) which in Ibn 2 “I have seen an infidel declare in a book called The ideal city (I had found this book which I had not seen previously, at the home ¯ “[Theof an acquaintanceSupreme Element] ofTruth mine through keptin Marchena in the which most of the creation hidden Olives exists” hadof the picked (hiddenIbn itʿ upArabīArab (...) to ıseeis 1911 —the whatprobably, ,most vol. it was 2, p.about 649; as and vol.we came 3,said p. across 77), earlier, andthe following under the influence of Ibn Barrajān—frequently ap- Mashahid¯ al-asrar,¯ Mawaqi¯ al-nujum¯ Tadb¯ırat¯ al-ilahiyya¯ perfectchapter: of ‘In created this chapter beingsin I wish and to examinewere we how not to to postulate have a [thepact( Gonzexistence of concealmentpearsález of Costa a linkeddivinity 2009 that in, to p. this 58)creation, world and’. He had designated not said God (Allah)!in the first exegesis the action of God in the world. It preventsI was amazed us from and threwexplaining(Ibn theArab book ¯ıits 1919 atessential its, p.owner 125 reality,)’s Ibn face. Barraj” we (Addas an¯would is 1993 cited speak, p. as 108 a more reference and Ibnexten- ʿArabī for other 1911, doctrines, III, p. 178). in On addition the one hand, C. to these two. See for example: “That is whatwas the Gnostic used masteras a synonym Abu¯ l-Hak¯ım for Ibn i Barrajslām,an¯ dīn, hudà, Qur´ān and was in opposition to bāṭil (vain, sively about it, showing how all creation (mā siwà Allāh) is united to it.” (Ibn ˙ ʿArabī 1919, p. 50) was referring to with the expression imam¯ mubuseless).¯ın (evident It is guide) also whichunderstood is the Protected as something that ensues (kāín) and indeed is considered Tablet alluded to in the expression “everything” in verse 7:145 “we wrote for him on the Religions“We 2020have, 11 made, x; doi: the FOR centre PEER REVIEW [of the Universe] the receptacle of thesynonymous Supreme Ele- with thewww.mdpi.com/journal/religions end of the world because, according to the Qur’an, it is something Tablets of everything an admonition, and a distinguishing of everything.” (Ibn Arab¯ı 1919, ment as a warning that the higher rules over the lower.”18 (Ibn ʿArabī 1972, v. II, p. 125). that necessarily must happen. Constructed with the preposition bi in front and in combi- p. 317) nation with verbs like create or reveal, it has the meaning that God did not create the 19 This Element, which is closely related to water and the Divineworld Name for al -nothingḤayy al- (see Nwiya 1970, pp. 41–42). According to Akbarian cosmology, we can Qayyūm (The Living One; the Self-Subsisting), is needed to produce life in creation and 45 find multiple correspondences of al-ḥaqq with other elements: Truth equates to First Intel- Of whichfor the we wouldstep from single potential out the following: to action: (Ibn Barraj an¯ 2000). Sharh. asma¯ Allah¯ al-Husnà. Comentario sobre los nombres más bellos de Dios. Edition ˙ and introductory study by Purificación de la Torre. Madrid: CSIC-AECI; González Costa,lect Amina. (al-ʿaql (Gonz alález-awwal Costa 2009), ). Pen “Un ejemplo (al-qalam), de la Spirit (Rūḥ), Glorious Throne, Evident Guide (al- hermen é utica sufí del Corán en Al-Andalus: I¯d. a¯h. al-h. ikma de Ibn Barrayân¯ de Sevilla (m. 536/1141)” in Historia del Sufismo en Al-Andalus y el Magreb edited by (González Costa and López-Anguita 2009). Córdoba: Almuzara; Bellver(2013). “Al-Ghazimām al¯al¯ı of-mubīn al-Andalus:), Interpreting Ibn Barrajan,¯ Mahdism Spirit and the (mutarjim) of God, Universal Spirit (Rūḥ kullī), Justice 17 Regarding this see López EmergenceAnguita, Gracia of Learned (López Sufism-Anguita on the 2018 Iberian). “ Peninsula”.Notas en tornoJournal al ofconcepto the American de Elemento Oriental Society Supremo, 133 (4): (ʿun 659–81;ṣur aʿ ẓGrilam)(2007 ). “La l écture supérieure en Ibn ʿArabī y su escueladu” in Coran Ibn Arabi selon Ibny su Barra˘g épocaâ. nEdited et Ibn byArabî” G. López in Symbolisme-Anguita. et herm Universityéneutique dansof Seville. la pensé e de( IbnʿadlArab), ¯ı“The. Edited byTruth Bakri Aladdin. through Damascus: which IFPO. Creation pp. exists", Muḥammadan Reality, Spirit of Spirits, 18 147–61; Küçük(2013a, 2013b). “Light Upon Light in Andalusian Sufism: Ab u¯ al-Hakam Ibn Barrajan¯ (d. 536/1141) and Muhy¯ı l-D53¯ın Ibn al- Arab¯ı Cf. this idea with Ibn Masarra, Risālat al-iʿtibār: “(…) the one who brings them together despite their˙ differencesand even and makes “every them thing”. . It is also alluded to symbolically as Eagle (ʿuqāb) and White perform contrary to their(d. nature 638/1240) must as be Developer above them, of His encompassing Hermeneutics. Partthem, I: Ibn higher Barraj andan’s¯ greater Life and than Works,” them.ZDMG”; “the163 testimony (2013a), pp. of 87–116 and 2013b “Part II: Ibn Barrajan’s¯ Views and Legacy,” ZDMG 162, pp. 383–409; Böwering, Gerhard and Yousef Casewit.Pearl. 2015. The A Qurexpressionan¯ Commentary al- byhaqq Ibn Barraj al-makhluqan¯ of bi-hi which, as we saw above, had been coined by innate knowledge requires that he who governs them should be above them and encompass them.” (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. Seville (d. 536/1141). I¯d. a¯h. al-Hikma bi-ah. kam¯ al- ibra (Wisdom Deciphered, the unseen Discovered); Yousef Casewit(2017). The Mystics of al-Andalus. Ibn ˙ 220). Barrajan¯ and Islamic Thought in the Twelfth Century. Cambridge University Press. For a full bibliographicIbn Barrajān review (fromCasewit 2012–13the Qur). On’ Ibnan Barraj ayahan¯ ´ s“We created not the heavens and the earth, and all that 19 See the cosmogonic importanceuse of the of Biblewater in in his Risālattafs¯ır ( Casewital-iʿtibār 2016 by ).Ibn Masarra: “The first thing to be createdis was between the Throne them, and the save in truth (al-ḥaqq)” (Q 15:85), is adopted by Ibn ʿArabī, acknowledg- water” (Stroumsa and46 SviriDespite 2009, being p. 224) educated. as a jurist, he would be remembered as a mystic and an exegete. On sources from which to extract biographical information on Ibn Barrajan,¯ (González Costa 2009, pp. 49–52; Küçük 2013a; Casewit 2017). ing the explicit attribution to his master, in Futūḥāt (see Ibn ʿArabī 1911, vol. 2, pp. 60, 104; 47 With regard to his ascription to a specific school of thought, Küçük notes that “while Ibn Barrajvol.an¯ 3, was p. presented 77). by earlier researchers as a follower of Ibn Masarra, biographers or hagiographers say nothing about his “Ba¯t.in¯ı” beliefs or his Mu tazil¯ı tendencies, as they do for Ibn Masarra.” (Küçük 2013b, p. 405). For a study of the life and work of Ibn Barrajan,¯ especially his exegesis, we wouldThis point “Truth to the exhaustive through works ofwhich Casewit andcreation takes place” would become, in Akbarian ontol- Böwering (Casewit 2017; Ibn Barrajan¯ 2015). ogy, a mode of expression of the barzakh, an indispensable doctrine to understand any 48 Ibn Zubayr said about his Tafs¯ır al-Qur an¯ : “It follows a method that has never had precedents, lingering over strange ayahs and invisible beings [questions]. He obscured expression in such a way that none can attain his meaning but thoseaspect who know of the his words, thought his thousands of Ibn of allusions ʿArab andī. This isthmus or intermediate realm, which shares in his inspiration” (Ibn Zubayr, Sila, nº 45, p. 32 in González Costa 2009, p. 57). ˙ the two realities that it separates, which can have a temporal, spatial, ontological, and 49 ¯ In particular, the controversial doctrine of the adoption of the Names of God by the believerepistemological (takhalluq bi-l-asma called meaning,ta abbud by is Ibn fundamental Barrajan)¯ when it comes to relating the eternal and the (Ibn Arab¯ı 1911, Futuh¯ . at¯ , II, p. 649). On Ibn Arab¯ı and Divine Names see (Ibn Arab¯ı 1997). contingent or God with creation. The following excerpt explains the ambiguous nature of this ḥaqq and the extent to which it is related to the Breath of the Merciful or the Cloud,

53 (See Ḥakīm 1981, pp. 111–13; Ibn ʿArabī 2002, p. 109). In his Īḍāḥ, Ibn Barrajān mentions ḥaqq mubīn or kitāb mubīn rather than imām mubīn (see González Costa 2013, p. 234).

Article Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Akbarian Concepts in the Light of Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 14 of 20 Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEWGracia López-Anguita 5 of 20 [and finally] he finds the place of the footstool and the place of the spirit to be […] Thereupon you will find your Lord and Creator; you will meet Him in your- permanent and encompassingself. . (Ibn(Stroumsa Masarra and Sviri 2007a,Facultad 2009, de93p. Filolo224) transl. gía, Universidad Stroumsa de Sevilla, and C/ SviriPalos de la Frontera s/n, 41004 Sevilla, Spain; [email protected] 2009, pp. 219–21) For Ibn ʿArabī, in a similar way to Ibn Masarra, the world is “arranged in degrees [Water] descends from heaven,(marātib)” evenand this though orderly anditAbstract: is hierarchical not The manifest aim arrangement of this ( ẓarticleāhir of)is heaventheto trace cosmos the it- originis specificallys of some what of the key concepts of Ibn Arabi’s makes it intelligible to human beings (see Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p. 95), but with no “occasional self today, it is therein in a non-manifest (bāṭmetaphysicsin) manner. and cosmologyJust as increatures earlier Andalusian that Sufi masters. Within the context of the seminal or causal succession” betweenworks its on elements Ibn Arabi (Ibn’s cosmology ʿArabī 1919, and metaphysicsp. 49). On this produced subject, from how- the second half of the 20th century are engendered from waterever, are Ibn ʿfromArabī explains:heaven . onwards(Ibn Barrajān, and through Tanbīh a comparison, vol. of5, texts p. 241by the Sufi masters Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān, we transl. Casewit 2014) We have been silent withwill seeregard which to elementsexplaining are takenthe true from nature previous of thesour causesces and sohow they are transformed or re-inter- that anyone who speculatespreted onby Ibnthem ʿArabī will innot a philosophicalimagine that-mystical we are amongsystem thatthose would become the point of reference The higher corresponds (yantawhoẓ imattribute) to the the actionlower.for tothe someone( Ibnlater EasternBarrajān, other and than Western Īḍ Godāḥ Sufiinor those Casewittradition. who attribute the 2014, p. 297) action to God, associating the causes to Him. […] He creates the thing by way of a cause if He wants to,Keywords: or if He does Sufism; not a wantl-Andalus; to, He Ibn does Arabi; not m etaphysics;create a cause cosmolo for gy; islamic mysticism; Ibn Masarra; it, because in His wisdom He has already planned to create it in this way, as we Ḥaqq, khalq, raqīqa Citation: López-Anguita, Gracia. Ibn Ibn Barrajān ʿArabī’s Metaphysicsexplained in the earlier. Context And it is impossible for it to be otherwise, because it is impos- One of the most seminalof Andalusian conceptssible Mysticism: for ina thing SomeIbn Ak- toBarrajān be different’s work from how is al it- isḥ aqqknown al- makhlūq[by God]. Forbihi this al -reason, Religions 2021, 12, 40 13 of 19 ʿālam/al-samawāt wa-l-arḍ (thebarian truth Conceptswe have throuin the notLightgh made of Ibnwhich special is mention created of anything the world relating / tocr theeation causal /relationship the Masarra andbetween Ibn Barrajān the. Religions Pen and the1. Introduction Tablet because it has already been discussed by those heavens and earth or The Real2021, according12, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/ to Creation is created) which appears in the three who support the Revealed Law,We believethe People that of the Truth, optimal who consider methodology the adherents for the study and interpretation of Ibn xxxxx Theworks notion mentioned of contemplative above. interpretation, This idea, superiorof [thebased doctrine] reading on various (til ofawa¯ "theʿArabīuliy cause Qurà, see’s ’andworkanGrilic the is 2007ayahs selfcaused”)-exegesis, (Q to 10:15; be based ungodly. 15:85; on a comparison(Ibn 44:3 ʿArabī8– 1919, of his texts and on the reconstruction p. 81) or symbolic39) which transposition, imply that ascending the ḥ andaqqReceived: in is degrees, an 1 December instrument introduced 2020 of into God al-Andalusof his in organic creation, by an Ibnd woulddynamic findthought, a significant the keys to which are distributed throughout his Masarra, also constitutes the essence of Ibn BarrajTwoan’s¯ of hermeneutics. the fundamental At firstelements glance, of thisthe Ibn Masarra’s cosmogonyʿ are, on theʿ one echo in Ibn ʿArabī. This ideaAccepted: had 30already December 2020 appeared extensive in Ibn work.Masarra Commenting when, onspeaking Ibn Arabī of through the Ibn Arabī emerges as the only pos- hermeneutics is included in the tradition,Published: whichhand, 7 had PrimeJanuary already 2021 or Universal begun in Mattersible the East,method (habā of ta to᾿ w understand ¯ıl) and, on the an authorother, the who Word is the or creator Logos of(ka- his own worldview and lan- (esotericletter or allegoricalḥā, he explained interpretation. that Literally, it representslima). theIn Ibn term Ma al meanssarra-Ḥaqq’s to,emanationist the remitguage. Truth an However, element system, or Reality to itthe is firstalso with hypostasisevident which that was certainGod formed cre-pre -ofexisting “an intel- ideas found in authors writing its beginning)ated the or heavenstafs¯ır bi-l-ish andara¯ (exegesisthe earthPublisher’s byligible, (Ibn allusions) Note: intangibleMasarra MDPI but stays for prime neu-2007 some Matterb researchers,before pp. (68,ʿ untheṣ ur 81). suchmystic), coeternal Truth, as may have withIbn been MasarrGod, a frompointa tellswhich of reference us, God made for him, all although establishing the Casewitis the(2017 Name, p. 207), through it belongs which to anothertral God particulawith type: regard creates the rto beingsjurisdictionalibra the orarise” seven i tib (seear¯ . originheavens The Lory meaning 2006,and parentage andp. that834 the), which of earth, a certain is also and idea identified is or based term with is onalways letters: a risky undertaking. A fundamen- underlies this lexical root is that of crossingclaims or in passing published from maps oneand insti- shore to another, i.e., from the ayah “It is He who created theSahl heavens al-Tustarī said:and Lettersthetal clueearth are is the provided in Primordial truth; logically, and Dust the by(al - thehabāday explicit᾿) andHe the saysmentions origin ofin his texts of works and authors the external form of a word, an ayah or anytutional sign affiliations. ofthings Nature, and tothe its beginning interiorthat meaning. of were their referencecreation. Indeed, Frompoints them for him, was which,created however, order and does the not apply where philosophers, reading‘Be the’, and book it of is nature; His and saying contemplating is true. God’s dominionAnd signs His became (isayah the) withmanifest.” Kingdomnot the Sufis, intellect (Ibn are theMasarra (concerned.aql day) 2007 theb We, Trumpetpp. can 62– gain63) anis ideablown of Ibn ʿArabī’s learning background from 50 enables those who contemplate to gradually ascend . Hell and paradise,the according first part toof hishis Ījāza li-l-mālik al-Muẓaffar1 which reveals the fundamental role played (…)” (Q 6:73) to explain that, as theThe two letter attributes hā᾿ is the Primordial that support Dust, it is and the totality hold ofthe letters, heavens from which and things dual vision of reality, underlie or coexist in this plane of existence: “Ibnby Barrajthe sciencean¯ rejects of the hadith in his education. Among the scholars included in this work the earth are al-ḥaqq and al-Copyright:mulk, are each© 202 created.1 by heaven the authors. It is located has a below foot stoolkun. (Ibn (Ib Masarran Masarra 2007b, p.2007b, 68) p. 87). the common understanding of the unseen world (ghayb) as a transcendentare traditionists, abode that isexegetes, philologists, writers, faqihs, judges, etc.; philosophy is absent Submitted Withoutfor possible openassigning access it such a central value in the genesis of creation as Ibn Masarra, “out there”“According spatially, andto Ibn “yet-to-come” Barrajan,̄ temporally. the Quran, ( ... the) the universe visible worldand and scholastic both mankind conceals theology are ( kalthreeām) has aspects a very minorof the presence. The most famous example of publicationIbn ʿArabī under thespeaks terms and cryptically and succinctly in his work of a Supreme Element (ʿunṣur and reveals the invisible. ThisḤ world signals theḤ next world because it isthe an attitude integral partthat Ibn of ʿArabī showed towards philosophy is probably the passage in Futūḥāt 51 same reality (al- aqq), sinceconditions al- aqq of17 the is Creative everything Commons .” (Küçük 2013b, p. 385). it.” (see Böwering and Casewit´s introductionaʿẓam to) Ibn, which Barraj mayan¯ 2015well, relate p. 40) to Compare that of his with predecessor from Córdoba: 2 Attribution (CC BY) license that indirectly alludes to Alfarabi, whilst avoiding explicitly saying his name . the AkbarianThe idea: attribute “everything or inDivine this world Name is a model al-Ḥaqq of the (The things Truth in the / other The world" True / The Real) which in Ibn (http://creativecommons.org/li-“[The Supreme Element] keptWithout in the entering most hidden here intoof the the hidden complex (...) issueis the of most the relationship between Akbarian (Ibn ʿArabīArab¯ı 1911—probably,, vol. 4, p. 206). as we Ibn said Barraj anearlier,¯ suggests, under moreover, the influence that the meanings of Ibn of Barrajān—frequently ap- censes/by/4.0/).perfect of created beingsthought and wereand philosophy, we not to have in the a sensepact of of concealmentfalsafa of Greek that origin, it is sufficient to quote two the elementspears linked of nature to are creation, not univocal. designated Fire, forprevents example, in the us is afromfirst reminder explainingexegesis of hell itsthe and, essential action at the reality, of God we wouldin the speak world. more It exten- same time, of divine Mercy: was used as a synonym for i slām, sively dīn, about hudà it,, Qur´ān showing howand allwas creation in opposition (mā siwà Allāh to) isbā unitedṭil (vain, to it.” (Ibn Among the traces of this Book in existence1 ʿArabī is its allowing1919, p. 50) fire to exist, despite useless). It is also understood Edited as something by (Badawi 1955 that). “Autobibliografía ensues (kāín de )Ibn and ʿArabi indeed”. Al-Andalus is considered, XX.2, pp. 107– 28; Badawi. 1979. Paris; S. ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ. its burning power ( ... ). But at times1995. fire,“We byCairo. the have A wisdom comprehensive made thatthe centre remains list of [of Ibn inthe ʿ theArabī Universe]’s works the is to receptacle be found inof (Aladdin the Supreme et al. 2009). Ele- content,synonymous erupts and with acts as the a warning end of2 to the“ servantsI have mentworld seen who as an a because, thus warninginfidel heed declare that the according warningthein a higherbook andcalled rulesto theThe over ideal Qur the city ’lower.”an, (I had it found18is (Ibn something this ʿArabī book 1972, which v. I II, had not seen previously, at the home rememberthat necessarily the house ofmust the hereafter happen. and,of Constructed asanp. such,acquaintance 317) gain knowledge ofwith mine thein andMarchena preposition certainty of the Olives bi in had fro pickednt and it up into seecombi- what it was about and came across the following about the existence of this house. Andchapter: by contemplating ‘In this chapter how I wish Mercy to examine stops this how to postulate [the existence of a divinity in this world’. He had not said God (Allah)! This Element, which is closely related to water19 and the Divine Name al-Ḥayy al- exhalationnation with of hell verbs and how like [Mercy create and Ior was fire] reveal, amazed then alternate,and it threwhas thethe they book meaning understand at its owner that’s face. God” (Addas did 1993 not, p. create108 and Ibnthe ʿArabī 1911, III, p. 178). On the one hand, C. Qayyūm (The Living One; the Self-Subsisting), is needed to produce life in creation and wisdomworld andfor thenothing mandate (see that Nwiya is within it1970 (...) The, pp. reason 41–42 why). punishmentAccording exists to Akbarian cosmology, we can for the step from potential to action: isfind that itmultiple is necessary correspondences for the Mercy (rah. ma )of that al descend-ḥaqq with s to appease other thatelements: anger to Truth equates to First Intel- Religions 2020, 11, x; doi: FOR PEER REVIEW www.mdpi.com/journal/religions manifestlect (al itself;- ʿ aql in al theawwal alternation ), Pen of both(al - qalam), is that which Spirit enables (Rū life.ḥ), (Ibn Glorious Barrajan,¯ Throne, Evident Guide (al- Id¯. ah¯ . , fol. 9a in González Costa 2013, pp. 259–60, transl. by author) imām al17 - mubīnRegarding), Interpreting this see López Anguita, Spirit Gracia (mutarjim (López-Anguita) of God, 2018). “ UniversalNotas en torno Spirital concepto (Rū deḥ Elemento kullī), SupremoJustice ( ʿunṣur aʿẓam) Ibn Masarraen seems Ibn ʿArabī to prefigure y su escuela and” in inspireIbn Arabi Ibn y su Barrajépoca. Editedan’s¯ concept by G. López of i-Anguita.tibar¯ but, University of Seville. according(ʿadl to), Casewit,“The18 Cf. thisTruth the idea former withthrough placesIbn Masarra, morewhich emphasisRisālat Creation al-iʿ ontibār the: “ exists",(…) ability the ofone theMu who humanḥ bringsammadan intellect them together Reality, despite Spirit their differences of Spirits, and makes them to operateand withoutevenperform “ revelatoryevery contrary thing” guidance to their53. It innature itsis quest alsomust forbealluded above the truth them, to (Casewit encompassingsymbolically 2017, them, p. 37) as higher52 .Eagle and greater(ʿuqāb than) and them. White”; “the testimony of Far fromPearl. being The arbitrary,innate expression knowledge the exercise requiresal- ofhaqqi tib that ar,al¯ -hewhenmakhluq who we governs refer bi- hithem to thewhich, should revealed beas above text,we doessawthem not andabove, encompass had them. been” ( Stroumsacoined and by Sviri 2009, p. disrespect literality220). or internal coherence. Neither is it univocal, since for each mu tabir thereIbn will beBarrajān a19 personal See the from cosmogonic reading the of Qur theimportance Koran.’an ay of Theah water “We idea in ofRisālat created interpretation al-iʿtibār not by the asIbn crossing Masarra:heavens from “The and first thething earth, to be created and was all the that Throne and the one shoreis between to anotherwater them,” appears (Stroumsa save in and onein Sviritruth of the 2009, most(al p.- ḥ224)aqq markedly. )” (Q visionary15:85), is Akbarian adopted works, by Ibn ʿArabī, acknowledg- Mashahiding¯ , the where explicit we find attribution the expression to “boat his of master, interpretation” in Futū (IbnḥātArab (see¯ı 2001bIbn ʿ,Arabī p. 81) 1911, vol. 2, pp. 60, 104; in this sense. This sequence of observation (nazar, basar) of Nature, meditation (i tibar¯ ), and ˙ . ascentvol. is present 3, p. in77) a. similar fashion in Ibn Arab¯ı, Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajan:¯ H. The delightsThis are“Truth in the through nourishments, which the nourishments creation takes in the place” fruit, the would fruit in become, in Akbarian ontol- theogy, boughs a mode [ ... ] andof expression the order issues of fromthe thebarzakh, Lordly Presence.an indispensable Ascend from doctrine to understand any here, look (unzur), enjoy yourself but do not speak. Then he said to me ‘Preserve aspect of the˙ thought of Ibn ʿArabī. This isthmus or intermediate realm, which shares in ¯ thethe intermediaries’. two realities (Ibn thatArab itı separates,2001b, pp. 87, which 92) can have a temporal, spatial, ontological, and epistemological meaning, is fundamental when it comes to relating the eternal and the

50 On i tibar¯ as a ladder of cognitive ascensioncontingent see (Altmann 1967or ; GodDe Callataÿ with 2014 creation.). The following excerpt explains the ambiguous nature of 51 Nature as a book is an idea developed extensivelythis ḥaqq by Ibnand Barraj thean:¯ “Ifextent it is arranged to which thus and itit enables is related life and our to existence, the Breath this is because of the it Merciful or the Cloud, contains a warning and a call to believers to remember through those signs what is within eternal life and to gain knowledge and certainty of the existence of the other world” ( Gonz á lez Costa 2013, p. 259, transl. by author). 52 53 “WhereasḤ the term i´tibar¯ was used by Abu¯ Nas.ʿr al-Far¯ ab¯ ¯ı (d. 338/950), the Brethren of Purity,ḍ ḥ and Avicenna (d. 428/1037) to meanḥ the inductive (Seemethod akīm that equips 1981 the, p philosopherp. 111–13; with Ibn tools toArabī demonstrate 2002 God’s, p. existence,109). In Ibn his Masarra’s Ī ā , isIbn a method Barrajān of meditative mentions ascension whichaqq mubīn differs or kitāb mubīn rather than from the purely cerebral process of discursive reasoning. Indeed, his conceptionof i tibar¯ foreruns Ibn Tufayl’s (d. 581/1185) autodidact, Hayy Ibn imām mubīn (see González Costa 2013, p. 234). . ˙ Yaqzan,¯ and is also Suﬁ-inspired since only the spiritually puriﬁed saints are endowed with this gift.” (Casewit 2017, pp. 37–38). ˙

Article Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Akbarian Concepts in the Light of Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān

Gracia López-Anguita

Religions 2021, 12, 40 14 of 19 Facultad de Filología, Universidad de Sevilla, C/Palos de la Frontera s/n, 41004 Sevilla, Spain; [email protected]

Abstract:The observer The aim may of this examine article is (yan to tracezuru )the one origin of thes of three some [genera]: of the key animals, concepts plants of Ibn Arabi’s ˙ metaphysicsand inanimate and cosmology beings. He in observesearlier Andalusian the plant Sufi and masters. sees an Within inanimate, the context [ ... ] Asof the he seminal worksobserves on Ibn thisArabi nutrition,’s cosmology he and sees metaphysics that it ascends produced upwards from the and second spreads half sideways of the 20th century onwards[and finally] and through he finds a comparison the place of of texts the footstoolby the Sufi and masters the placeIbn Masarra of the and spirit Ibn to Barrajān, be we willpermanent see which elements and encompassing. are taken from (Ibn previous Masarra sour 2007aces and, 93 how transl. they Stroumsa are transformed and Sviri or re-inter- preted2009 by, pp. Ibn 219–21) ʿArabī in a philosophical-mystical system that would become the point of reference for[Water] the later descends Eastern and from Western heaven, Sufi even tradition. though it is not manifest (zahir¯ ) heaven itself ˙ today, itReligions is therein 2020 in a, non-manifest11, x FOR PEER (ba¯.t REVIEWin) manner. Just as creatures that are 14 of 20 Keywords:engendered Sufism; from al-Andalus; water are Ibn from Arabi; heaven. metaphysics; (Ibn c Barrajosmoloan,¯gy;Tanb islamic¯ıh, m vol.ysticism; 5, p. Ibn 241 Masarra; Citation: López-Anguita, Gracia. Ibn Ibntransl. Barrajān Casewit 2014) ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context [and finally] he finds the place of the footstool and the place of the spirit to be The higher corresponds (yantazim) to the lower. (Ibn Barrajan,¯ I¯d. a¯h. in Casewit of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Ak- ˙ 2014, p. 297) permanent and encompassing. (Ibn Masarra 2007a, 93 transl. Stroumsa and Sviri barian Concepts in the Light of Ibn 2009, pp. 219–21) Masarra and Ibn Barrajān. Religions Haqq,1. Introduction khalq, raq¯ıqa 2021, 12, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/ ˙ ẓ OneWe of believe the most that seminal the optimal concepts methodology in Ibn Barraj foran’s¯ the work[Water] study is andal- descendsh aqq interpretation al-makhl fromuq¯ ofbihi Ibnheaven, even though it is not manifest ( āhir) heaven it- xxxxx . al-ʿArabīalam/al-samaw¯ ’s work isat¯ self wa-l-ar-exegesis,d. (the based truth on through a comparison which of is createdhisself texts today, theand worldon it the is /reconstruction therein creation /in a non-manifest (bāṭin) manner. Just as creatures that the heavens and earth or The Real according to Creation is created) which appears in Received: 1 December 2020 of his organic and dynamic thought, the keys to whichare are engend distributedered throughout from water his are from heaven. (Ibn Barrajān, Tanbīh, vol. 5, p. 241 the three works mentioned above. Thisʿ idea, based on variousʿ Qur’anic ayahs (Q 10:15; Accepted: 30 December 2020 extensive work. Commenting on Ibn Arabī through Ibntransl. Arabī emergesCasewit as 2014)the only pos- Published: 7 January 2021 15:85;sible 44:38–39) method whichto understand imply that an theauthorh. aqq whois an is instrument the creator of of God his inown creation, worldview would and find lan- a significantguage. However, echo in it Ibn is alsoArab evident¯ı. This that idea certain had alreadypre-existing appearedThe ideas higher found in Ibn incor Masarra authorsresponds when, writing ( yantaẓim) to the lower. (Ibn Barrajān, Īḍāḥ in Casewit Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu- speakingbefore the of the mystic letter mayha¯, hehave explained been a thatpoint it of represents referenceal- forHaqq him,, the although Truth or establishing Reality with the . 2014,˙ p. 297) tral with regard to jurisdictional whichorigin God and created parentage the heavensof a certain and idea the or earth term (Ibn is always Masarra a risky 2007b undertaking., pp. 68, 81). A Truth, fundamen- Ibn claims in published maps and insti- Masarratal clue tells is provided us, is the Namelogically, through by the which explicit God mentions creates the in sevenhis texts heavens of works and and the earth,authors tutional affiliations. andthat is basedwere reference on the ayah points “It is for He him, who which, created however, the heavensḤaqq does, andkhalq not the apply, earthraqīqa where in truth; philosophers, and the day He says ‘Be’, and it is; His saying is true. And His is the Kingdom the day the Trumpet not Sufis, are concerned. We can gain an idea of Ibn ʿArabī’s learning background from ḥ is blownthe first ( ...part)” of (Q his 6:73) Ījāza to li explain-l-mālik al that,-Mu asẓaffar the1 twowhich attributes revealsOne thatthe of fundamental supportthe most and seminalrole hold played the concepts in Ibn Barrajān’s work is al- aqq al-makhlūq bihi al-

heavensby the andscience the earthof the are hadithal-h. aqq in hisand education.al-mulk, each Among heavenʿālam/al the hasscholars-samawāt a footstool included wa (Ibn-l in- Masarraar thisḍ (the work truth through which is created the world / creation / the Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. 2007bare ,traditionists, p. 87). “According exegetes, to Ibn philologists, Barrajan,¯ thewriters, Quran, faqihs, the universe judges, etc.; and mankindphilosophy are is three absent Submitted for possible open access heavens and earth or The Real according to Creation is created) which appears in the three aspectsand scholastic of the same theology reality (al-Hkalāmaqq) has), since a veryal-H minoraqq is everything.”presence. The ( Küçükmost famous 2013b, p.example 385). of publication under the terms and ˙ ˙ works mentioned above. This idea, based on various Qur’anic ayahs (Q 10:15; 15:85; 44:38– The attribute or Divine Name al-Haqq (The Truth / The True / The Real) which inḥ conditions of the Creative Commons the attitude that Ibn ʿArabī showed towards˙ philosophy is probably the passage in Futū āt Ibn Arab¯ı—probably, as we said earlier, under the influence39) which of Ibn imply Barraj an—frequentlythat¯ 2the ḥaqq is an instrument of God in creation, would find a significant Attribution (CC BY) license that indirectly alludes to Alfarabi, whilst avoiding explicitly saying his name . appears linked to creation, designated in the first exegesis the action of God in the world. (http://creativecommons.org/li- Without entering here into the complex issueecho of the in relationship Ibn ʿArabī. between This Akbarian idea had already appeared in Ibn Masarra when, speaking of the It was used as a synonym for islam,¯ d¯ın, hudà, Qurán¯ and was in opposition to ba¯til censes/by/4.0/). thought and philosophy, in the sense of falsafa of Greek origin, it is sufficient to quote. two (vain, useless). It is also understood as somethingletter that ensuesḥā, he (kexplaineda¯ín) and indeed that it is represents al-Ḥaqq, the Truth or Reality with which God cre- considered synonymous with the end of the worldated because, the according heavens to and the Qur’an, the earth it (Ibn Masarra 2007b, pp. 68, 81). Truth, Ibn Masarra tells us, is something that necessarily must happen. Constructed with the preposition bi in front 1 Edited by (Badawi 1955). “Autobibliografía de Ibn ʿArabi”. Al-Andalus, XX.2, pp. 107is–28; the Badawi. Name 1979 through. Paris; S. ʿAbd which al-Fattā Godḥ. creates the seven heavens and the earth, and is based on and in combination with verbs like create or reveal, it has the meaning that God did not 1995. Cairo. A comprehensive list of Ibn ʿArabī’s works is to be found in (Aladdin et al. 2009). create the world for nothing (Nwiya 1970, pp. 41–42).the According ayah “It to Akbarianis He who cosmology, created the heavens and the earth in truth; and the day He says 2 “I have seen an infidel declare in a book called The ideal city (I had found this book which I had not seen previously, at the home we can find multiple correspondences of al-haqq with other elements: Truth equates to First of an acquaintance of mine in Marchena of the Olives had picked it up to. see what it‘Be was’, aboutand andit is came; His across saying the following is true. And His is the Kingdom the day the Trumpet is blown Intellect (al- aql al-awwal), Pen (al-qalam), Spirit (Ru¯h), Glorious Throne, Evident Guide chapter: ‘In this chapter I wish to examine how to postulate [the existence of a divinity(…)” .in this world(Q 6:73)’. He had to notexplain said God that, (Allah)! as the two attributes that support and hold the heavens and (al-imam¯ al-mub¯ın), Interpreting Spirit (mutarjim) of God, Universal Spirit (Ru¯h kull¯ı), Justice I was amazed and threw the book at its owner’s face.” (Addas 1993, p. 108 and Ibn ʿtheArabī earth 1911, III, are p. 178). al-ḥ Onaqq. the and one hand, al-mulk C. , each heaven has a footstool (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 87). ( adl), “The Truth through which Creation exists”, Muh. ammadan Reality, Spirit of Spirits, and even “every thing”53. It is also alluded to symbolically“According as Eagle ( uqtoab¯ Ibn) and Barraj White Pearl.an,̄ the Quran, the universe and mankind are three aspects of the al-haqq al-makhluq bi-hi Religions 2020, 11, x; doi: FOR PEERThe REVIEW expression which, as wesame saw above, realitywww.mdpi.com/journal/religions had ( beenal-Ḥaqq coined), since by Ibn al- Ḥaqq is everything.” (Küçük 2013b, p. 385). Barrajan¯ from the Qur’an ayah “We created not the heavens and the earth, and all that is The attribute or Divine Name al-Ḥaqq (The Truth / The True / The Real) which in Ibn between them, save in truth (al-h. aqq)” (Q 15:85), is adopted by Ibn Arab¯ı, acknowledging the explicit attribution to his master, in Futu¯h. at¯ (Ibn ʿArabīArab¯ı 1911—probably,, vol. 2, pp. 60, as 104; we vol. said 3, earlier, under the influence of Ibn Barrajān—frequently ap- p. 77). pears linked to creation, designated in the first exegesis the action of God in the world. It This “Truth through which creation takes place” would become, in Akbarian ontology, a mode of expression of the barzakh, an indispensablewas doctrine used to as understand a synonym any aspect for islām, dīn, hudà, Qur´ān and was in opposition to bāṭil (vain, of the thought of Ibn Arab¯ı. This isthmus or intermediateuseless). realm, It which is also shares understood in the two as something that ensues (kāín) and indeed is considered synonymous with the end of the world because, according to the Qur’an, it is something 53 (See Hak¯ım 1981, pp. 111–13; Ibn Arab¯ı 2002, p. 109). In his I¯da¯h, Ibn Barrajan¯ mentions haqq mub¯ın or kitab¯ mub¯ın rather than imam¯ mub¯ın (González ˙ . . . Costa 2013, p. 234). that necessarily must happen. Constructed with the preposition bi in front and in combination with verbs like create or reveal, it has the meaning that God did not create the world for nothing (see Nwiya 1970, pp. 41–42). According to Akbarian cosmology, we can find multiple correspondences of al-ḥaqq with other elements: Truth equates to First Intel- lect (al-ʿaql al-awwal), Pen (al-qalam), Spirit (Rūḥ), Glorious Throne, Evident Guide (al- imām al-mubīn), Interpreting Spirit (mutarjim) of God, Universal Spirit (Rūḥ kullī), Justice (ʿadl), “The Truth through which Creation exists", Muḥammadan Reality, Spirit of Spirits, and even “every thing”53. It is also alluded to symbolically as Eagle (ʿuqāb) and White Pearl. The expression al-haqq al-makhluq bi-hi which, as we saw above, had been coined by Ibn Barrajān from the Qur’an ayah “We created not the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, save in truth (al-ḥaqq)” (Q 15:85), is adopted by Ibn ʿArabī, acknowledging the explicit attribution to his master, in Futūḥāt (see Ibn ʿArabī 1911, vol. 2, pp. 60, 104; vol. 3, p. 77). This “Truth through which creation takes place” would become, in Akbarian ontology, a mode of expression of the barzakh, an indispensable doctrine to understand any aspect of the thought of Ibn ʿArabī. This isthmus or intermediate realm, which shares in the two realities that it separates, which can have a temporal, spatial, ontological, and epistemological meaning, is fundamental when it comes to relating the eternal and the contingent or God with creation. The following excerpt explains the ambiguous nature of this ḥaqq and the extent to which it is related to the Breath of the Merciful or the Cloud,

53 (See Ḥakīm 1981, pp. 111–13; Ibn ʿArabī 2002, p. 109). In his Īḍāḥ, Ibn Barrajān mentions ḥaqq mubīn or kitāb mubīn rather than imām mubīn (see González Costa 2013, p. 234).

Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 14 of 20

The higher corresponds (yantaẓim) to the lower. (Ibn Barrajān, Īḍāḥ in Casewit Article 2014, p. 297) Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Ḥaqq, khalq, raqīqa ReligionsMysticism: 2020, 11, x FOR PEER Some REVIEW Akbarian Concepts in the Light of Ibn 5 of 20 One of the most seminal concepts in Ibn Barrajān’s work is al-ḥaqq al-makhlūq bihi al- Masarra and Ibn Barrajān[…] Thereupon you will find your Lord andʿālam/al Creator;-samawāt you will meet wa- Himl-arḍ in (the your- truth through which is created the world / creation / the self. (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 224) heavens and earth or The Real according to Creation is created) which appears in the three Gracia López-Anguita For Ibn ʿArabī, in a similar way to Ibn Masarra, the world is “arranged in degrees (marātib)” and this orderly and hierarchical arrangementworks mentioned of the cosmos above. is specifically This idea,what based on various Qur’anic ayahs (Q 10:15; 15:85; 44:38– makes it intelligible to human beings (see Ibn39 ʿArab) whichī 1919, implyp. 95), but that with the no ḥ“occasionalaqq is an instrument of God in creation, would find a significant Facultad de Filología, Universidad de Sevilla, C/Palos de la Frontera s/n, 41004 Sevilla, Spain; ʿ [email protected] causal succession” between its elements (Ibnecho Arab inī Ibn1919, ʿ Arabī.p. 49). On This this subject,idea had how- already appeared in Ibn Masarra when, speaking of the ʿ ever, Ibn Arabī explains: letter ḥā, he explained that it represents al-Ḥaqq, the Truth or Reality with which God cre- Abstract:We have The beenaim of silent this article with regardis to trace to theexplaining origins of the some true of nature the key of concepts the causes of Ibn so Arabi ’s Religions 2021, 12, 40 metaphysicsthat anyone and whocosmology speculates in earlier on themAndalusian willated not Sufi imaginethe masters. heavens15 ofthatWithin 19 we theandare context among the earthof those the seminal (Ibn Masarra 2007b, pp. 68, 81). Truth, Ibn Masarra tells us, workswho on attributeIbn Arabi ’thes cosmology action to and someone metaphysics otheris produced thanthe NameGod from or thethosethrough second who half attribute which of the 20 theGodth century creates the seven heavens and the earth, and is based on onwardsaction and to God,through associating a comparison the causesof texts toby Him. the Sufi […]ayah masters He “Itcreates Ibn is Masarra Hethe thingwho and by Ibncreated way Barrajān, of the we heavens and the earth in truth; and the day He says willa see cause which if Heelements wants are to, taken or if fromHe does previous not wantsources to, and He how does they not are create transformed a cause orfor re -inter- realities that it separates, which can have a temporal, spatial, ontological,‘Be and’, epistemolog-and it is; His saying is true. And His is the Kingdom the day the Trumpet is blown pretedit, because by Ibn ʿArabī in His in wisdom a philosophical He has-mystical already system planned that to would create become it in this the way, point as of we reference ical meaning, is fundamental when it comes to relating the eternal and the contingent or for theexplained later Eastern earlier. and And Western it is impossibleSufi tradition. for (…)” it to be (Q otherwise, 6:73) to because explain it is that, impos- as the two attributes that support and hold the heavens and God with creation. The following excerpt explains the ambiguous nature of this haqq and sible for a thing to be different from how it is known. [by God]. For this reason, the extent to which it is related to the Breath of the Merciful or the Cloud,the denominations earth are al-ḥaqq and al-mulk, each heaven has a footstool (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 87). Keywords:we have Sufism; not made al-Andalus; special Ibn mention Arabi; ofmetaphysics; anything relatingcosmolo gy;to theislamic causal mysticism; relationship Ibn Masarra; of the realm in which beings are brought from non-existence to existence:“According “The Cloud to is Ibn Barrajan,̄ the Quran, the universe and mankind are three aspects of the Citation:the Real López- throughAnguita, Gracia whom. Ibn takesIbnplace betweenBarrajān the the creation Pen and of everything. the Tablet because It is called it has the already Real (H aqqbeen) discussed by those ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context same reality˙ (al-Ḥaqq), since al-Ḥaqq is everything.” (Küçük 2013b, p. 385). since it is identical with the Breath.who Andsupport the the breath Revealed is hidden Law, within the People the Breather—for of Truth, who this consider the adherents of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Ak- is what one understands from “breath”.of [the doctrine] Hence the of Breath"the cause has theand property the caused” of nonThe to manifest,be attribute ungodly. (Ibn or DivineʿArabī 1919, Name al-Ḥaqq (The Truth / The True / The Real) which in Ibn barian Concepts in the Light of Ibn but when it becomes manifest itp. has 81)the property of the Manifest.” (Ibn ʿArabīArab¯ı 1911—probably,, vol. 2, as we said earlier, under the influence of Ibn Barrajān—frequently ap- Masarra and Ibn Barrajān. Religions p. 310, translated by Chittick1. 1989IntroductionTwo, p.of 134) the fundamental elements of the Ibn Masarra’s cosmogony are, on the one 2021, 12, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/ pears linked to creation, designated in the first exegesis the action of God in the world. It These two extremes khalqhand,and PrimeWeh aqq believe orare Universal connected that the Matter optimal through (habā methodologyraq a¯ ᾿ iq ,) subtle and, for on bonds thethe studyother, that, andthe Word interpretation or Logos of (ka- Ibn xxxxx . according to some of Ibn al-limaʿArabīArab). In¯ı’s’ sIbn works,work Ma issarra areself in’-sexegesis, emanationist charge of based uniting system, on thea comparison Divine thewas first used Names hypostasis of his as with texts a synonymwas and formedon the reconstruction offor “an islām, intel- dīn, hudà, Qur´ān and was in opposition to bāṭil (vain, 54ṣ Received:each 1 other December and 2020 with createdligible,of things, his intangibleorganic forming an aprimed kind dynamicof Matter dialogue thought, (ʿun urand ),the coeternal providing keysuseless). to with knowledgewhich God,It areis from alsodistributed whichunderstood Godthroughout made as all hissomething that ensues (kāín) and indeed is considered and existence continuouslyparticulaextensive to createdr beings work. things arise” Commenting (Hak (see¯ım 1981Lory on) 2006, This Ibn ʿ “cosmogonicp.Arabī 834), through which drama” is Ibn also ʿArabī identified is emerges with as letters: the only pos- Accepted: 30 December 2020 ˙ synonymous with the end of the world because, according to the Qur’an, it is something set forth in K. Insha¯ al-dawsiblea¯ ir wheremethod it to is explainedunderstand that an thirtyauthor bonds who is that the extend creator from of his own worldview and lan- Published: 7 January 2021 Sahl al-Tustarī said: Letters are the Primordialthat necessarily Dust (al-habā᾿) must and the happen. origin of Constructed with the preposition bi in front and in combi- the Names of God, crossingguage. eachthings otherHowever, and and the grouping itbeginning is also evident together of their that creation. until certain they From pre descend-existing them to was theideas created found order in authors and the writing Publisher’sinhabitants Note: MDPI of Hell stays neu- and Paradise,beforedominion keepthe mystic creation became may alive. manifest.” have (Ibn beenArab (Ibn a point ¯ı,Masarra pp. of 40–41).nation reference 2007b The, pp.with forraq 62 a¯him,– 63iqverbs) although like establishingcreate or thereveal, it has the meaning that God did not create the tralare with noregard more to jurisdictional than relations, origin and they and pre-exist parentage created of a certain things: idea “God or term created is always rank (mak a riskyana¯ ) undertaking. A fundamen- The letter hā᾿ is the Primordial Dust, it is theworld totality for of nothing letters, from (see which Nwiya things 1970 , pp. 41–42). According to Akbarian cosmology, we can claimsbefore in published He created maps and place insti- (maktalan¯ ).clue Then is provided He stretched logically, tenuities by (raqthea¯ explicitiq) from mentions rank to specific in his texts of works and authors are created. It is located below kun. (Ibn Masarrafind multiple 2007b, p. 68)correspondences of al-ḥaqq with other elements: Truth equates to First Intel- tutionalplaces affiliations. ( ... ) then He broughtthat into were existence reference the thingspoints infor their him, spaces” which, (Fut. however, II 528.26, does trans. not apply where philosophers, Chittick). These rays—as Ibnnot ArabiWithout Sufis, sometimes are assigning concerned. calls it such We them—can cana central gain introduce anvalue idealect in of athe (Ibn principleal genesis- ʿʿaqlArabī al of’ofs- awwal learningcreation), backgroundas Pen Ibn (alMasarra,-qalam), from Spirit (Rūḥ), Glorious Throne, Evident Guide (al- ṣ differentiation into beings:Ibnthe “Masculine ʿArabī first part speaks andof his cryptically feminine, Ījāza li-l- whichmālik and succinctlyal are-Mu unitedẓaffar imāmin1 inwhich his the workalh. revealsaq-mubīn¯ıqa ofbut athe Supreme), fundamentalInterpreting Element role (Spiritʿ unplayedur (mutarjim) of God, Universal Spirit (Rūḥ kullī), Justice 17 ordered in the circle of creation,aʿẓbyam the) have, whichscience differentiated may of the well hadith relate their in to ranks his that education. byof his means predecessor Among of the different the from scholars Córdoba: included in this work Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. (ʿadl), “The Truth through which Creation exists", Muḥammadan Reality, Spirit of Spirits, raq¯ıqa-s” (Hak¯ım 1981). It isare in the“[Thetraditionists, perfect Supreme man exegetes, Element] and in thephilologists, kept Supreme in the Element writers,most hidden (faqihs,uns.ur of ajudges,thezam hidden) etc.; (...)philosophy is the most is absent Submitted for possible˙ open access ˙ 53 where these threads will “tie together”:perfect of created beings and were we notand to evenhave a “pactevery of concealment thing” . Itthat is also alluded to symbolically as Eagle (ʿuqāb) and White publication under the terms and and scholastic theology (kalām) has a very minor presence. The most famous example of prevents us from explaining its essential reality, we would speak more exten- conditionsGod of the hasCreative made Commons the human the beingattitude as thethat sum Ibn ofʿArabī the subtleshowed connections towards Pearl.philosophy of the wholeThe is expression probably the passage al-haqq in alFutū-makhluqḥāt bi-hi which, as we saw above, had been coined by sively about it, showing how all creation (mā siwà Allāh) is united to it.”2 (Ibn Attributionworld. (CC BY) license And from himthat to everything indirectly inalludes the world to Alfarabi, a subtle whilst relation avoidingIbn is extended Barrajān explicitly from saying the his nameQur’.an ayah “We created not the heavens and the earth, and all that (http://creativecommons.org/li-(mumtamadd). (Hak¯ım 1981ʿArabī,Without p. 536) 1919, entering p. 50) here into the complex issue of the relationship between Akbarian ˙ is between them, save in truth (al-ḥaqq)” (Q 15:85), is adopted by Ibn ʿArabī, acknowledg- censes/by/4.0/). thought and philosophy, in the sense of falsafa of Greek origin, it is sufficient to quote two That raq¯ıqa between the servant“We have and made every the part centre (juz )[of of the the Universe] world ( ... the) exists receptacle of the Supreme Ele- ing the explicit18 attribution to his master, in Futūḥāt (see Ibn ʿArabī 1911, vol. 2, pp. 60, 104; according to an affinity/ whatment is as appropriated a warning that (yun theasib¯ higher) with therules world over andthe lower.” what (Ibn ʿArabī 1972, v. II, has an affinity with him ( mun p. 317)asib¯ ). (Hak¯ım 1981, p. 536) vol. 3, p. 77). 1 ˙ Edited by (Badawi 1955). “AutobibliografíaThis Element, de Ibn which ʿArabi is” . closelyAl-Andalus related, XX.2, to pp. water 107–1928; and Badawi. the Divine1979. Paris; Name S. ʿ Abdal-Ḥ ayyal-Fattā al-ḥ. [From the First Intellect] its subtle relations (raqa¯íq) are extended to theThis Soul, “Truth through which creation takes place” would become, in Akbarian ontol- 1995. Cairo. A comprehensiveQayyūm list of Ibn (The ʿArabī Living’s works One; is tothe be Self found-Subsisting), in (Aladdin is et needed al. 2009). to produce life in creation and 2 “I havethe seen Prime an infidel Matter, declare the Body, in a book the fixed called stars, The ideal the city center (I had [of found the Universe] this bookogy, which anda mode the I had not of seen expression previously, at of the thehome barzakh, an indispensable doctrine to understand any for the step from potential to action: of anelements, acquaintance and of through mine in anMarchena ascending of the movement, Olives had [theypicked reach] it up to ( ... seeaspect) what engendered it was of aboutthe thoughtand came across of Ibn the followingʿArabī . This isthmus or intermediate realm, which shares in beings, the human being, and the Greatest Element -where [the subtle relations] chapter: ‘ In this chapter I wish to examine how to postulate [the existence of a divinitythe two in this realities world’. He thathad not it said separates, God (Allah)! which can have a temporal, spatial, ontological, and I wastie amazed together and ( inthrewiqad¯ ),the that book is at the its origin owner of’s face. 46.656.000” (Addas subtle 1993, relations. p. 108 and ( Ibn ʿArabīArab 1911,¯ı III, p. 178). On the one hand, C. 17 Regarding1919 ,this p. see 52) López Anguita, Gracia (López-Anguita 2018). “Notas en tornoepistemological al concepto de Elemento meaning, Supremo (ʿun isṣur fundamental aʿẓam) when it comes to relating the eternal and the en Ibn ʿArabī y su escuela” in Ibn Arabi y su época. Edited by G. López-Anguita. University of Seville. 18 Cf. thisIn idea relation with Ibn to the Masarra, sphere Risālat of the al world,-iʿtibār: the“(…) Greatest the one who Element brings would them betogethercontingent the [central] despite theiror God differences with and creation. makes them The following excerpt explains the ambiguous nature of Religions 2020, 11, x; doi: FOR PEER REVIEW www.mdpi.com/journal/religions performdot, contrary and the to circumferencetheir nature must would be above be the them, Pen encompassing while the Table them, is what higherthis is and betweenḥaqq greater and than the them. extent”; “the to testimony which of it is related to the Breath of the Merciful or the Cloud, innatethem. knowledge And inrequires the same that wayhe who the governs dot comprehends them should the be circumferenceabove them and in encompass its essence, them.” (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 220). this Element comprehends in its essence all the facets of the Pen which constitute 19 See thethose cosmogonic subtle relationsimportance we of talked water53 aboutin(See Risālat before,Ḥakīm al-iʿtibār they 1981 by are Ibn, onep Masarra:p. in 111 the– Element“13;The Ibnfirst andthingʿArabī they to be 2002 created, p. was 109) the. ThroneIn his and Īḍā theḥ, Ibn Barrajān mentions ḥaqq mubīn or kitāb mubīn rather than water”multiply (Stroumsa themselves and Sviri 2009, in the p. 224) Intellect. imām according mubīn (see to the González diverse modes Costa of reception2013, p. 234). of the [Element] in the [Intellect]. That’s why the Greatest Element is stronger when recognising the unity of its Creator. (Ibn Arab¯ı 1919, p. 82) These subtle threads appear in the most diverse contexts. Discussing letters, he explains that the three letters of God (alif, zayn, lam) and the three letters of man (nun, sad, dad) multiplied by the three worlds of mulk, malakut,¯ and jabarut¯ result in nine spheres in which the knowledge of God is projected towards man (aflak¯ al-ilqa¯ ) and nine spheres of reception that correspond to man (aflak¯ al-talaqq¯ı) and “from each of the essential realities

54 (Ibn Arab¯ı 1999b, pp. 353–71). Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 14 of 20

The higher corresponds (yantaẓim) to the lower. (Ibn Barrajān, Īḍāḥ in Casewit Article 2014, p. 297) ʿ Ibn Arabī’s Metaphysics Ḥinaqq the, khalq Context, raqīqa of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Akbarian ConceptsOne of the most in theseminal Light concepts of Ibnin Ibn Barrajān’s work is al-ḥaqq al-makhlūq bihi al- Masarra and Ibn Barrajānʿālam/al -samawāt wa-l-arḍ (the truth through which is created the world / creation / the heavens and earth or The Real according to Creation is created) which appears in the three Gracia López-Anguita works mentioned above. This idea, based on various Qur’anic ayahs (Q 10:15; 15:85; 44:38– 39) which imply that the ḥaqq is an instrument of God in creation, would find a significant Facultad de Filología, Universidad de Sevilla,ʿ C/Palos de la Frontera s/n, 41004 Sevilla, Spain; [email protected] echo in Ibn Arabī. This idea had already appeared in Ibn Masarra when, speaking of the letter ḥā, he explained that it represents al-Ḥaqq, the Truth or Reality with which God cre- Abstract: The aim ofated this thearticle heavens is to trace theand origin thes earthof some (Ibnof the Masarrakey concepts 2007 of Ibnb ,Arabi pp.’ s68, 81). Truth, Ibn Masarra tells us, metaphysics and cosmologyis the Name in earlier through Andalusian which Sufi masters. God Within creates the context the seven of the seminal heavens and the earth, and is based on works on Ibn Arabi’s cosmology and metaphysics produced from the second half of the 20th century onwards and throughthe a comparisonayah “It ofis texts He by who the Sufi created masters Ibnthe Masarra heavens and Ibn and Barrajān, the weearth in truth; and the day He says will see which elements‘Be’ are, and taken it from is; previousHis saying sources is and true. how theyAnd are Histransformed is the or Kingdom re-inter- the day the Trumpet is blown preted by Ibn ʿArabī(…)” in a philosophical (Q 6:73) to-mystical explain system that, that wouldas the become two theattributes point of reference that support and hold the heavens and for the later Eastern and Western Sufi tradition. the earth are al-ḥaqq and al-mulk, each heaven has a footstool (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 87). Religions 2021, 12, 40 16 of 19 Keywords: Sufism; “alAccording-Andalus; Ibn Arabi; to Ibn metaphysics; Barraja cn,̄ osmolo thegy; Quran, islamic m theysticism; universe Ibn Masarra; and mankind are three aspects of the Citation: López-Anguita, Gracia. Ibn Ibn Barrajān same reality (al-Ḥaqq), since al-Ḥaqq is everything.” (Küçük 2013b, p. 385). ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context ofof the Andalusian nine spheres Mysticism: subtle Some Ak- bonds extend out toward the nineThe human attribute spheres, or andDivine from this,Name al-Ḥaqq (The Truth / The True / The Real) which in Ibn Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEERreciprocallybarian REVIEW Concepts go in backthe Light to of the Ibn divine spheres.” (Ibn ʿArabīArab¯ı 1911—probably,, vol. 1, p. 51 as trans. we Gril said 2004 earlier,, 5 of 20 under the influence of Ibn Barrajān—frequently ap- p.Masarra 156). and This Ibn element Barrajān. Religions of Akbarian 1. Introduction cosmology also pears has angelological linked to implications: creation, designated in the first exegesis the action of God in the world. It 2021, 12, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/[…] Thereupon you will find your Lord and Creator; you will meet Him in your- There are subtle threads which extendWe believe from the that Universal the optimal Soul methodologyto the Throne ( for... the study and interpretation of Ibn xxxxx was used as a synonym for islām, dīn, hudà, Qur´ān and was in opposition to bāṭil (vain, ) these areself like. (Stroumsa ladders (andmaʿ Arabīarij¯Sviri) for 2009,’s work the p angels,. is224) self - whileexegesis, the based meanings on a thatcomparison descend of his texts and on the reconstruction For Ibn ʿArabī, in a similar way to useless).Ibn Masarra, It theis alsoworld understood is “arranged in as degrees something that ensues (kāín) and indeed is considered Received:in these 1 December tenuities 2020 are like angels.of his organic (Futu¯ h. at ¯an 1911,d dynamic vol. 3, thought, p. 582, Trans. the keys Chittick to which are distributed throughout his (marātib)” and this orderly and hierarchical arrangement of the cosmos is specifically what Accepted:1989 30, p. December 406) 2020 extensive work. Commentingsynonymous on Ibn with ʿArabī the through end of Ibn the ʿArabī world emerges because, as the only according pos- to the Qur’an, it is something makes it intelligible to human beings (see Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p. 95), but with no “occasional Published:( ... 7) January Wherever 2021 these bondssible meet method (ijtama to), understandthat the angel necessarily itself an author is the must meetingwho is happen. the point creator Constructed of his own world withview andthe lan-preposition bi in front and in combi- or causal succession” betweenguage. However,its elements it is(Ibn also ʿArab evidentī 1919, that p. certain 49). On pre this-existing subject, ideas how- found in authors writing and it is there where the angel comes to existencenation (h. adatha with). Thisverbs newly like arrived create or reveal, it has the meaning that God did not create the Publisher’sever, Note: Ibn MDPI ʿArabī stays neu- explains:before the mystic may have been a point of reference for him, although establishing the fact is thus the angel itself. If it bows with itsworld whole being for nothing toward one (see of the Nwiya sets 1970, pp. 41–42). According to Akbarian cosmology, we can tral withofnine regardspheres, Weto jurisdictional have thebeen other silentorigin side with attracts and regard parentage it. to It explaining thus of comesa certain the and ideatrue goes ornature term from ofis one alwaysthe tocauses a risky so undertaking. A fundamen- claims in published maps and insti- tal clue is provided logically, by the explicit mentions in his texts of works and authors anotherthat (yataraddadu anyone ).who (Fut speculatesuh¯ . at¯ 1911, on vol. them 1,find p. will 51, multiple Trans.not imagine Gril 2004correspondences that, p.we 156) are among those of al-ḥaqq with other elements: Truth equates to First Intel- tutional affiliations.who attribute the actionthat were to someone reference other points than for God him, or which, those however,who attribute does thenot apply where philosophers, This cosmological elaboration of the raq¯ıqalectdoes (al not-ʿaql appear al-awwal to be present), Pen in (al Ibn-qalam), Spirit (Rūḥ), Glorious Throne, Evident Guide (al- action to God, associatingnot Sufis, the are causes concerned. to Him. We […] can He gaincreates an theidea thing of Ibn by ʿwayArabī of’s learning background from Barrajan¯ although the similar concept of athar—also used by Ibn Arab¯ı—can be found, i.e., ḥ a cause if He wantsthe to, first or if part He doesof hisimām not Ījāza want lial-l- mālikto,mubīn He al does-),Mu Interpreting ẓnaffarot create1 which a cause reveals Spirit for the ( mutarjimfundamental) ofrole God, played Universal Spirit (Rū kullī), Justice the effect or “trace” of a Divine Name in Creation as a way of connecting haqq with khalq. it, because in His wisdomby the science He has ofalready (theʿadl hadith), planned “The in his Truthto createeducation. through it .in thisAmong way, which the as wescholars Creation included exists", in this Mu workḥammadan Reality, Spirit of Spirits, TheseCopyright: traces © 202 that1 by the “are authors. in the whole existence” (Ibn Barrajan,¯ Ida¯h, fol. 59b), can also be explained earlier. Andare traditionists,it is impossible exegetes, for it to philologists, be otherwise,. . writers, because faqihs,53 it is impos- judges, etc.; philosophy is absent usedSubmitted as ladders for possible to open ascend access by contemplation to theand Divine even Presence “every (Casewit thing” 2017, p.. It 146). is also alluded to symbolically as Eagle (ʿuqāb) and White sible for a thing to andbe different scholastic from theology how it ( kalis knownām) has [by a very God]. minor For tpresence.his reason, The most famous example of Applyingpublication Ibnunder Masarra’s the terms andi tibar¯ to the genre of the CommentaryPearl. The onexpression the Divine Names al-haqq is one al-makhluq bi-hi which, as we saw above, had been coined by we have not made specialthe attitude mention that ofIbn anything ʿArabī showed relating towards to the causal philosophy relationship is probably the passage in Futūḥāt ofconditions the innovative of the Creative aspects Commons ofIbn Barrajan’s¯ thought. According to his doctrine, the effects of that indirectly alludesIbn Barrajānto Alfarabi, from whilst the avoiding Qur ’explican ayitlyah saying “We his created name2. not the heavens and the earth, and all that theAttribution Names (CC in betweenBY) creation license canthe bePen apprehended and the Tablet by humanbecause beings it has andalready used been in the discussed contemplative by those Without entering here into the complex issue of the relationship between Akbarian ascent.(http://creativecommons.org/li-who support the Revealed Law, the Peopleis between of Truth, them, who consider save in the truth adherents (al- ḥaqq)” (Q 15:85), is adopted by Ibn ʿArabī, acknowledg- censes/by/4.0/). thought and philosophy, in the sense of falsafa of Greek origin, it is sufficient to quote two Along withof [the the doctrine] notion of ofal- "theHaqq cause al-makhl anduq¯ theing bi-hi, caused” thethat explicit ofto Universalbe ungodly. attribution Servant (Ibn ʿArabī (al- toabd his 1919, master, in Futūḥāt (see Ibn ʿArabī 1911, vol. 2, pp. 60, 104; p. 81) ˙ al-kull¯ı), is probably the one that had the greatestvol. influence 3, p. 77) on. the work of Ibn Arab¯ı. Ibn Barraj an’s ¯ Two definition of the offundamental Universal Servantelements as of the the one Ibn “who Masarra possesses’s cosmogony the nur¯ al-mub are, on¯ın, the one 1 Edited by (Badawi 1955). “Autobibliografía de Ibn ʿArabiThis”. Al -“TruthAndalus, XX.2, through pp. 107 –which28; Badawi. creation 1979. Paris; takes S. ʿAbd place” al-Fattā ḥwould. become, in Akbarian ontol- which ishand, the essence Prime ofor theUniversal [prophetic] Matter news (habā (inb a¯ ᾿ ) and) and, the on Divine the other, Revelation the Word (wah. yor)” Logos is (ka- 1995. Cairo. A comprehensive list of Ibn ʿArabī’s works is to be found in (Aladdin et al. 2009). close tolima what). TustarIn Ibn¯ ıMa orsarra Tirmidh’s emanationist¯ı refer to as mu system,h. ammadanogy, the a first mode light hypostasis or of mu expressionh. ammadan was formed reality of “anthe intel- barzakh, an indispensable doctrine to understand any 2 “I have seen an infidel declare in a book called The ideal city (I had found this book which I had not seen previously, at the home (I¯d. a¯h. , Mahmutligible, intangible Pa¸sa3, fol. prime 254b Matter in Gonz (ʿáunlezṣur Costa),aspect coeternal 2013 of, p.with the 234). God, thought Although from which of Ibn Ibn ArabGod ʿArab ¯ımadeī .all This isthmus or intermediate realm, which shares in usuallyof an usesparticula acquaintance the expressionr beings of mine arise” Perfect in (seeMarchena Man Lory (ins 2006,ofan¯ the kamil¯ p.Olives 834) for), had thatwhich picked same is also notion,it up identified to insee some what with passagesit was letters: about and came across the following chapter: ‘In this chapter I wish to examine how to postulate [the existence of a divinity in this world’. He had not said God (Allah)! we can find it cited in the manner of Ibn Barrajan:¯ the two realities that it separates, which can have a temporal, spatial, ontological, and I was amazedSahl aland-Tustarī threw thesaid: book Letters at its areowner the’s Primordialface.” (Addas Dust 1993 (, alp.- habā108 and᾿) and Ibn the ʿArabī origin 1911, of III, p. 178). On the one hand, C. Perfect Manthings (ins andan¯ the kull beginning¯ı) is more perfectof their than creation.epistemological the cosmos From them in its was totality, meaning, created since order he is and fundamental the when it comes to relating the eternal and the is a transcriptdominion of the became cosmos manifest.” letter by (Ibn letter, Masarracontingent and he 2007 addsb, pp. or to it6God2 the–63) fact with that creation. his The following excerpt explains the ambiguous nature of Religionsreality 2020 does,The 11, x; notletter doi: accept FOR hā᾿ PEERis shrinkingthe REVIEW Primordial (...).Shrinking Dust, thisit is onlythe ḥaqq totality takes and placeof theletters, in extent relation from which to awhich things itwww.mdpi.com/journal/religions is related to the Breath of the Merciful or the Cloud, precedentare elevation, created. It but is located the Universal below Servantkun. (Ibn ( al-Masarraabd al-kull 2007¯ıb), has p. 68) no elevation in his servanthood. ( Ibn Arab ¯ı 1972 , vol. 2, p. 615 in Chittick 1989, p. 371) Without assigning it such a central value in the genesis of creation as Ibn Masarra, 53 It is,Ibn in ʿArabī point(See speaks ofḤakīm fact, cryptically his 1981 condition, pp and. 111 ofsuccinctly– total13; Ibn servant—for inʿArabī his work 2002 he of serves, ap. Supreme 109) God. I inn Element his an all-Īḍā ḥ(ʿ,un Ibnṣur Barrajān mentions ḥaqq mubīn or kitāb mubīn rather than encompassingaʿẓam)17imām way,, which through mubīn may well all(see His relate González Names—that to that Costa of his elevates predecessor2013, him p. 234) to from the. rank Córdoba: of perfect man. Other points“[The in common Supreme between Element] both kept mystics in the and most Ibn Masarrahidden of have the beenhidden highlighted (...) is the by most Küçük (Küçükperfect 2013b ),of such created as the beings concept and of were light andwe not wisdom, to have the a metaphor pact of concealment of knowledge that of the internal realities of the human being as anatomical dissection, as well as order and prevents us from explaining its essential reality, we would speak more exten- correspondence between the three levels of reality: universe, Qur’an and human being55. sively about it, showing how all creation (mā siwà Allāh) is united to it.” (Ibn From the partial comparison of elements of Andalusian mysticism outlined here, it ʿArabī 1919, p. 50) can, however, be concluded in general terms, building on the line of argument pursued by previous researchers,“We have that made there the exists centre an [of explicit the Universe] recognition the by receptacle Ibn Arab ¯ofı of the the Supreme influence Ele- 18 of certain doctrinesment as of a warning Ibn Masarra that andthe higher Ibn Barraj rulesan¯ over on histhe thinking,lower.” along(Ibn ʿArabī with 1972, a tacit v. II, presence of otherp. 317) elements (with names that may differ) originating from these authors. Ibn Arabi’s textsThis alsoElement, suggest which a desire is closely to distance related himselfto water or19 remainand the silent Divine with Name regard al-Ḥayy al- to questionsQayyūm with (The which Living he is One; familiar, the Self but-Subsisting), which could is drawneeded him to towardsproduce philosophylife in creation and or theurgy.for the If the step spiritual from potential authority to ofaction: Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajan¯ over Ibn Arab¯ı is clear, the extent of the intellectual heritage with which Ibn Arab¯ı engages in dialogue,

55 Man as17 microcosms Regarding is the this interpreter see López of Anguita, the verses Gracia and the (López letters of-Anguita the Book 2018 of Existence). “Notas by en means torno of al an concepto ascendant de path Elemento of meditation, Supremo reﬂexion (ʿunṣur aʿẓam) and transpositionen Ibn ( iʿArabītibar¯ ) andy su through escuela an” analogicalin Ibn Arabi reading y su ofépoca both. Edited the Qur’an by andG. López the signs-Anguita. of the Cosmos University as a divine of Seville. discourse that aims to uplift the reader to this higher reading (al-tilawat¯ al- ulya¯) to contemplate the cosmic and inner dimension of the Qur’an. (González Costa 2009; Gril 2007). 18 Cf. this idea with Ibn Masarra, Risālat al-iʿtibār: “(…) the one who brings them together despite their differences and makes them perform contrary to their nature must be above them, encompassing them, higher and greater than them.”; “the testimony of innate knowledge requires that he who governs them should be above them and encompass them.” (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 220). 19 See the cosmogonic importance of water in Risālat al-iʿtibār by Ibn Masarra: “The first thing to be created was the Throne and the water” (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 224).

