TVEOASSICS OFWESTCRN SP1NTUAUTY V J </> ; Digitized by the Internet Archive 2012 in http://archive.org/details/bezelsofwisdomOOibna THECLASSICS OFWESTERN SPIRITUALITY THE CLASSICS OF WESTERN SPIRITUALITY A Library of the Great Spiritual Masters President and Publisher Kevin A. Lynch, C.S.P. EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Richard Payne J. Editorial Consultant — Ewert H. Cousins Professor and Director of Spirituality Graduate Program, Fordham University, Bronx, N.Y. — John E. Booty Professor of Church History, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass. — Joseph Dan Professor of Kaballah in the Department ofJewish Thought, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. — Albert Deblaere Professor of the History of Spirituality, Gregorian University, Rome, Italy. — Louis Dupre T.L. Riggs Professor in Philosophy of Religion, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. — Rozanne Elder Executive Vice President, Cistercian Publications, Kalamazoo, Mich. — Mircea Eliade Professor in the Department of the History of Religions, Universit—y of Chicago, Chicago, 111. Anne Fremantle Teacher, Editor and Writer, New York, N.Y. — Karlfried Froelich Professor of the History of the Early and Medieval Church, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N.J. — Arthur Green Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Thought, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. — Stanley S. Harakas Dean of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary, Brookline, Mass. — Jean Leclercq Professor, Institute of Spirituality and Institute of Religious Psychology, Gregorian University, Rome, Italy. Miguel Leon-Portilla-Professor Mesoamerican Cultures and Languages, National University of Mexico, University City, Mexico. — George A. Maloney, S.J. Director, John XXIII Ecumenical Center, Fordham University, Bronx, N.Y. — Bernard McGinn Associate Professor of Historical Theology and History ofChristianity, University ofChicago Divinity School, Chicago, 111. — John Meyendorff Professor of Church History, Fordham University, Bronx, N.Y., and Professor of Patristics and Church History, St. Vladimir's Seminary, Tuckahoe, N.Y. — Seyyed Hossein Nasr Professor of Islamics, Department of Religion, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa., and Visiting Professor, Harvard University, Cambridge, Ma. — Heiko A. Oberman Director, Insititue fuer Spaetmittelalter and Reformation, Universitaet Tuebingen, West Germany. — Alfonso Ortiz Professor of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N. Mex.; Fellow, The Center for Advanced Study, Stanford, Calif. — Raimundo Panikkar Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara, Calif. — Jaroslav Pelikan Sterling Professor of History and Religious Studies, Vale University, New Haven, Conn. — Fazlar Rahman Professor Islamic Thought, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization, University of Chicago, Chicago, 111. — Annemarie B. Schimmel Professor of Hindu Muslim Culture, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. — Sandra M. Schneiders Assistant Professor of New Testament Studies and Spirituality, Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley, Calif. — Huston Smith Thomas Watson Professor of Religion, J. