In all kinds of cultures the number four is closely connected to the order of the world. Think of the 4 phases of the moon, the four heavenly directions, the four winds, etc In Maya cosmology the 4 is very important. The Maya settlements were ordered according to the divine plan: four ways who lead from the holy tree to the 4 directions with guardians at the 4 ends of the village. Examples of the Chinese, the Celts, the Etruscian civilisation, the Byzantines (think of the four-cornered structure of the old Byzantine church), the Hindus and so many others can be given and all of them stress the importance of the number four. And we have not yet spoken about…

Aziz an-Nasafi in his “Unveiling of the Realities” gives this beautiful explanation in regard to the rivers of paradise and the water/milk/honey/wine mentioned: Know that water causes life and its benefit is common for everything in all times, and the reality of these rivers of water in heaven is that they are the waters of life for all the people of heaven who enjoy all of them. The cause which nurtures children is milk which is more particular than water, since the benefit of milk is common for all but only at a certain time. The reality of these rivers of milk in heaven is that they are the rivers of common sense which is the basis and exoteric aspect…

When the great friends of Allah are left to themselves no one of them would choose for a public display. That is because they know, that Allah has not created them in the first place for themselves or for the service of some other creature. He only created them for Himself and that is why they occupy themselves with the reason for which they have been created. However, when Allah – without that they choose so for themselves – shows them in public by that what he puts in the hearts of his creatures, then this belongs to His affairs. They do not aim for such a thing. When he, however, hides them and makes them insignificant in the hearts…

In the teachings of Ibn al-‘Arabi there is a central position to the perfect man (al-insan al-kamil). That is why Qutb ad-din bin Ibrahim Abd al-Karim al-Jili (d. 1403 according to Titus Burckhardt and ca. 1428 according to Richard Gramlich) has written a complete book dedicated to this subject. In this book of al-Jili the 60th chapter is the central one. In his own words: “This chapter is the real subject of all the chapters in this book, yes the whole book, from its beginning to its end, is an explanation of this chapter. Therefore understand the meaning of these words!” I hope to give some attention to this important chapter. Titus Burckhardt has given a partial translation to the…

There is an account – by Ibn al-‘Arabi self – of his meeting with Ibn Rushd (Averroes). His father was a close friend of the philosopher, who had heard a great deal of the young man and who was curious to meet him. So, on some pretext his father sent him to the house of Ibn Rushd. I have always wondered about the meaning of their curious meeting. In several books different explanations have been offered, but none was really satisfactory. In the Journal of the Ibn al-‘Arabi society I read an article dedicated to this meeting. Therein it was stressed that it is important to ask yourself about the meaning of this meeting between the young mystic and the…

A Chishti shaykh once pointed out to me how it can be observed that the inner school takes place. The dervishes then sit in the shape of a crescent opening up to the light of the ‘star’, their shaykh. And indeed afterwards it was easy to recognise. The subject that is discussed cannot always be judged at face value. I remember that once in my presence the shaykh discussed several things, but all of them dealing with worldly matters. I was feeling rather disappointed having made a long travel to attend. At that very moment the shaykh brought up a new subject, also having to do with outward things, but at the same time I did not only realise that…

The ceremony of the initiation can be different in each Sufi order. It may start with a short speech of the shaykh to his mureed-to-be wherein some of the qualities that he or she should emulate, are mentioned. Thereafter the newcomer has to say two cycles of prayer. Then he or she has to sit in front of the shaykh with his/her right hand in the hand of the shaykh and then recites some verses of the Qur’an like: – sura Fatiha (Qur’an 1:1-7) – sura Jonas (Qur’an 10:1-109) – The fist 10 verses of sura The Victory (Qur’an 48:1-10) – The 56th verse of sura The Confederates (Qur’an 33:56) – The final 3 verses of sura The Rangers (Qur’an…

Ibn al-‘Arabi has dedicated a complete chapter of his Futuhat al-Makkiya to love, which has been translated by Maurice Gloton as ‘Traité de L’Amour’ (ISBN 2-226-02715-7). He describes 3 types of love (pp. 67-127): 1. Divine love 2. Spiritual love 3. Natural love. For those not knowing Arabic or French Stephen Hirtenstein has described these 3 types of love in his ‘The Unlimited Mercifier’ (ISBN 1-883991-29-3). See pp. 191-203. A condensed description with all the major features of the exposition of the shaykh is given on pp. 194-195: “Know that Love is according to three degrees. (Firstly) there is natural love, which is the love of ordinary people, whose aim is unification in the animal spirit… It ends in the…

In regard to ascetic practices here are some observations of Ibn al-‘Arabi. These remarks are to be found in his ‘Ornaments of the Abdal’, which has been translated into French by Michel Valsan. Ibn al-‘Arabi sees silence, solitude, hunger and wakefulness as the four cornerstones of the way. Each of them has not only a physical aspect but also (and this is of interest!!!) a spiritual reality. The physical aspects: 1. Silence of the tongue (little speaking) 2. Solitude from other people (little meeting with the people) 3. Fasting (little food) 4. Little sleep The spiritual realities: 1. Silence of the heart 2. Solitude of the heart 3. Hunger of the heart 4. Vigilance of the heart. These last 4…

In the early 9th century, when the Muslim mystics organised their Sufi brotherhoods or orders, they adopted music as a support for meditation, as a means of access to the state of grace or ecstasy, or quite simple as ‘soulfood’, in other words, something that would give new vigour to a body and soul tired by the rigours of the ascetic life. In Sufism the sama’ (meaning literally ‘listening’) denotes the tradition of listening in spiritual fashion to music, chanting and songs of various forms, all ritualised to a greater or lesser degree. The very meaning of the word sama’ suggests that it is the act of listening that is spiritual, without the music or poetry being necessarily religious in…