Article Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Akbarian Concepts in the Light of Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān

Gracia López-Anguita Religions 2021, 12, 40 17 of 19

Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW Facultad de Filolo5gía, of Universidad20 de Sevilla, C/Palos de la Frontera s/n, 41004 Sevilla, Spain; [email protected] […] Thereupon you will find your Lordrejects and Creator; or re-adapts you will his ownmeet cosmological Him in your- and hermeneutical system can still lead to new self. (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 224) developments, especially inAbstract: light of theThe recent aim of “discovery” this article is of to the trace figure the oforigin Ibns Barrajof somean¯ of and the key concepts of Ibn Arabi’s For Ibn ʿArabī, in a similar way to Ibnhis Masa extensiverra, the work. world This is comparison“arrangedmetaphysics in of anddegrees mystics cosmology at local in levelearlier must Andalusian also be Sufi understood, masters. Within as the context of the seminal (marātib)” and this orderly and hierarchicalhas arrangement been the case of the in cosmos recent years,works is specifically on within Ibn Arabi a what broader’s cosmology framework, and metaphysics as a result produced of the influence from the second half of the 20th century makes it intelligible to human beings (see Ibnof the ʿArab earlierī 1919, mysticism p. 95), but of thewithonwards Islamic no “andoccasional East through upon a thatcomparison of the West. of texts by the Sufi masters Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān, we or causal succession” between its elements (Ibn ʿArabī 1919, p. 49). Onwill this see subject, which elements how- are taken from previous sources and how they are transformed or re-inter- Funding: This research has been carried out within the framework of the I+D+i research project ever, Ibn ʿArabī explains: preted by Ibn ʿArabī in a philosophical-mystical system that would become the point of reference “Género y santidad: experiencia religiosa y papel social a través de las vidas de mujeres santas en el for the later Eastern and Western Sufi tradition. We have been silent with regard to explainingNorte de Marruecos the true (Tnatureánger, of Tetu theán)” causes (PID2019-104300GB/I00 so MINECO-FEDER). that anyone who speculates on them will not imagine that we are among those Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable. who attribute the action to someone other than God or those whoKeywords: attribute Sufism; the al-Andalus; Ibn Arabi; metaphysics; cosmology; islamic mysticism; Ibn Masarra; action to God, associating the causesCitation: toInformed Him. López […]-Anguita Consent He , createsGracia Statement:. Ibn the thingIbnNot Barrajān applicable.by way of a cause if He wants to, or if He doesʿArabī not’s wantMetaphysics to, He in the does Context not create a cause for of AndalusianConflicts Mysticism: of Interest: SomeThe Ak- authors declare no conflict of interest. it, because in His wisdom He has already planned to create it in this way, as we barian Concepts in the Light of Ibn explainedReferences earlier. And it is impossible for it to be otherwise, because it is impos- Masarra and Ibn Barrajān. Religions 1. Introduction sible forAddas, a thing Claude. to be different 1992. Andalus from2021,¯ı Mysticismhow 12, x.it https://doi.org/10.3390/ is andknown the Rise[by ofGod]. Ibn ‘ArabFor t¯ı.his In reason,The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Edited by Salma Khadra Jayyusi. We believe that the optimal methodology for the study and interpretation of Ibn we have not madeLeiden: special Brill, pp. mention 909–33. ofxxxxx anything relating to the causal relationship betweenAddas, the Pen Claude. and the 1993. TabletQuest because for the Red it has Sulphur. already The been Life of discussed Ibn ʿArabīArab¯ı. by’ Translateds work those is self by- Peterexegesis, Kingsley. based Cambridge: on a comparison The Islamic of his Texts texts and on the reconstruction Society. who support the Revealed Law, theReceived: People 1 of December Truth, 2020 who considerof the his adherents organic and dynamic thought, the keys to which are distributed throughout his Al-Hallaj,¯ Hussayn ibn Mansur.¯ 1936. Akhbar¯ al- Hallaj:¯ texte ancien relatif à la predication et au supplice du mystique musulman al-Hosayn b. of [the doctrine]˙ of˙ "the cause and. Accepted:the caused” 30 December to be˙ 2020 ungodly. (Ibnextensive ʿArabī 1919,work. Commenting on Ibn ʿArabī through Ibn˙ ʿArabī emerges as the only pos- Mans.our al- Hallaj¯ . Edited by Louis Massignon and Paul Kraus. Translated by Louis Massignon, and Paul Kraus. Paris: Éditions p. 81) ˙ Published: 7 January 2021 sible method to understand an author who is the creator of his own worldview and lan- Larose. guage. However, it is also evident that certain pre-existing ideas found in authors writing Two of Aladdin,the fundamental Bakri, Pablo elements Beneito, of Jorge the LirolaIbn Masarra Delgado,’s Graciacosmogony López-Anguita, are, on the Estela one Navarro i Ortiz, and Salvador Peña. 2009. Ibn Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu- before the mystic may have been a point of reference for him, although establishing the hand, Prime or Universalal- Arab¯ı Matter al-Hatim¯ (habā¯ı/al- T a¯ ᾿ ¯ı, Mu) and,hy¯ı l-Don¯ın. the In other,Biblioteca the deWord Al-Andalus or Logos. Edited (ka- by J. Lirola and J. M. Puerta Vílchez. Almería: ˙ . . lima). In Ibn MasarraFundaci’s emanationistón Ibn Tufayl, system, vol.tral 2, with pp. the regard 158–332. first to jurisdictionalhypostasis was formedorigin and of “an parentage intel- of a certain idea or term is always a risky undertaking. A fundamen- claims in published maps and insti- ligible, intangibleAl-Affifi, prime Abul Matter Ela. 1964. (ʿun Pointsṣur), coeternal of Correspondence with God, between from Ibnulwhichtal clue ‘Arabi God is and providedmade Ikhwan all logically, as-Safa’. InbyThe the Mystical explicit Philosophy mentions of Muhyidin his texts of works and authors tutional affiliations. particular beings Din-Ibnularise” (see Arabi Lory. Lahore: 2006, p. Ashraf 834), Press, which pp. is 185–88. also identifiedthat with were letters: reference points for him, which, however, does not apply where philosophers, Al-kutub al-sitta. 2000. Supervised by Salih¯ b. Abd al- Az¯ız Muh. ammadnot Sufis, b. Ibr ah¯are¯ım .concerned. Riyad: Dar¯ al-SalWe canam¯ li-l-nashrgain an idea wa-tawz of Ibn¯ı . ʿArabī’s learning background from Sahl al-Tustarī said: Letters are the Primordial˙ Dust (al-habā᾿) and the origin of Al-Nabulus¯ ¯ı, Abd al-Gan¯ ¯ı. 1995. Al-wujud¯ al-h. aqq. Édition critiquethe first du texte part arabe of his du Ījāza texte li arabe-l-mālik et pral-éMusentationẓaffar1 parwhich Bakri reveals Aladdin. the fundamental role played things and the beginning of their creation. From them was created order and the Damascus: IFEAD. by the science of the hadith in his education. Among the scholars included in this work dominion became manifest.” (Ibn MasarraCopyright: 2007 © 202b1 ,by pp. the authors.62–63) Altmann, Alexander. 1967. The Ladder of Ascension. In Studiesare intraditionists, Mysticism and exegetes, Religion Presentedphilologists, to Gershom writers, G. faqihs, Scholem judges, on His etc.; philosophy is absent Seventieth Birthday by Pupils,Submitted Colleagues for possible and Friends open access. Edited by E. E. Urbach, W. Werblowski and C. Wirszubski. Jerusalem: Magnes, The letter hā᾿ is the Primordial Dust, it is the totality of letters, fromand which scholastic things theology (kalām) has a very minor presence. The most famous example of pp. 1–32. publication under the terms and are created. It is located below kun. (Ibn Masarra 2007b, p. 68) ʿ ḥ Asín Palacios, Miguel. 1914. Abenmasarraconditions of the ysu Creative escuela: Commons Orígenes dethe la filosofattitudeía hispano-musulmana that Ibn Arabī showed. Madrid: towards Maestre. philosophy is probably the passage in Futū āt 2 WithoutBadawi. assigning 1955. it Autobibliografsuch a centralíaAttribution value de Ibn in Arabi.(CC the BY) genesis Al-Andaluslicense of 2:creation 107–28.that as indirectly Ibn Masarra, alludes to Alfarabi, whilst avoiding explicitly saying his name . Ibn ʿArabī speaksBellver, cryptically Jos. 2013. Al-Ghaz and succinctlyal¯ ¯ı of(http://creativecommons.org/lial-Andalus: in his work Ibn Barraj of aan,¯ Supreme Mahdism Element andWithout the Emergence( ʿenteringunṣur ofhere Learned into the Sufism complex on the issue Iberian of Peninsula. the relationship between Akbarian aʿẓam)17, which mayJournal well of relate the American to that Orientalofcenses/by/4.0/). his predecessor Society 133: 659–81. from Córdoba: [CrossRefthought ] and philosophy, in the sense of falsafa of Greek origin, it is sufficient to quote two “[The SupremeBrown, Vahid Element] J. 2006. kept Andalus in the¯ı Mysticism:most hidden A recontextualization. of the hidden (...)Journal is the ofmost Islamic Philosophy 2: 69–101. [CrossRef] Casewit, Yousef. 2012–13. A Reconsideration of the Life and Works of Ibn Barrajan.¯ Al-Abhath 60–61: 111–42. perfect of created beings and were we not to have a pact of concealment that Casewit, Yousef. 2014. The Forgotten Mystic: Ibn Barrajan¯ (d. 536/1141) and the Andalusian Mu tabirun.¯ Ph.D. dissertation, Yale prevents us from explaining its essential1 Edited reality, by (Badawi we would 1955) .speak “Autobibliografía more exten- de Ibn ʿArabi”. Al-Andalus, XX.2, pp. 107–28; Badawi. 1979. Paris; S. ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ. University, New Haven, CT, USA. 1995. Cairo. A comprehensive list of Ibn ʿArabī’s works is to be found in (Aladdin et al. 2009). sively aboutCasewit, it, Yousef.showing 2016. how A Muslimall creation Scholar (mā of thesiwà Bible. Allāh Prooftexts) is united from to Genesis it.” (Ibn and Matthew in the Qur’an Commentary of Ibn Barrajan¯ 2 “I have seen an infidel declare in a book called The ideal city (I had found this book which I had not seen previously, at the home ʿArabī 1919, p.of 50) Seville (d. 536/1141). Journal of Quránic Studies 18: 1–48. [CrossRef] of an acquaintance of mine in Marchena of the Olives had picked it up to see what it was about and came across the following Casewit, Yousef. 2017. The Mystics of Al-Andalus. Ibn Barrajan¯ and Islamic Thought in the Twelfth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge “We have made the centre [of the Universe]chapter: the ‘In receptaclethis chapter ofI wish the toSupreme examine Ele-how to postulate [the existence of a divinity in this world’. He had not said God (Allah)! University Press. 18 ment as a warning that the higher rulesI wasover amazed the lower.” and threw (Ibn the ʿArabī book 1972,at its owner v. II, ’s face.” (Addas 1993, p. 108 and Ibn ʿArabī 1911, III, p. 178). On the one hand, C. p. 317) Chittick, William. 1989. The Sufi Path of Knowledge. Ibn al- Arab¯ı’s Metaphysics of Imagination. Albany: State University of New York Press. 19 This Element,Chittick, which William. is closely 1998. The related Self-Disclosure to water of God: and Principles the Divine of Ibn Name al- Arabî al´-sḤ Cosmologyayy al- . Albany: State University of New York Press. Qayyūm (TheChittick, Living William. One; the 2020. Self Ibn-Subsisting), ‘Arabî.Religions In The 2020 is Stanfordneeded, 11, x; doi: Encyclopedia to FOR produce PEER of REVIEW Philosophylife in creatio. Springn and 2020 Edition. Edited by Edward N. Zalta. Availablewww.mdpi.com/journal/religions for the step from potentialonline: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2020/entries/ibn-arabi/ to action: (accessed on 5 September 2020). Cornell, Vincent. 1996. The Way of Abu¯ Madyan. Doctrinal and Poetic Works of Abu¯ Madyan Shu ayb ibn al-Husayn al-Ans.ar¯ ¯ı (c. 509/1115– ˙ 16-594/1198). Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society. ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ 17 Regarding this see López Anguita, Gracia (LópezDe Callataÿ,-Anguita Godefroid. 2018). “Notas 2014. en Philosophy torno al concepto and Batinism de Elemento in Al-Andalus: Supremo ( Ibnʿunṣ Masarra’sur aʿẓam) Risalat al-i’tibar and the Rasa’il Ikhwan al-s.afa’. Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 41: 261–312. en Ibn ʿArabī y su escuela” in Ibn Arabi y su época. Edited by G. López-Anguita. University of Seville. De Callataÿ, Godefroid. 2014–15. From Ibn Masarra to Ibn Arab¯ı: References, Shibboleths and Other Subtle Allusions to the Rasa¯ il 18 Cf. this idea with Ibn Masarra, Risālat al-iʿtibār: “(…) the one who brings them together despite their differences and makes them Ikhwan¯ al-Safa¯ in the Literature of al-Andalus. In Labor Limae. Studi in onore di Carmela Baffioni. Studi Magrebini˙ . Edited by A. perform contrary to their nature must be above them, encompassing˙ them, higher and greater than them.”; “the testimony of Straface, C. De Angelo and A. Manzo. Naples: Universitá degli Studi di Napoli “LÓrientale”, pp. 217–67. innate knowledge requires that he who governs them should be above them and encompass them.” (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 220). 19 See the cosmogonic importance of water in Risālat al-iʿtibār by Ibn Masarra: “The first thing to be created was the Throne and the water” (Stroumsa and Sviri 2009, p. 224).

