Ibn ‘Arabī and his interpreters . Pt. 1, Recent French translations Author: James Winston Morris Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/4228 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Published in Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 106, no. 3, pp. 539-551, 1986 Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons "Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States" (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/) IBN cARASI AND HIS INTERPRETERS PART I: RECENT FRENCH TRANSLATIONS JAMES WINSTON MOUIS IN~ OF IsMAILI STUD~ PUIS Part I ofthis review article introduces a numba'ofrecent U'aDllaboDl and related studies of worbbythepeatIslamicmysticalthinkerIbncArabY(d.638/1240)that tOFtherillustratethe manyrepreseDtativefaeeuofhisthoqllt,writiq.aDdinteJratiODofearlierbI8mictraditiolll.Part II,toappearintwofollown.,iuues,OUtliDCISODleofthemaiDlinesofinterpmationandinflumce that awbd the reception of his t ouPt by IIIb1equent 1J1aaUc writcn iD • wide raqe of discipli and historical seuinJl, .po bMed on • survey of recent publications (primarily truslatiODl)iDseveral......... INftODUCTION interestedspecialiststothislargebodyofnewpublica tionsaDdtofompscholan(lomeofthemyaun,aDd ScHOLAUwamNG(orteachin&>abouttheelaborate DOt yet widely known) working in this flCld.' But dilciplinesoflaterIslamicthoupt-philOIOphy,kaIam, secoDcllr, given tbe potentially wider interest of the SufISm, etc.-inevitably encounter a dilemma that subject, weshallalsotrytoprovidethenon-specialist mustbesharedby-Oricntalists"studYinaothersimilar with lome basic bactpound for approachina these traditions: in the absence of an adequate body of translations. appropriate translations, they can either aaume an intimate acquaintance with the texts and traditions in question, in which case their audieace' effectively I We have also made ewry effort to mention the receat limited to a handful of colleagues with the requisite EnaJisb-laDpaae trauJaUons (aDd some importaDt Arabic philolosicaltrainiq;ortheycanundertakethedifTlCUlt publicatio )intbefield,eitherintbetelltorfootnota, taskofexplanationandabstractionfor a hypothetical haveavoidedanydetailedcommenuso_ DOttoprecludethe -general"audieace,aneffortwhoseintrinsiclimitations full-scale reviewseachofthose orbc1etetVa. Althoupit areevidentineventhebestofthesecoDclaryliterature fallsoutsidethelimitedscopeofthisarticle,wemUllalsoat onthesesubjects.Thisdilemmaisallthemorefrustrat IeaItmentiontherecentappearanceofProf.SucidaI-l;lakrm's inswhenODerecoanizathattheinterestsaDdcapacities tJ-MuCjtun aJ-$UjT: 1Il-lJiJcnfIIflIJudi1d td-KMi1rM (Beirut: required for appreciating the deeper intellectual and Daodalapubli hers. 1981).whichistnalya milestoneinthe spiritual dimensions ofthose traditions, ifonly suffi studyofIbncArabI~thepateItachievementiDce cienttranslationswereavailable, arefortunatelymuch OsmanYallia'.bio-bibliopaphy(n.3be10 )-andwillbean morecommonthanthevocationandtrainingrequired iDdilpensabletoolforeveryseriousstudentandtranslatorof todecipherthemintheiroriginallanpaaeandcultural theSbaythfromnow00.Thismonumental ork(1311 pp.) setting. Inthiscontext,therecentappearanceofmore provides(inadditiontotheK.oranicandlexicalbacqrOUDd) than a dozen translations of works by the famous defmitioos and ciWions, drawn from the FwfiI.tJI and n Islamicmystic:IbncArabI(d.638/1240)aDdlaterSufIS other orb by Ibn cArabI, iUustratiq some 706 ofhis key of his school is a remarkable phenomenon; these technicalterms.(TheKtualnumberoftermsdiJcuaed.liven books-and others promised by the same scbolan theadditionalcrOll-references.synonyms,andrelatedroou, mayopenthewaynotonlytoawiderappreciationand isinthethousand..) undentandinaoftheMGreatestM ter"(aJ-Sbaykhal 1 Itisa sipif"lCUltaDdiDIeratin&fact (especiallyfornon Akbar,asheistraditionallyknown)andhisteachings, Islamicist raders of this J01U"DaI) tlW available Weatcm but also for substantially improved acc.a to the JaaauaaestudiesofIbDcArabJbaed on acomparisonwith various Islamic traditions that are integrated in his copatetraditiOlllofHindu. eopiatOllic.ChriItiaa,Budcl .to ork. udevenTao· mysticaltbouPtareperhapsmorenWDerO Thepurposeofthisreviewarticleisthereforetwofold. aDd more aa:esaiblethaDworkspraeatiDahim primarilyin Ymt, iscustomary,we . htodrawtheattentionof thecontelltofhisownIsJamictladitioDludsoun:a. S39 JOumJllO/IM AmnictIn Oriental Soc~ty 106.3 (1916) Dueto thegreatnumberanddiversityoftheworks theseinitialobstaclesanddiscovertheunifyingvision to becovered, thisarticlehubeendividedintoparts. andintentioninIbncArabI'sworksrequiresextraordi Part I is devoted to the translations of Ibn cArabrs naryeffortsandabilitiesonthepartofboththereader own writinp, preceded by a briefintroduction to the andthetranslator,forthetranslator-ifbcisseriously complexitiesfacingallstudentsandinterpretersofthe trying to communicate with the non-specialist-must Shaykh. Part II, to appear in two future issueI, will alsoact 81 commentatorand guide through thislaby focusonthehistoricaltrendsandinflucnc:csillustrated rinthofsymbols. by the recent translations of works by Ibn cArabI·s One traditional response to tbele problems was to later followen, colDDlcntaton, and critics (as weD as focus onasingle"representative"textandinterpretive certain "apocrypha" widely attributed to him). How penpective, most often the philosophical, conceptual ever,asweshallsee,mostofthosehistoricaltendencies analysis of Ibn cArabY's FUIilI al-QIkam (MBezels of ininterpretationarealreadyreflectedintheapproaches Wisdomj. This approach, initiated by Ibn CAnbY's ofcontemporaryschoWs. son-in-law and close disciple SUr ai-DIn al-QOnawi aDd carried out in a line of douns of extensive PAaTI commentariesdowntothepresentday,j isnowreadily accessible in Enatish throup the superb study by StudentsofIbncArabT,whetherspecialistsorbcgin Toshihito lzutsu and a complete translation of the nen,facefourdauntinsobstaclestoanintqratedand FUlfil byR. W.J. Austin.'Thesetwoworts,because comprehensiveappreciation ofhis wort: (I) thesheer volumeandvarietyofhiswritinp,possiblyunparalleled worb that may have been oonscioUily intended either to in Islamic civilization;) (2) the extreme divcnity of dissuadeunqualif'Jedreadenor-mOR,positively-toinduce symbols,allusions,rhetoricalforms,andsubjectswhich astateofl}tIyra(~")leadinstothetraDJceDdeD<:e are brought tOJCthcr, often in radically newcontexts, ofestabliJbcd mental eatqorics andjudlJDClltl. as with the inhisworks;(3)hisdistinctivepersonal"inspjml"and "oem-litewla1)iit(-ecsaabcparadoxes")favored bycertain (mostoften)nOD-linearwritingstyle,withitscomplex parallels to the Koran itself; and (4) his presumption, famousSufIS. Inanyellie,thebizarreepithetsonesometimes finds applied to Ibn cArabr, whether in Islamic or modern in most ofhis worts (including all the most famous Western 10W"CCI--e.1-, -incoherent, pantbeist,..""heretic," ones), ofa specialized audience with a highdegreeof to16 spiritual development and immersion in the practice ""monist,"16madman;" dC.-aR undenaandablc lea as rea soned judpaents about tlae wbole of his wort than as (and vocabulary) of the Sufi path. These difficulties, reactionstotbedifficultcba11enaeofunifyinaandintepatinl whichreadenwillfindamplyillustratedinthetransla sucb diverse and challeoainl materials.. One of the peat tionsmentionedbelow,haveoftengivenrisetoimpres advantqaofthexnewtnulllatioDlisthatreaderscanatlast sions(whetheramoDglbn<:ArabI'lhistoricalcriticsor beain to form theirownjudp:lenh on the basis of• more inmodemsecondaryliterature)reminiscentofRumi's representativesampleof . writinp. fableoftheblindmenandtheelephant!Totranscend .s This process and referenca to QOnawl, K hlDI, and other important figures will be disaaued in Pan II. See in J The standard biblioaraPhicai RfeRDCe wor~ Osman particular,inO. y~op.cit.,thelistof120commentaries y.ma's two-volume Histon et Chu3ificllliorr de 1'00000re ontheFaqiq(I,pp.241-S6)andthelistofsome64criticsaDd d7b" CArllbr(Damucus: IDititut Fr~de1>aJuI, 1964), defenden of the Fupq (I, 114-35); neither liItina is to be mentioDS some 846 titlcs; even if a number of these aR takenu exhaustiveoftheavailablesoun::aintbisreprd. apocryphal, excerptsfrom IlltlCr worb, ordupticale titles, , Tr. R. W. J. Austin, TMIWuIJofWudom (NewYork: IbncArabl'.ownpenonallistsofhiswritinp(theFIJrrUaDd Paulist Ina, 1980); another oomplete EaaJish translation, ljazadiscussed byYama),oomposedfordiscipleslateinhis 1M&alsofWirdo"" Ir. A. cAbdai-Rahmanat-TaIjumana life,e.:hcontainDearly2SOworts.Thesheern....berofthese (Norwich, UK: Diwan Ina, 1980),issomewhatDIORread writiDpshouldnotObscuRthecomprehensiveaDdauthorita able, but unfortunately inKauate in many places. Both tive IWUre of Ibn cArabI' 111-FutU/.tM aI-MakId)ltl (wrbc tran.lationsshouldbelupplemented,WheR poaaible,bythe Mec:can Inspirations") which wu oomposed and added to partial translation of T. Burckhardt (EnaJ.isb tr. from the throupout the last 30 yean ofhis life, and which coven FrenchbyA.Culme-Scymour),1JteWwo",oftheProphet, thefull ranaeofsubjectsanddisciplinestreatedinhis many (Aldlworth,UK:BesbaraPublicatioDS,1975), hichcontains otberworb. more of the commentary and reference to the underlyina • One bouJd also not minimize the extent to which t~ Arabic that is often needed to follow the details of Ibn clifrlCUlties reflect certain rhetoric:al features ofIbn CAnbY's cArabl's 81'JU1DeDts. However, the Burckhardt translation MoulS: Ibn 'Arabi tmdhis InterptYtns. Part I S41 oftheircomprehensiveness,maturityandfaithfulreflec.. The point is not a minor ODe. Many of the standard tion of a Ionl tndition of commentary, provide an criticismsandmisundentandinpofIbn'Arabi',work idealstartingpointforthestudyofIbn cArabL How (e.g., "'incoherence," Mrepetition," Mlack of focus" or ever,relyinllolelyontheFU#iI-ormorespecifacally, Morder,'" Mcontradictioo," Mextravapace," etc.) arise on the scholastic tradition of commentary focusing from misconceptions ofhis intention as Mapplying'" a primarilyonthesystematicmetaphysicalunderpimainp pre-cooceiveddoctrineorinterpretationtotraditional ofIbn cArabY's thought-ultimatelygives a one-sided materials,disciplines,etc.' Fortheunifyingintentions aDd hiahlymisleadingimageoftheShaykh'swritinp, and actual rhetorica) fuDctiODl of his writinp only his historical influence, and his own character and becomeevidentwhentheyareviewed intheiroriginal pcnonality. penpediveofpracticeandrealization;thesameistrue TwootheraspectsofIbn cArabI'swortareatleut ifoneistoappreciatethedepthsofhistreatmentofthe u essential to an adequate, intepated undentandina Koran, 1)lIdrth, and blamic rites and pndicel. Since of his writinp (includina the Frq;q): they are his the actual integration ofthese interpretive upects of concernwith the practiceaDd methods ofSufmn, his Mtheory"and pfllCticeonlybecomes.pparentthroup lifeloDl activity as teacher and spiritual guide, from extensive reading and familiarity with Ibn cArabI's AndalusiatoAnatolia;and hisconsistentfocusonthe writinp (especially the Fllti1l}4t) and their cultural KoranandteachingoftheProphetMuhammadasthe context, one of the most important contributions of source and context ofall his work. These two inter the new translatioDl discussed below is the way they relatedupecQ,whichunderlyIbnCArabI'sconception bringoutmoreforcefully theseeuentialand toooften ofbiaownuniqueroleIIthe~oftheMuhammwlan DeJIectedaspeetsofhiswork.. Sainthood"(/chQtm aJ-waJijytl tll-mul;Jommtltiiya) and The translations are mentioned here roughly in help account for his subsequent veneration as the orderoftheiraccessibilityandimportance(intermsof "Greatest Master" among a wide range of Islamic representativenessandscopeofissuestreated)fornon schoolsandspiritualpaths,maywellhavebeentaken specialists approachina Ibn cArabI's writings, other rant forgrantedinthetrMitionallslamicteachingcontext thantheFrq;qaJ-IfiJuun,forthe time.Inaddition, (including the commentators of the FUlfil); but their readen familiar with tbestandards and procedures of centrality-which is most marked in the F~t-is American or German scholarly publishing should be not at all reflected in the available English sources.7 cautioned that most ofthese books are marked by a relative lack of indexes, bibliography, adequate iacludaonly9fuUchapters(outof27)anddoesDothavethe ~importaDtIDtroduetioatotheFupq. intcrats, and methodsofpresentationfound insuchstudies TherecentpublicationofaDeW,revisededitioaofToshihiko to be lCpl'CleDtative ofthe Shayth's ort .. a bole. The Izutsu's Sujbm tmd Taoism: A ComptUtIliw StudyofKey resultiD.distortions haftbeeD especially remarkable where Pld/moplticaJCort«pu,(UniversityofCaliforniaPta&,1984) modern Muslim writcn have derived their imqe of Ibn [titlesliahtly different than the original two-volume edition l;Arabifrom lICCountJaDdJClectiODlinteDdecl to"introduce" (Totyo:KeioIDStitute,1967)],shouldhelpmatemoreacces himtoanon-IslamicistaudieDce(secn.21). siblethiscIusicstudyofIbncArabt's"philosophic"thouaht. a Unfortunately, there is Aill no inb'oduetory study Me (For those uafamiliatwith this work, it should be stressed quately prcscntiDl the CIIeDtia) '-rhetorical" aspect of Ibn thatPartIofthebootisanentirelyindependentstudyofthe cArabI'swritiaat,Le..thewaybeUDitesmanymethods,styles, FIlfWI,relyilllespeciallyonthefamousCOIlllllellWyofCAbd and traditionalsubjectsinviewofcertainI'CCUJ'fCIltspiritual aI-RazzIq UshInI[see Pt. 11], separatefrom the relativdy intcntiOftS-aleekthatisDOttoo.urprisin&liventhecultural shorterTaoist andcomparativesections;thesectionon Ibn bKklfound,profoundtllOWlcdaeofArabic,aDdinsi&btthat CAnbYisnotonlycleataDdreliable,butalsocom.iDIhelpful tuk would require. Howner, tbc best illustration of tbc translationsofperhapsJ5-2O%oftheFupq.) Deeded *CIlSitivity to thatcrucial dimension ofIbn cArabJ'. 7 Thisis in no way intended • a criticism ofthe modem writi....usuallyphrasedintermsofCOIlUDCllUon-SufISm"in authoninquestion,whomostoftenarethemOltcolllCiousof aeneral,istobefound iatJacvariouscoIledioDlofessaysby tbe limitations of their particular studia, in view of their F.ScbuonODIslamicsubjects;sec,&IDonaothers.u SowflSrM. directcontactwithIbncArabl'swritinp.Unfol'tUllatdy,most Voile et Quinlnsenu (Paris: Dcrvy-Livrcs, 1980) and Ap raden-includin.many.-nOOnofsecondaryliteratureand prochn du Plthtomhv ReliVna (Paris: i.e Courricr du translatonfromWcstcmIaa&u-.esbidintoArabic-lactina Livre,1914).However,thosereflectionsBeDerallypresuppose writ. adequate finthaacl acquaintance with IbD cArabt', actual apeatfamiliaritywithboththewritinpofIbDcArabIandtbe haftnaturallytendedtotatethelimitedpcnpecti~ broMerSufitraditio ofwhichtheyareapan. JOIImtIl011MAmerictm OrimUJI Sod«y 106.3 (1986) proofreadin~ and scholarly peer review, features I. The new translation of M. AsfN PALACIOS' classic which-whetherdue toconsideratioDJ ofeconomyor study,L7sklmchriltianlll:buM$lIT¥ Sou.f'/RMd1bn tradition-are not limited to this particular area of CArabltkMur~[Tr. B.DURANT.Pp.379.Paris:GUY Frenchpublishina-Hopefully,agrowinaawarenessof TamANIEL/EDmONS DE LA MAUNIE. 1982.], despite theobstaclesthisposesforreaders unfamiliarwiththe theageoftheoJiaina1(1931)andtheevidentlimitations oriainaJ Arabic will encouraae areater attention to oftheapproachIUuestcdbyitstitle,stillremainsthe these mallers in the future.' For those interested in bestavailableintroductiontoIbncArabY'sownlifeand consultina the Arabic orilinals. each translation has spiritual practice, and to those crucial practical and beenidentifiedbyitsnumberinO. Yahia's"dpertoire experiential aspects of his work which were shared " aelX~ thestandardbibliOJl'8PtiicalreferenceforIbn with earlier SufISm (and ultimately with mystics of cArabJ.10 many religious traditions). As such, it provides an indispensablecomplementtothemetaphysical,~ret­ ical"aspectemphasizedintheFUIiiI111-8iklmtandthe , Due to tbe rdati~abUDdaDceoftranslated material (M studies of Izutsu and most other available sources in Ie_comparedwithmostareasofIslamicstudies),writenon English.Thefruitofdecadesofstudyandreflectionon Ibn cArabi hopeluDy will soon be&in to sift increasina Ibn cArabI'. workH (and the often unavowed inspira on thouabttotheonaoioa,cumulativeaatureoftheir aDd tionofmanysubsequentstudies),Alin'sworkcontains totheirrespoasibiliticstoawidei'interestedpublic.ODesian almost as many pages of tran lation and 81 wide a ofthis interest (ill addition to the sheer volume of receat rangeoftopics a all the otherbooks reviewed below writins)istherecentorpnizationofaMMuhyiddinIbncArabr takentogether.Thevolumeisdividedintowhatcanbe Society" in Oxfo~ EJIIIaDd. and their publicatiOD (siDee regarded as three distinct books: (a) a detailed bio, 1982)ofabiannualJounwl,whichmayserve• ODemeansof raphy of Ibn cArabi, based on his own autobio communication and coordination in this field. In anycase. JI1lphicalremarksthroupouttheFuttiJ;I41(pp.23-90); readenattemptiDatocomparetwoormoretranslationswill (b) an anthology ofrepresentati~excerpts, focusin, quickly recognize tbe Deed for fuD indexes of Koran and ontheSbaykh'sspiritualmethodandexperience,from J,tuJrt1t (inc1udin. important allusions as well • direct cita a number of key works (pp. 209-378); and (c) a tiODS)and oftechnicaltmnino1o&Y(keyedtotheunderIyina comparative study of Ibn cArabY's spiritual method Arabicexpressio...liventheinevitablevariationsinchoice and "psycholol)',"to a areat extent typical ofSufISm of equivaleDu by many translators). likewise, ai~ the more generally, which must be approached with practic:al impossibility ofreaclinaall relevant worb on IbD caution(pp.91-208). cArabi,it' importantthattranslations(andespeciallyDOtes Thebiopaphicalsection,whilebynomeansexba andcommentary)reflecttheinputofotherqualifiedscholan inathe referencesavailablein the FutQhal (and other in the fld.d-somethina that wa clearly not the case with works),12doesIi eanindispensableself-portraitofthe aneralofthe otbreviewedbete. 10 See n. 3 &bow. Readen unfamiliar with Prof. Yahia's work should be amed that many ofIbn CArabi's writinp were known under multiple titles. even in his own lifetime, ~ldir) and dlewbere, aDd followed in Prof. aJ-l;Iakrm's andtbMthetitlesfrequentlyareonlyvapelyorsymbolically lexicon of Ibn cArabI's technical vocabulary (n. 1 abo~). relatedtotileprimarysubjectsoftheworbinquestion.This (Osman Yabia'l new. 1Cieatif'Je:edition oftile FUJiiJJ4t. with belpsexplainwhytranslaton-addillltotheconfusion-have extensiveandinvaluableindexes.hasnotydreachedtheend frequentlychosentousetheirown,morerepresentativetitles. ofVolumeIoftheoIcIereditions,and a tberd'orenotused Asa J"CIult,Dr.Yabia'sdClCriptiODofthecontentsofworb foranyofthetranIlatioDlreviewedhac.) heWUDOtabletoexamiJledin:c:tJY. wherebaledonindica II We may mention in partic:u1ar tbe (abridp) English tiona in the titles, are not always completely accuraae. In translation of his hl4m tIIUI t~ DiviM Comedy. tr. H. additioD,theworkisbyDOmeanscompleteinillcitationof Sutherland.(London:FrankCasandCo.Ltd.•1968-reprint earlier tranaJatio . a correcteeI aDd updMeci list, by M. oft 1926("tntedition),which retainsita usefulness u the N01Cutt. is liven in tbe above mentioned JOUTIIGl of 1M best available study of Ibn cArabT's esc oJoay aDd its MuI)yiddin Ibn cA,tlbr SocWty. In (1984). and should be soun:ainIslamict.nMlition,nmifitisno ouadatedu far supplementedinfonhc:ominaissues. thequestionofinfIueftCCSODDante' coocemed. FortraDllatiolllfrom the Futlll)at (O.Y., o. 1lS),liwn 12 ItshouldbenOledthatAJfn'srefereocesaretotheolder. thev.textentofthatwort,wehaftcitedthechapternumber BQ1Iq lithoarapbed cclition of t Fu~, also in four (sameinalleditio )andthevolumeaDdpqaKCOrdinato volumes, but with entiRly different paaination from t the 1329 Cairoedition, frequently reprinted in Beirut(011' editionmostoftencitedinmoremodernworbODIbncArabi MoulS: Ibn cArditmdlab IlIlnpmen. PtlTt 1 543 Shayth and hisdramatic penonality-aportrait that Probably the mostvaluable aspect ofthe work are not only offen a vivid sense of Ibn cArabl as a Asfnt translations from six different treatiJa by Ibn "practicing" Sufi, but also may IUgest some of the cArabl (plus another work now attributed to a later underlyiDJreasonsfortheoDJoiqhostilityand uspi Turkish author) focusina on the Shaykh·s spiritual cionhisworksencountered(bothduringandafterhis advice and hisown discussions-often illuminated by lifetime) amoDJcertainaroupl ofmo~sober-minded accounts of his penonal experience-of ..... and theologians,lawyen,aad philosophen.JlThisportrait conditionsoftheSufipath.TheseseleaioDJ although t of Ibn cArabIand his Sufi milieuis perfectly comple systematically leavina out the more diffacult meta mented by the deICriptioDS of his own masters and physicalandcosmologicalpassages,arerepreaentative companions in the biosraphical sections of his RQl;a ofa central and stillvirtually unstudied dimension of aI-QudsandaI-Durratal-F4Jchira. readilyavailablein Ibn cArabI's work that is elaborated. for example, in 14 Asm·. Austin·. translation- In addition, quotations huDdrecb ofpqes ofthe FlltQJ.r4t. Three oftileselec (pp. 79-85) ofsomeofIbn cArabrs own descriptions tionsareco~primarilywithwhatmaybebroadly ofhisdistinctive,t6inapired"methodofcompositionin called the tId4b aspect of SuflSlll, "rules" or advice virtuallyallofhisworks.andofthewaytheFUlfiland conceminlspiritualpracticeand method. Thetreatise FlltQ1.r4t were meant to be read. should be required on "The Essence of What is Indispensable for the readinl for anyone who sets out to study those Novice"(O.U.•N-352)hassincebecomeavailableina writinp.IS complete EnaJish translation;16 in clear aDd ItI'aipt forward terms. it lives an excellent idea ofwhat Ibn cArabi would have PR:IilPposed as the very minimal (cairo. 1329: cf. n. 10abo~). IsJamieists shoUld be ableto conditions for most readers of his worb. The"rmn decipherthetransliterationofreferences.propernames,etc., Rule Conceminl the Conditions Necessary for the which-since the translatordearly .uunfamiliarwith the People of God's Path" (K. a/-Amr aI-MuJ;rJcam..•, underlyinaArabic-bassometimestakensomepeculiartums O.U. 28) is a considerably more advanced work. in the passaae from Spanish to French (e.,., al-Mariq aI includingfascinatina advice to spiritual JUides on the Mobadamforai-MalikaI-MuC~). types of languaae and teachil18 they should offer to The inflUCDCe ofAsfn Palacios'biographicalselections in different audiences and types of students-remarks this ort(andthepervasivenessoftbephenomenaalludedto whichcouldbeusefullyappliedtotheinterpretationof in n. 7 above) is ill rated by thefrequcoc:y with which its IbncArabi'sownwritinp.Thebriefpaaagesfromthe panial Arabic translation by t:.A. BadawI(Ib" t:..AI'Gbr: U. K. aI-Tat/built al-1IahlJ'd(O.Y. 716). while not really yatuJruwtIMIIIiJrJuIbuJru.Cairo.1965)isno citedincontem representativeofthatmajorworkasawhole,11include poraryArabiccliscuuionsofIbncArabrinsteadofreferences briefbut pointed re~for both novices and more tothecorrespondinapauaJCIfromtheFUliU;t41itJelf. advancedseeken. thatshould beexmmelyintereltiq See Part IIforfurtherrefcrcncato thisproblem. These 1) tostudentsofthepracticalandsocio-historicalsideof historical phenomena are otherwise almost impossible to Sufism. Such students will fmd that frequently Ibn comprehendifoneapproachestheproblemfroma"doctrinal," cArabi's !lugestions-e-g., on questions of JDmiIC or purdyconceptualstudyofhiswritinp. theinadvisabilityoffrequenttraveti.,etc.- areoften •• Sufuof.A1UItIJwitl,tr. R.W.J. Austin.(London:Georae AUcn.Unwin,1971).ThebootIusalsobeentranslatedinto us French, by G. Leconte, Soufu d"A1tdIJJ0ruie. (Paris: Sindbad/EditionsOrientales, 1979).butwithouttheindexes •• "InstructionstoaPostulant,"tr.ArthurJeffery.pp.640 and helpful biblioaraPhy provided in the oriainal Eoaliah SSinbisA R~011lsliun,(London,1962). version. Althoup Asfn docs not usually quote from the •, Seetheedition.andcspeciallythe10DlGermanintroduc RiiJ.r tIl-Qutb, be docs Jive frequent refCreocel to tbe cor tion(pp. 1-162).ofH.S.Nybera'sKkltwnSdlri/tmdaIbn rcspondiqbiographicalentries,whichcanbec-.iIymatd1ed aJ-cArtlbl. (Lcidcn: E. J. Brill, 1919), hicb pves a detailed withAustin'stranslation. analysis ofsome of tbe mclaphysical concepts oftho and IS Given the diversity and diJtiDCti'Ye1lCll of Ibn CAnbY's relatedearly orb. It would appearthatthe relativeaa:es styleofwritins.evenincomparisonwithotherforms ofSufi libilityofNybcra'sstudyofIbncArabJ"1""tbeoIophica1lystcm" literature, a comprehensivestudy ofhis methods ofwritina (pp.29-160)-0account hichsivaDOinklin&e.8-,ofthe andrhetoricaltechniques,inthelaraercontextofhiJspiritual dimensionsrepracnteclbyAsfn'sIClcctionsfromtheTlldbrrilt method-bued on the many indications scattcred throup helpscxplainthe predominanceofthisaspectin ublequcnt theFUI~ill-issurelyoneofthepeatneedsinthisfJeld.(Sec Westernsecondaryliteratureand popularconceptionsofthc alson.8above.) Sbayth(seen.7abovc). JourNIl oftM American OrientalSociety /06.3 (19116) contraryeithertopopularlyacceptedimaaaofSufISm The central, analytical section of Asin's book is or to common Sufi p~ in other rqions and undoubtedlythemostdatedandproblematic,Jivenhis periodsoftheIslamicworld. avowedintentionof"explaining"IbncArabrsspiritual The other three selections are primarily concerned method by referenceto Christian mystical precunon. withthephenomenologyand(inthebroadestpossible However,itisnottoodifficultforanattentivereader sense) "psychology" of the spiritual path, subjects to transform that historicist penpedive into a more whic:h in Ibn cAmbrs writings-unlike some of the appropriatecomparativeone,therebybringingoutthe earlier, "clauical" Sufi literature in this area-are universality of the underlyina phenomena. ADd for usually closely integrated with his mystical theology, morespecializedreaderswithaccesstotheArabictexts metaphysics,etc.Thebriefesttreatise,theR.al-Anwar frequently cited, As{n's detailed references(mainly to (O.Y. 33), while explicitly concerned with the phe works othertban the FutilJ;Jat) represent tbefruits of DOmenaexperiencedduriDaklullwtl,orspiritualretreat, yean ofJaCuch that would bediff'lCUlt to duplicate. is also a concise survey of some key stages of the Moredaqerousthantheexplicithistoricistpeaspective, spiritual path, and has often been commented on in however,istberepeatedUICofalienandinappropriate thatcontext.IIIbn cArabI'smuchlonger MtlwiiqiCal interpretive eategories-e.g., 1Jantheist," -..nonist," NujQm(0.Y.443),summarizedandpartiallytranslated ...heoI0IY," "heterodox/orthodox," etc.-which, aI here, coven an extraordinary ranae ofspiritual phe houp undentaDdable in terms of Alin's intended nomenaand insiJhts in a relatively accasible form,·' audience,cannotbutmisleadtholelackinaa finthand and was even more widely read and studied by later acquaintancewith Ibn cArabl'sworks. Surelynothing SufIS. The culminatinaselection (pp. 337-78)is made hasdonemoretopRVeDtseriousstudyandunderstand upoflongpassapfromchapter78oftheFutUl)4t,on ingofIbnCArabithanthevirtuaUyuniversalrepetition divine and human love; his subtle analysis of that of such formulae in modern secondary literature by theme-althOUgh its overall role is by no means as authorswho(unlikeAsin)havehadnoinklingoftheir predominantinIbn cArabI'sworkas withthefamous appropriatenessandlimitations.21Finally,readersmust Sufi poets, for example-is perhaps unsurpassed in becautionedthattheauthorhere-asinhisIs/tunand Islamicmysticalliterature.20 the Divine Co~dy-hasoffered only the evidence that j]]ustrates his thetis; as a rauh, not surprisingly, I' ThisworkhalalsorecentlybeentranslatedintoEnglish, underthedescriptivetitleJOUT1WYto1MLtxd0/POwn',IT. BollinsenSeriesXCI,(Princ:eton:PrincetonUniversityPras, R. T. Harris, (New York: Inner Traditions International, 1969),cspccia11yinthenotatothechapteronthe-dialedicof 1981),aloDIYiitbiJDponantseleetio fromtbetommeotary love." Alin'. lC~ons-toup1yIG-IS% of the orilinal bycAbdal-KarrmmT(tobediscussedinPartII).O.Yahia(I, cbapacr(= FUI~,II, pp.320-62),althoup notindXated p. 162) mentions ICVeOalternative titles aDd, toldher witb • such in tbis traDalation-lcave out the complex meta Broctelmann,almostSOmaDusaipts.ThefulltraD5lationof pbysical-tbeolo,icaldilcuaioDSthatfonnthepaterbodyof tbe staDelard title wouJd be --rhe Lipts Conceminl the thechapter;tbeselec:tionmakesforeasierreadinJ, butisnot Mysteries (or secrets) Beatowe<l on ODe Whoit in Retreat wbollyrepresentativeasaresult. (kJuJlwIl)."Secalsothetranslationandextensivecommentary The fOUf openine pap (pp. 333-36) are taken from dew. ontbis work-drawmlespeciallyonJfi.T$'scommentaryand unidentifiedlCCtionsoftheFwUJ,at, witbtheimpor corresponding paaaga from tbe FWQ/:r4t (chapters167and tant diffcr~between the -Sufi,"aDd the MMiIIbtlUry,," u 367)-inMichelChodkiewicz' &ellU sainu:hophltk (or mlll4mr)'d, the foremost of whom beina the Prophet ~tUbtltll dtmJIIIdocltlntd7bn CAtabr. (Pari. Gallimard, Muhammad), in Ibn cArabl'sdistinctive usaaeofthat term: 1986), pp. 181-221. [This major new study of Ibn CArabi's this subject and related spiritual.....nks"and functions are conceptionofprophecyaudsainthood,buedonatboroUib discussed indetailinchapter73(beainninaofVol. II)ofthe studyofthe FWUl}a1andmanyotherwritinp,appearedtoo FIdiiI.t4t. recentlytobeincludedinthebody·oftbisartide.] 21 ThemostgIarin.instana:,almostinacapableinsecoocIary ., The subject ()( this work. which has little to do witb lileralURrefcrrin.to Ibn cArabr,istbeformula ~111 trolOJYofanysort,isbetterindicatedbythealternativetitle wujUd"(roulbly translatable as tbe "'transceodent Unity of (li0b.,.Y,a.h..ia;, II, p. 37S)X. SirrIII-A$''''WIIrmIIIUIIti ciJm111 Beinej-a phrase have not 10Qtcd anywhere in Ibn accordingtoYahia,itwasabocommentedonby cArabI'.ownwrit.inp(butseetheremubonBalylnJandtbe cAbda1-RazzIqal-Kisbini(alsodiscussedinPartII). schoolofIbn SabcTninPan II). Sucbformulae mayhavea 20 Lone quotations from the same chapter (78) are also certain usefulness as a sort of .. hortband" when used by available in the EnPsh tranIlation (by R. Mannheim) of specialistswellllCQuainted .tbtheirintendedreferences(and H.Corbin'sCTNIMImtJPrIIlionin1MS,qumo/IbncA'lIbT, intrinsic limitatiODl), but their use for a wider audience Mouu: Ibn cATllbitmdhb InurpTetns. Part I S45 one comes away with littlesense ofthe overwhelming contrast between the Sufi and both literalist and role of Koran and ~th in all of Ibn cArabY's rationalist undentandinp of the realities of Faith writings,inhisownself-image(astbe~aIofMuham (rman), epitomized in the famous /.uIdith on "l/p6n" madanSainthood"),orinhislaterinfluencethrouJbout (*WoRmpGodasthouahyoulawhim...j. the Islamic world. Fortunately, however, the transla ThedensityofIbnCArabI'sallusionsinthistextand tions discussed below offer a much more balanced the concision of his treatment of subjects developed impressionofthataspectofhiswork. at great length elsewhere (especially in the FutW)4t) offera difficultchallengetoanycommenwor,sothat U. Despiteitsbrevity, this translationofIbn CArabi's the late translator·s annotation in this instance is K. al-Ftma' fi al-MwhiiJu1d4 (O.Y. 125), 1.1 Livre somethingof• modelinitsgenre. Notonlyhavemost tk rExtinction dmu fa Contnnpkltion [Tr. MICHEL of the Koranic and lpu/flh references been clearly V.(LSAN. pp. 57 (translation pp. 25-50). Paris: LBS identifIedandcommentedon,2S buttheShaykh'8tech EDITIONS DE L'OEuvRE. 1984.] offen a remarkable nicalterminology(usuallywiththe Arabictetmsgiven introduction to some of the central and recurrent in parentheses) has beencarefullyexplained wherever concerns of all his writing.n Above all, Ibn cArabi necessary, often with referencesdemonstrating a pro explicitly stresses throughout this treatise-what is found acquaintance with the FUIiiJ}at. Above all, the oftenonlyimplicityelsewhere-thedecisiveimportance commentary is clearly thought out and consistently of the appropriate spiritual realization (ta/:Jqlq) for a directed toward the reader's undentandingofthetext true awareness ofeach ofthe classical sufi topia he itself; that sort of dilciplined pedagogical unity and discusses:theconsciousnessofdivineUnicity(aJ.uuI1ya) intelligence is a rare phenomenon notonly in transla andtheillusionsofMunif1C81ion"(IttiJ:JadJ;thenecessity tionsofIbn'Arabi,butinwritingonIslamicmysticism of carefully crafting one's speech and action when ingeneral.26 discussing the realities ofspiritual"unveiling"(kahj) in the midst ofthose who areunaware ofthem;23 the functions ofhimma(Minnerintention; and especially ('"illumination"orspiritual"discovery"basedontbedeepenin. its highest spiritual degrees, culminating in the pure of scriptural indications and prescriptions) is one of the devotion (ilchliq) ofthe mu1}tIqqiqiin; the differences tealrretlt themes oftbe FrlliiI)4J, especially, bcarilllon vir between the revealed Reliaion (din) of the Prophet tuallyallthetopics Ibn'ArabIdisawes-most notably,his (and earlierprophets) and the divene teachings insti understandinaofspiritualpracticeormethod,andthecentral tuted by non-propheticsaaes(the~:J);24and the roleoftbeinteriorilationoftbe,luuc,therevealedPathoftbe Prophet. Theimplicationsofthesediscussions, bileimpos inevitablyendsupconveyinaiOmcthin.quitedifferentfrom sibletosummarizebere,arecertainlydifferentfrom batone what •• ori.inally intended-adiff"lCulty that isespecially might pther simply from the analysis ofthe Fupq and its compoundedintbecaseofMuslim(ormoresecular)readers philosophiccommentariestakenbythenuelves. entirely unawareoftbecomplex theoloaicaJ iuua and per n Oneofthlmajordiff'lCUltieswitbmostavailabletransla sonal commitmentsthat underly the use ofthese and other tions of Ibn (ArabI (mcludina those of the Fupq, n. 6 wen tbeolOJica1categorieslDdjudatnentsinthissectionofAsm's above), isthe inadequatediscussion ofallusions (as as wort(or,totakeanevenmoreinfluentialcue,inthewritin.. direct quotations) to the Koran aDd 1)4drlh, witboul which of Masaianon). The most effective antidote seems to be largepartsofthetex~arefrequentlyincomprehensibleorat extendedcontactwiththeShaykh'sactualwritinptbemJclves. least quite puzzling. Even simple paae or verse references 22 Theconcisionandclarityofthiswork,whichrecommend (witboutfull, appropriate retranslationsaDd oftenelaborate itforteaebin.andoralexposition,mayalsoexplainitsplac:e contextual explanations) are often of little usc to those at the very beJinnins of the widely reprinted Byclerabacl withoutaserioustnowledFofclauicalArabic,readyaaas (1948) edition ofthe R/ua>iJIbn aJ-CA,abr, pp. 2-9. A new totbe/.uuIfth collections,anda tborough acquaintancewith EngliJbtranslation,withmorecompletecommentary,would Ibn cArabi's often tecbnical use (buildina on earlier Sufi beawelcome1C1'Yiceforstudentsapproacmn,thisfield. authon)ofthosetraditionalSO\lKCl.ThisIOrtofapparatus 23 Thedimensionof-csotericism"inIbncArabY'swritinp eucntialformoltmodemreaders,includin.manyMualims UDderIyin,sucbcrucialproblems• theinterpretationofhis corresponds to a bacqround and preparation Ibn cArabI cosmolOlialsymbolism.his understandingofIslamictradi took for ....nted amons most of his intended audience; tion,the relationofhisdifferentwritiupandtheirintended obviously the impression or rhetorical dfec:t is racially audiences, etc.-isstill virtuaDy untouched in tbe available differentinthet 0 caes.(Seealsonota4,8,and 15above.) scholarlydiscussionsofhiswork(seenotes8aDd ISabove). 26 In this reprinted version, the editor bas also added an 24 Thecontrastbetweentherelativee1l'ectiveoasandlimita index ofArabictechnicalterms(thoqbnot oftheir French tions of Caql(unaided reason,"in this context) and Juulrf equivalents), wbich is very useful in this cue since tbe M Jour1lll1oftM Amme.n OrlentlllSockt, 106.3 (1986) rtnt Accordingtotheeditor'snote,thisisonlythe in plicity~ directness, and accessibility that makes it not aseriesofrepublicationsofthelateMr.VIIsan\many only an indispensable reference for students of Ibn translations from Ibn cArabI (including some eleven cArabl, but also an excellent introduction to this shorterchaptenoftheFutQ/;rill,asweDasmanyofthe fundamental and frequently misundentood aspect of treatises included in the Hyderabad edition of the Islamicdevotionalandspirituallife. Itsusefulnessfor RJu8~/) which oJiainally appeared in the journal students-liventhedecepti~"simplicity"oftheArabic &u.straditionnella,11andwhichtogetherconstitute ofmany1;Iadllh-is further enhanced by the addition perhapsthelargestbodyoftranslationsofIbncArabI ofafacin& fuDyvowelcd Arabictext.Thetranslator's <apartfrom the FUfiif) available in any Western lan briefbutdenseintroduction(pp. 7-14)focuses onIbn auaae. While not devoid of mistakes and occasional cArablasamubaddllh,mentioniDJhisteaeheninthat disputableinterpretations,thesetranslationsandtheir domai~his favorite sources, and a number ofother 1CC0mpanyina annotation and commentary are of a penonal collectionsofhis(mostnowlost) refemcl to quality considerably above the average in this fJeld, in his writings. However~ this information, while and their republication would be a most valuable important, does not even beain to convey the funda- . contribution to all students of Ibn cArabY, and of mental importance ofI;uldTth as sourcesfor all ofthe SufISmaDdIslamicspiritualitymoregenera1ly. Shaykb'.work.Thosewhostudyattentivelye\'CIlthelc few examples, though, win soon recopize to wbat a DI. 1.11 Niche da LunaJirel[Tr. MUHAMMADVXLSAN greatextentworbsuchasthe Frqiqand FuI~~ (sonofprecedingtranslator). Pp. 156. Paris: LEsEDI in fact woven out of exteDli~ reflection and com nONSDEL'OEuvu.1983.1atruslationofIbncArabrJ mentary on these and other I;uldrlh. which function personalcoUcctionoflOllpJdrthqudrrentitledMbhlc4t much like musicalleitmotifs.19 For the most part the ai-Anwar (0.Y. 480 and 11),11 is marked by a sim- ethical and spiritualintentioDl ofthese1)Gdfth(which frequently recall portions ofthe Gospels) are readily apparent, and eschatological themet are panicularly translator hu si~ the underlying Arabic expression in predominant.30 parenthesesinmostplaceswhereatranslationalonemightbe As Ibn 'ArabIexpl8ins in his introduction (p. 16), inadequate.Althoughthisproceduredoesmakeforacluttered thiscollectionconsistsofthreeparts(of40,40,and24 and perhaps leu immediately Mreadable" translation, it is probablyessentialforanymoreseriousstudyofIbn cArabi, especially by DOn-Arabilts, liven tbe lack of a dir~tly 2' See the extensive indexes of/JtMl1th refereoca in each equivalent tectmical vocabulary in non-Islamic 1aJl&uaIes. volumeofO.Yahia'snew,OngoinleditionofIIl-FuJiIJ,4II1I (Thesituationisnodifferentthanwithtranslationsofphilo Mllklclytl, and the selcetiw dilcusaion of 44 of the most sophicormysticaltexISfromSanskrit,Tibetan,Chinese,etc.) importantofthese(nolinducledintheMl.shk4tm-A.rrwar)at TheneedforcommonreferencetotheArabiciscompounded the end of S. al-l:Iatrm;s IIl-Mu7am 1Il-$UfT(n. 2 above), when,u isnowthecase,studentsarefKed withvenioDSof pp. 12S7-69.Theimportaoe:eofthiselementinIbncArabY's IbncArabY'sworbbyadozenormoretranslaton. writinpunderliesandeumpldahisdaimtobetheasealof 27 A full bibliography of those translations is Jiven in a MuhammlNlan Sainthood" (ie., among other thinlS, tbe recent collection entitled L'lslimr el hi Fonetlon de ReM exemplaryinterpreteroftheinnermeaninsofthe onl and Guhwn,(Paris:LesEditionsdel!()euvre,1984),pp. 194-96; ceadtiop of tbe Prophet), and belps to explain-far more thebibliolFaphyalsoliststhesameauthor'smanytranslations than his diff"lCUlt metaphyaical doctrines-the extent ofhis ofchapters from al-KllhlnI's commentary OD the Koran, widespread veneration inthe Islamic world u the"patest often(faJsely)attributedtoIbncArabt(secPart11).Thesame Shaykh...Unfortunately,mostavailablestudiesofIslam(and coUectionalsoincludestheauthor'stranslationsofpartoftbe of/.uIdr'hinparticular)failtoconveytbecentralimportance Forewordtothe FwQ/.tat(pp. 180-91)andofchapter20,on ofselectedJ.wJa1r(maoyorwhichareoftenliterallyinseparable the "mowled. of Jesus" (pp. 13-82); unfortunately, the from the Koran in popular consciousness) in the reliaioUl apparatus in these lattCl' two cases is more oriented to the experience of people from all Islamic rCJioDl, sects, and author'sGumoDian preoccupations, amplyillustratedinthe periods. This spiritual dimension, quite distinct from the remaininlarticlesofthiscollection. Mprofeaional"useof1)tId1I1tinqatandthcolosialcontextl 11 Thefulltitle-inthisversion;O.Yam.(11,390)mentions thathasbeentheobject01muchmodemhistoricalraearcb, "n.e eight other titles from othermanuscripts-is Niche of isthe mainfoe ofIbn cArabI'sinterestin and pedaaoaiW LiihtsCooceminltheReports(aJchb6r)RelatedFromGod." useof/.uIdIIlt. (Thisbook, incidentally,isquitedistinctfrom a famous and )0 Especially intcratinc in that rcprd is the I}IMJTth tll frequently translated Sufi work by aI-GbazIlI whose title mtlWik[i1(tbe "stations"ofthe Resurrection), here Jiven in beainswithtbe&aIDewords.) severalpartsinthelastt 0 sections,whichmatesupmuchof MODIS: Ibn CArabl IIItdhis Intnpreter8. Part I 547 luJdrth,respectively,thefantgroupwiththeirfullimIld longchapter ofthe FutUJ,iit (14pages ofArabictext, IOmlbacktotheProphet(whorelatesthemfromGod orroughly.S%ofthebook)-oDeofitsmostcomplex orvia Gabriel), while the second arlHlCWI aR related and allusive passages, and one whoseeludication and directly from God. (The translator has added an undentaDdina inevitably requires references to many interestinlappendix,pp. 14S-SI,froman18th-century other sections of tbat immense work. The narrative MaprebiSufiwriter,concerniDathedistinctionswhich framework of the chapter is the quest for spiritual werenecessarilydrawnbetweenthesewidelyrecognized perfection undertaken by two friend , a "follower of "divine..yinp~and thewordsoftheKoraniuelf.) It Muhammad (withaUthatimpliesforIbncArabT)and 19 maybepointedout,giventhewidespreadprejudicesto an ambitious "'hcoretician" (part mutaJudlim, part thecontrary(atleastinmodemsecondaryliterature), philosopher)wboreliesonhisowntbeoloaicalcosmo that the peat majority of the J.uu/1th collected here, logicalreasonings.n Thecontrastoftheirverydifferent includinlall oftbose in thefirst part, are taken from pathsandexperiences,inthecontextofthetraditional the standard canonical recensions, and were not Min_ stales of the Prophet'S spiritual ascension (miCrjjj), vented"bySufitradition.Thispointisfurtherempha enables Ibn cArabI to allude to many of his most sizedandelaboratelydemonstratedinW. A.Graham's essential spiritual insiabts and reaIizations wbilecon Div;' WordandProphetic Wordin Eiulyblilm,3' a tinually reminding tbe reader of their practical and work(apparentlyunknowntoMr.Vilsan)whichtook penona!presuppositions. IbncArabr'scollectionasoneofitspointsofdeparture, However,just as in Ibn cArabI's otherworks using andwhichcontainsEnglishtranslationsoftholehDdrth theMiCrlljframework(especiallytbelongchapter367 fromtheMishJcJItthatarealsoincludedinthecanonical ofthe FutiiJ)(lt,recountinltheSbaykb'sownpenonal collections. miCrjjj, and tbe K.. m_brjj"),M the variety ofsubjects and symbols brought into play in this chapter is so IV. Stcphane Ruspoli's translation of chapter 167 of greatthatan adequatecommentary-whichthetrans the FllIiil)Qt, L"tIkhimit du bonheur JHUfait [Tr. S. latorbaspromisedforafuturevolume-wouldhaveto RUSPOLI.Pp. lSI.Paris:BooINTEINATIONAL(collec be many times longer than the actual translation. In tion"L'Deverte").1981.]iscertainlythemostambitious theinterim,thisveniondoesprovideilluminatinland andpioncerinleffortamongtbestudiesreviewedhere, essentialnotesatmanypoints,J'andreadersacquainted sinceitisthefustcompleteWesterntranslation32ofa mi&bttakeadecadetorU4aadannObleillitsefttirety);aDd chapten64-6SoftheFutiil)at,onthestasesoftheResurrec (2) whattodowhere,_ isoftenthecase,adequateexplana tionandthestatesofthebIeaedinParadise. tion of a .inale aUusioD may require whole p8.ICI ofcom Uafortunately, thelack ofany iDdex-althoulh it would mentarydrawnfromothercbaptenor orbbyIbncArabl1 admittedlyhavebeenaareatdealof ork-somewhatlimits ItisDOdoubtthepresenceorlDUIysubstantialcollllDClltarin, * theusefuloeuOCth.iitranslatioliai referenee(withreaardto ubltantidyeliminatiftitaw.twoIJ'C*lobstacles,thathelps otherwritinpofIbn cArabI)(orthose who arenotable to explainthefocusofacademicinterestontbeFrq;qal-Qilumt. memorizeitsconteDts. This symbolic exprasion of a recurrent theme in the J) 31 TheH.,..e:MOutoDACo.,1977.Prof.Graham'sworkis FutiiJ.tllt,tbecontratbetWCCDthetwopathsof/uuhfand clU/l byno meansexhaustiveoftheI}tu/flhqudsTiDcluded intbe and their relative efficacity (see al 0 n. 24 above) raises a canonical collections; a recent COllecb\4e survey ofthe -Six DUmber ofdiffICUlt problems for modem readers and inter Boob," al-A~tJr 1I1-Q&ubfya, (Cairo: Wizlrat aI preters,andperhapscallsintoquestiontbeadequacyofsome Awqlf..., 140(/1980), cites in fun some 400 eumples, ofthetraditionalapproachestotheFUIfJI.AttbeYeryleast, iDdudinafunreferencestotheoriginailOurca.Manyoftbae this attitude wa not without its repercussions in the later I]adTtJr qudii, not included in the Mw.Jc1J al-AnwIT, are attacks on Ibn cArabt's orb and his Sufi defenden by litewiac repeatedly cited aDd interpreted in IbD cArabl' certaintheologiansandpbilosophen(seePartII). worb (e.&-, the "'Iiiq Ill-jIuuwI," pp. 470«. iD the above 14 Chapter 367= FutU/:t4t III, 340-S4; K. ai-JR."... mentioned urvey, whichisattheheart ofhisescbatoloaica1 (O.Y., o. 313)= RtuallllHra/-cArIlbT(Hycierabad, 1948), diKuaionsintheFUliiblt). Pt. I, 13thtreatise(pp. 1-92). Anex1cnsiYesummaryofthe n Theproblemsposedbycompletetranslationsofextensive /;uIdrtlr and ~oranic soun:es and ymbolism used in these sections from the FutUl)iIt (u oppoRd to translatina only chapters,a well_ abroadoutline( ithoutinterpretation)of short,self-containedchaptersor1C1ededpusqa,• inAsfn eachofthem,can befound in ARn Palacios'[8"'"tmdtM Palacios'book above)arebasicallytwofold: (I) wbattodo DivineCOlMdy(fullref.atD. II above). withphrasesonedoesn\reallyuDdentand,butwbole"'key"· lS The usefulness of Dr. Ruspoli'. notes and the advance pcobablylivenIOmewhereelseinthat massiYewort(which they represent can be measured apinst an earlier, partial