Article Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Akbarian Concepts in the Light of Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān

Gracia López-Anguita

Facultad de Filología, Universidad de Sevilla, C/Palos de la Frontera s/n, 41004 Sevilla, Spain; [email protected]

Keywords: Sufism; al-Andalus; Ibn Arabi; metaphysics; cosmology; islamic mysticism; Ibn Masarra; Citation: López-Anguita, Gracia. Ibn Ibn Barrajān Religions 2021, 12, 40 ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context 18 of 19 of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Ak- barian Concepts in the Light of Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān. Religions 1. Introduction Ebstein, Michael, and Sara Sviri. 2011. The so-called2021,Ris 12alat,¯ x. https://doi.org/10.3390/ al-Huruf¯ (Epistle on Letters) adscribed to Sahl al-Tustar¯ı and Letter Mysticism ˙ We believe that the optimal methodology for the study and interpretation of Ibn in Al-Andalus. Journal Asiatique 299: 213–70.xxxxx Ebstein, Michael. 2014. Mysticism and Philosophy in al-Andalus. Ibn Masarra, Ibn al-ʿArabīArab¯ı and’s work the Ism isa¯ self¯ıl¯ı Tradition-exegesis,. Leiden: based Brill.on a comparison of his texts and on the reconstruction Ebstein, Michael. 2020. Classifications of Knowledge in Classical Islamic Mysticism: From Eastern Sufi Sources to the Writings of Muy¯ı Received: 1 December 2020 of his organic and dynamic thought, the keys to which are distributed throughout his l-D¯ın Ibn al-Arab¯ı. Studia Islamica 115: 33–64. [CrossRef] Accepted: 30 December 2020 extensive work. Commenting on Ibn ʿArabī through Ibn ʿArabī emerges as the only pos- Elmore, Gerald. 2001. Shaykh Abd al- Az¯ız al-Mahdaw¯ı, Ibn al- Arab¯ı’s mentor. Journal of the American Oriental Society 121: 593–613. Published: 7 January 2021 sible method to understand an author who is the creator of his own worldview and lan- [CrossRef] guage. However, it is also evident that certain pre-existing ideas found in authors writing Ferhat, Halima. 2005. Lórganisation des soufies et ses limites à lépoque almohade. In Los almohades: Problemas y perspectivas. Edited Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu- before the mystic may have been a point of reference for him, although establishing the Religions 2020,by 11, Maribel x FOR PEER Fierro REVIEW and Francisco García Fits. Madrid: CSIC-Casa Velázquez, pp. 685–704. 5 of 20 Fierro, Maribel, and Francisco García Fitz, eds. 2005.tral withLos regard almohades: to jurisdictional Problemas y perspectivasorigin and. Madrid: parentage CSIC-Casa of a certain Velázquez. idea or term is always a risky undertaking. A fundamen- Fierro, Maribel. 1996. Ba¯tinism[…] in Al-Andalus. Thereuponclaims Maslama you inwill published b.find Qasim¯ mapsyour al-Qurand Lord insti-t andub¯ı (d. Creator;tal 353/964), clue youis provided Author will meet of logically, the HimRutbat in your- by al- Htheakim¯ explicitand the mentions in his texts of works and authors . . ˙ Ghayat¯ al-Hakim¯ (Picatrix). selfStudia. (Stroumsa Islamica 84: tutionaland 87–112. Sviri affiliations.[ 2009,CrossRef p. 224)] that were reference points for him, which, however, does not apply where philosophers, ˙ Fierro, Maribel. 2016. The AlmohadFor Revolution. Ibn ʿArabī, Politics in a andsimilar Religion way in theto IslamicIbn Masa Westnotrra, during Sufis, the theworld are Twelfth-Thirteenth concerned. is “arranged We Centuries incan degrees gain. New an York:idea of Ibn ʿArabī’s learning background from Routledge. (marātib)” and this orderly and hierarchical arrangementthe first of part the cosmosof his Ījāza is specifically li-l-mālik al what-Muẓ affar1 which reveals the fundamental role played Garrido Clemente, Pilar. 2008a. Sobre la morada de las cinco columnas mencionadas en la obra Futu¯hat¯ makkiyya de Ibn al- Arab¯ı. In makes it intelligible to human beings (see Ibn ʿArabbyī the1919, science p. 95), of but. the with hadith no “inoccasional his education. Among the scholars included in this work El viaje interior entre Oriente y Occidente. EditedCopyright: by P. © Beneito 2021 by the and authors. P. Garrido. Madrid: Mandala, pp. 87–93. ʿ are traditionists, exegetes, philologists, writers, faqihs, judges, etc.; philosophy is absent Garrido Clemente, Pilar. 2008b.or causal Textos succession” relativos alSubmitted tronobetween en for lapossible its obra elements deopen Ibn access Masarra, ( Ibn Arab contrastadosī 1919, p. con 49). las On doctrinas this subject, que Ibn how-Arab¯ı e Ibn and scholastic theology (kalām) has a very minor presence. The most famous example of Hazm le atribuyen. Inever,El viaje Ibn interior ʿArabī entre explains: Orientepublication y Occidenteunder the terms. Edited and by P. Beneito and P. Garrido. Madrid: Mandala, pp. 141–47. ˙ the attitude that Ibn ʿArabī showed towards philosophy is probably the passage in Futūḥāt Garrido Clemente, Pilar. 2008c.We Traducci haveó nbeen anotada conditionssilent de with la ofRis the alat¯regard Creative al-i tibCommonstoar¯ explainingdeIbn Masarra the true de C ónaturerdoba. Estudiosof the causes Human soísticos-Filolog ía that indirectly alludes to Alfarabi, whilst avoiding explicitly saying his name2. 30: 139–63. [CrossRef] that anyone whoAttribution speculates (CC BY) on license them will not imagine that we are among those Without entering here into the complex issue of the relationship between Akbarian González Costa, Amina, and Graciawho attribute López-Anguita, the(http://creativecommons.org/li- action eds. 2009.to someoneHistoria other del sufismo than enGod Al-Andalus: or those Maestros who attribute sufíes de the Al-Andalus y el censes/by/4.0/). thought and philosophy, in the sense of falsafa of Greek origin, it is sufficient to quote two Magreb.Córdoba: Almuzara.action to God, associating the causes to Him. […] He creates the thing by way of González Costa, Amina. 2009. Un ejemplo de la hermenéutica sufí del Corán en al-Andalus. El comentario coránico I¯da¯h al-hikma a cause if He wants to, or if He does not want to, He does not create a cause for. . . de Ibn Barrajan¯ (m. 536–1141). In Historia del Sufismo en al-Andalus y el Magreb. Edited by Amina González Costa and Gracia it, because in His wisdom He has already planned to create it in this way, as we López-Anguita. Córdoba: Almuzara, pp. 43–67.1 Edited by (Badawi 1955). “Autobibliografía de Ibn ʿArabi”. Al-Andalus, XX.2, pp. 107–28; Badawi. 1979. Paris; S. ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ. González Costa, Amina. 2013.explained Estudio y edici earlier.ón (primera And it is mitad) impossible del I¯da¯ hforal- itH toikma, be otherwise, comentario because coránico it del is sufimpos-í Ibn Barrajan¯ de 1995. Cairo. A comprehensive. . ˙ list of Ibn ʿArabī’s works is to be found in (Aladdin et al. 2009). Sevilla (m. 536/1141). Ph.D.sible dissertation, for a thing University to be different of Seville, from Sevilla, how Spain. it is known [by God]. For this reason, 2 “I have seen an infidel declare in a book called The ideal city (I had found this book which I had not seen previously, at the home Gril, Denis. 2004. The Science ofwe Letters. have In notThe made Meccan special Revelations mention. Edited of anything by Michel relating Chodkiewicz. to the Translated causal relationship by Cyrille Chodkiewicz, of an acquaintance of mine in Marchena of the Olives had picked it up to see what it was about and came across the following and Denis Gril. New York:between Pir Press, the vol. Pen II, pp. and 105–220. the Tablet because it has already been discussed by those chapter: ‘In this chapter I wish to examine how to postulate [the existence of a divinity in this world’. He had not said God (Allah)! Gril, Denis. 2007. Línterprétation par transposition symbolique (i tibar¯ ), selon Ibn Barra˘gân et Ibn Arabî. In Symbolisme et who support the RevealedI was amazed Law, and the threw People the of book Truth, at itswho owner consider’s face. the” (Addas adherents 1993, p. 108 and Ibn ʿArabī 1911, III, p. 178). On the one hand, C. Herméneutique dans la penséofe d[theÍbn doctrine]Arab¯ı. Edited of "the by Aladdin cause and Bakri. the Damasco: caused” IFPO, to be pp. ungodly. 147–62. (Ibn ʿArabī 1919, Hak¯ım, Su ad.¯ 1981. Al-Mu jam al-s.uf¯ ¯ı. Al-Hikma f¯ı h. udud¯ al-kalima. Beirut: Dandara. ˙ p. 81) ˙ Ibn al- Ar¯ıf. 1993. Miftah¯ . al-sa ada¯ wa-tah. q¯ıq. tar¯ıq al-irada¯ . Edited by Abd al-La¯ıf Dandash. Beirut: Dar¯ al-garb al-islam¯ ¯ı. Ibn Arab¯ı. 1911. Al-futuh¯ . at¯ al-makkTwo¯ıya of. 4 the vols. fundamental Cairo:Religions Bulaq. 2020 elements, 11, x; doi: FORof the PEER Ibn REVIEW Masarra ’s cosmogony are, on the one www.mdpi.com/journal/religions Ibn Arab¯ı. 1919. Uqlat al-Mustawfiz.hand, Prime Al-tadb or Universal¯ırat¯ al-ilah¯ Matter¯ıya. Kit ab(¯habā insh a¯ ᾿ al-daw ) and,a¯ ir.on In theKleinere other, Schriften the Word des Ibn or al-LogosArab ¯ı.(ka- Edited by H. S. Nyberg. Leiden:lima Brill.). In Ibn Masarra’s emanationist system, the first hypostasis was formed of “an intel- Ibn Arab¯ı. 1971. Sufis of Andalusia:ligible, intangible the Ru¯h. al-Quds prime and Matter the Dhurrat (ʿun al-fṣurakhira¯ ), coeternal. Translated with into God, English from by which R. W. J. Austin.God made London: all Allen and Unwin. particular beings arise” (see Lory 2006, p. 834), which is also identified with letters: Ibn Arab¯ı. 1972. Al-futuh¯ . at¯ al-makk¯ıya. 14 vols. Edited by Osman Yahya. Cairo: Al-hay at al-mis.r¯ıya al- amma¯ li-l-kitab.¯ Ibn Arab¯ı. 1997. El secreto de losSahl Nombres al-Tustarī de Dios .said: Edited Letters and Translated are the Primordial into Spanish Dust by Pablo (al-habā Beneito.᾿) and Murcia: the origin Editora of Regional. Ibn Arab¯ı. 1999a. Al-futuh¯ . at¯ al-makkthings¯ıya .and 9 vols. the Editedbeginning by Ah .ofmad their Shams creation. al-D¯ın. From Beirut: them Dar¯ was al-kutub created al- ilmorder¯ıya. and the Ibn Arab¯ı. 1999b. Kitab¯ Anqa¯ Mugrib.dominion Islamic became Sainthood manifest.” in the Fullness (Ibn Masarra of Time: Ibn 2007 Arabib, ´pp.s Book 62– The63) Fabulous Gryphon. Edited by Gerald Elmore. Translated by GeraldThe Elmore.letter hā᾿ Leiden: is the Brill.Primordial Dust, it is the totality of letters, from which things Ibn Arab¯ı. 2001a. Rasa¯ il Ibn Arabiare (Kitcreated.ab¯ al-m It¯ım, is pp.located 83–91) below. Beirut: kun Dar.¯ (Ibn al-kutub Masarra al- ilm 2007¯ıya.b, p. 68) Ibn Arab¯ı. 2001b. Mashahid¯ al-asrar¯ al-qudsiyya wa-ma.tali¯ . Contemplation of the Holy Mysteries and the Rising of the Divine Lights. Translated by Cecilia Twinch,Without and Pablo assigning Beneito. it Oxford:such a Anqacentral Publishing. value in the genesis of creation as Ibn Masarra, Ibn Arab¯ı. 2002. Kitab¯ al-MIbn¯ım wa’l-WʿArabīaw¯ speaks wa’l-N un¯cryptically. Edited by and C. -A. succinctly Gilis. Beirut: in his Albouraq. work of a Supreme Element (ʿunṣur Ibn Arab¯ı. 2002–03. Is..tilah¯ .aat¯ʿẓam al-s.)ufiyya¯17, which. Edited may by well Abd relate al-Rah. ¯toım that Marid¯ of¯ın his¯ı Damascus. predecessor Beirut: from Dar¯ Córdoba: al-Mah. abba-D ar¯ Ayya.¯ Ibn Arab¯ı. 2006. Risalat¯ ittih. ad¯ “[The al-kawn Supreme¯ı. The Universal Element] Tree andkept the in Four the Birdsmost. Editedhidden by of Denis the hidden Gril. and (...) Translated is the most into English by Angela Jaffrey. Oxford: Anqa Publishing. perfect of created beings and were we not to have a pact of concealment that Ibn Arab¯ı. 2009. Los engarces de las sabidurías. Fus.us¯ . al-Hikam. Translated into Spanish by Andrés Guijarro. Madrid: Edaf. prevents us from explaining˙ its essential reality, we would speak more exten- Ibn Arab¯ı. 2019. F¯ı ma rifat k¯ım¯ıya¯ al-sa ada.¯ The Alchemy of Human Happiness. Translated into English by Stephen Hirtenstein. Oxford: Anqa. sively about it, showing how all creation (mā siwà Allāh) is united to it.” (Ibn Ibn Barrajan.¯ 2000. Sharh. asma¯ ʿArabīAllah¯ 1919, al-Husn p.à .50) Comentario sobre los nombres más bellos de Dios. Edition and Introductory study by ˙ Purificación de la Torre. Madrid:“We have CSIC-AECI. made the centre [of the Universe] the receptacle of the Supreme Ele- ¯ Ibn Barrajan.¯ 2015. Id. a¯h. al-Hikma bi-ah. kam¯ al- ibra. A Qur an¯ Commentary of Ibn Barrajan¯ of Seville18 (d. 536/1141). Edited by Gerhard ˙ ment as a warning that the higher rules over the lower.” (Ibn ʿArabī 1972, v. II, Böwering and Yousef Casewit.p. 317) Leiden-Boston: Brill. Ibn Masarra. 2007a. Risalat¯ al-i tibar¯ . Critical edition by Pilar Garrido Clemente. Miscelánea de Esudios Árabes e Islámicos 56: 81–104. 19 Ḥ Ibn Masarra. 2007b. Risala¯ Jawas¯.Thiss. al-h. urElement,uf¯ . Critical which edition is byclosely Pilar Garridorelated Clemente.to water Al-Andalus-Magreb and the Divine 14:Name 51–89. al- ayy al- Qayyūm (The Living One; the Self-Subsisting), is needed to produce life in creation and for the step from potential to action:

Article Ibn ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Akbarian Concepts in the Light of Ibn Masarra and Ibn Barrajān

Gracia López-Anguita

Facultad de Filología, Universidad de Sevilla, C/Palos de la Frontera s/n, 41004 Sevilla, Spain; [email protected]

Keywords: Sufism; al-Andalus; Ibn Arabi; metaphysics; cosmology; islamic mysticism; Ibn Masarra; Citation: López-Anguita, Gracia. Ibn Ibn Barrajān ʿArabī’s Metaphysics in the Context of Andalusian Mysticism: Some Ak- Religions 2021, 12,barian 40 Concepts in the Light of Ibn 19 of 19 Religions 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 5 of 20 Masarra and Ibn Barrajān. Religions 1. Introduction 2021, 12, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/ […] Thereupon you will find your Lord and Creator; youWe will believe meet that Him the in optimalyour- methodology for the study and interpretation of Ibn xxxxx self. Kenny,(Stroumsa Joseph. and 2002. Sviri Ibn-Masarra: 2009, p. 224) His Risala¯ al-iʿArabītibar¯ . Orita:’s work Ibadan is self Journal-exegesis, of Religious based Studies on a comparison34: 1–26. of his texts and on the reconstruction Knysh, Alexander D. 1999. Ibn Arabi in the Later Islamic Tradition The Making of a Polemical Image in Medieval Islam. New York: State For Ibn ʿArabī, in Received:a similar 1 December way to 2020 Ibn Masarra,of the his worldorganic is an“arrangedd dynamic in degreesthought, the keys to which are distributed throughout his University of New York Press. (marātib)” and this orderlyAccepted: and 30 hierarchical December 2020 arrangementextensive of the cosmoswork. Commenting is specifically on what Ibn ʿArabī through Ibn ʿArabī emerges as the only pos- Küçük. 2013a. Light Upon Light in Andalusian Sufism: Abu¯ al-Hakam Ibn Barrajan¯ (d. 536/1141) and Muh. y¯ı l-D¯ın Ibn al- Arab¯ı (d. makes it intelligible to humanPublished: beings7 January (see2021 Ibn ʿArabī sible1919, method p. 95), but to˙ understandwith no “occasional an author who is the creator of his own worldview and lan- 638/1240) as Developer of His Hermeneutics. Part I: Ibn Barrajan’s¯ Life and Works. ZDMG 163: 87–116. ʿ guage. However, it is also evident that certain pre-existing ideas found in authors writing or causal Küçük.succession” 2013b. between Part II: Ibn its Barraj elementsan’s¯ Views (Ibn andArab Legacy.ī 1919,ZDMG p. 49).162: On 383–409. this subject, how- Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu- before the mystic may have been a point of reference for him, although establishing the ever, Ibn LʿArabīópez-Anguita, explains: Gracia, ed. 2018. Ibn Arab¯ı y su época. Seville: University of Seville. We haveLópez-Anguita, been silenttral Gracia. withwith regard regard 2014. to jurisdictional Aproximaci to explaining ón a latheorigin angelolog true and nature íparentagea en laof m theística of causes a isl certainámica. so idea In El or cielo term en el is Islam always. Edited a risky by Fundertaking.átima Roldán. A fundamen- claims in published maps and insti- that anyoneSevilla: who University speculates of on Sevilla-University them will not ofimagine Huelva,tal clue that pp.is provided 207–27.we are among logically, those by the explicit mentions in his texts of works and authors tutional affiliations. whoLory, attribute Pierre. the 1989. actionAlchimie to someone et mystique other en Terre than d´ thatIslamGod were .or Lagrasse: those reference who Verdier. attribute points for the him, which, however, does not apply where philosophers, Lory, Pierre. 2004. La science des lettres dans l Islam. Paris: Dervy. ʿ action to God, associating the causes to Him.´ […]not He Sufis, creates are the concerned. thing by way We canof gain an idea of Ibn Arabī’s learning background from Lory, Pierre. 2006. Ibn Masarra. In Diccionario crtheítico first del esoterismopart of his. Edited Ījāza li by-l-mālik J. Servier. al-Mu Translatedẓaffar1 which into Spanishreveals bythe F. fundamental J. González. role played a cause if He wants to, or if He does not want to, He does not create a cause for Madrid: Akal, vol. 1, pp. 834–37. by the science of the hadith in his education. Among the scholars included in this work it, because in His wisdomCopyright: ©He 202 has1 by thealready authors. planned to create it in this way, as we Nakamura, K. 1994. Imam¯ Ghazal¯ ¯ı´s Cosmologyare Reconsidered traditionists, with exegetes, Special Referencephilologists, to the writers, Concept faqihs, of Jabar judges,ut.¯ Studia etc.; Islamica philosophy80: is absent explained29–46. earlier. [CrossRef AndSubmitted it] is for impossible possible open accessfor it to be otherwise, because it is impos- and scholastic theology (kalām) has a very minor presence. The most famous example of sibleNwiya, for a thing Paul. to 1970.publication be differentExég underèse coranique thefrom terms how and et langage it is known mystique. [by Nouvel God]. essaiFor t surhis le reason, lexique technique des mystiques musulmanes. Beirut: Dar the attitude that Ibn ʿArabī showed towards philosophy is probably the passage in Futūḥāt we have notel-Machreq. made conditionsspecial mentionof the Creative of Commons anything relating to the causal relationship 2 betweenPacheco the Paniagua,Pen andAttribution Juanthe Tablet Antonio.(CC BY) becauselicense 2007. Ibn it has Arabi, alreadythat 353–371: indirectly been Nú merodiscussed alludes y Raz toóbyn. Alfarabi, InthoseSimbolisme whilst et herm avoidingéneutique explic dansitly la pens sayingée dÍbn his Arabi name. . who supportEdited the by Revealed(http://creativecommons.org/li- B. Aladdin. Law, Damasco: the People IFPO, of pp. Truth, 99–111. whoWithout consider entering the adherents here into the complex issue of the relationship between Akbarian of [thePacheco doctrine] Paniagua, ofcenses/by/4.0/). "the Juan cause Antonio. and 2012.the caused” Ibn Arabi tothought and be Aristotelianungodly. and philosophy, (Ibn Logic. ʿArabīIshraq: in 1919, the Islamic sense Philosophy of falsafa Yearbook of Greek3: 1–19.origin, it is sufficient to quote two Pacheco Paniagua, Juan Antonio. 2017. Filosofía y pensamiento espiritual en al-Andalus.Córdoba: Almuzara. p. 81) Pacheco Paniagua, Juan Antonio. 2019. Ibn Arabi. El Maestro Sublime. Cordoba: Almuzara. Two of the fundamental elements of the Ibn Masarra’s cosmogony are, on the one Qashan¯ ¯ı, Abd al-Razz1 Editedaq.¯ by 1992. (BadawiAl-is..tl ah¯1955. at¯ al-s). “.ufAutobibliografía¯ ¯ıya. Edited by Sh deahin.¯ Ibn Cairo:ʿArabi” D. ar¯Al al-Man-Andalusar.¯ , XX.2, pp. 107–28; Badawi. 1979. Paris; S. ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ. hand, PrimeQash oran¯ ¯ı,UniversalAbd al-Razz Matteraq.¯ 2005. (habāLat . a¯ ᾿ if al-i) and,lam¯ fon¯ı ish thear¯ at¯ other, ahl-ilham¯ the. Edited Word by or al-S Logosa¯ ih. . ( Elka- Cairo: Maktaba al-thaqafa al-d¯ın¯ıya. 1995. Cairo. A comprehensive list of Ibn ʿArabī’s works is to˙ be found in (Aladdin et al. 2009). lima). In IbnQunaw Ma¯sarraı, Sadr’s al-D emanationist¯ın. 1983. Mir system,at al- arif¯ the¯ın. first Reflection hypostasis of the Awakened was formed. Edited of by“an S. intel-Hassan Askar¯ı. Translated by S. Hassan Askar¯ı. ˙ 2 “I have seen an infidel declare in a book called The ideal city (I had˙ found this book which I had not˙ seen previously, at the home London: Zahra Trust. ṣ ligible, intangible prime Matterof an acquaintance (ʿun ur), coeternal of mine inwith Marchena God, from of the which Olives Godhad picked made itall up to see what it was about and came across the following Rosenthal, V. Franz. 1988. Ibn Arab¯ı between “Philosophy” and “Mysticism”: “Sufism¯ and Philosophy are Neighbors and visit each particular beings arise” (seechapter: Lory 2006,‘In this p. chapter 834), whichI wish tois examinealso identified how to postulate with letters: [the existence of a divinity in this world’. He had not said God (Allah)! Other”. Fa-inna al-tas.awwuf wa-t-tafalsuf wayatazawar¯ an¯ ¯ı Oriens 31: 1–35. Sahl al-Tustarī said: LettersI was amazed are the and Primordial threw the Dustbook at(al its-habā owner᾿) and’s face. the” origin(Addas of 1993 , p. 108 and Ibn ʿArabī 1911, III, p. 178). On the one hand, C. Shafik, Ahmad. 2012. Filosofía y mística de Ibn al- Ar¯ıf: Su Miftah¯ . al-sa ada¯ . Anales del Seminario de Historia de la Filosofía 29: 433–48. thingsStroumsa, and the Sarah,beginning and Saraof their Sviri. creation. 2009. TheFrom Beginnings them was of created Mystical order Philosophy and the in Al-Andalus: Ibn Masarra and his Epistle on dominionContemplation became manifest.”. Jerusalem (Ibn Studies Masarra in Arabic 2007 andb, Islampp. 6236:–63 201–53.) The letterStroumsa, hā᾿ is Sarah. theReligions Primordial 2006. 2020 Ibn, Masarra 11Dust,, x; doi: it and FORis the the PEER totality Beginnings REVIEW of letters, of Mystical from Thoughtwhich things in al- Andalus. In Mystical Approaches towww.mdpi.com/journal/religions God: Judaism, are created.Christianity It is located and Islam below. Edited kun. by(Ibn P. Masarra Schäfer. Munich: 2007b, p. Historisches 68) Kolleg, Oldenbourg, pp. 97–112. Stroumsa, Sarah. 2016. Ibn Masarra´s (d. 931) Third Book. In The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Philosophy. Edited by Khaled el-Rouayheb Without assigningand Sabine it Schmidt. such a Oxford:central Oxfordvalue in University the genesis Press, of pp. creation 83–100. as Ibn Masarra, Ibn ʿArabīTahir ¯speaksHasanayn, crypticallyHamid.¯ and 1985. succinctly Al-walaya¯ in wa-l-nubuwa his work of indaa Supreme Muhy¯ı l-D Element¯ın ibn Arab (ʿun¯ı.ṣur Ta hq¯ıq wa-dirasa¯ li-nass lam yasbiq našrahu. . ˙ ˙ . . . . aʿẓam)17, whichSainthood may well and relate Prophecy: to that A of Study his predecessor and Edition offrom an Epistolary Córdoba: Manuscript by Ibn Arab¯ı. Alif 5: 7–38. “[TheTornero Supreme Poveda, Element] Emilio. kept 1985. in Nota the sobremost elhidden pensamiento of the dehidden Abenmasarra. (...) is theAl- most Qant. ara 6: 503–6. Tornero Poveda, Emilio. 1993. Noticia sobre la publicación de obras inéditas de Ibn Masarra. Al- Qantara 14: 47–64. perfect of created beings and were we not to have a pact of concealment that . Valsan, Michel. 2016. La science propre à Jésus (al- ilm al- ¯ısaw¯ı). Fûtûhat¯ , chapitre 20. In LÍslam et la fonction de René Guénon. prevents us from explaining its essential reality, we would speak more. exten- Nuits-Saint-Georges: Science sacrée, pp. 135–46. sivelyZine, about Mohammed it, showing Chaouki. how2004. all creation Lápport (mā de Gaz ˙siwàal¯ ¯ıAllāh aux fondaments) is united mystiquesto it.” (Ibn et philosophiques de la connaissance et lóbjection ʿArabī 1919,dÍbn p. 50)Arab ¯ı à la question de la vision de Dieu. Studia Islamica 98–99: 131–56. “We have made the centre [of the Universe] the receptacle of the Supreme Ele- ment as a warning that the higher rules over the lower.”18 (Ibn ʿArabī 1972, v. II, p. 317) This Element, which is closely related to water19 and the Divine Name al-Ḥayy al- Qayyūm (The Living One; the Self-Subsisting), is needed to produce life in creation and for the step from potential to action: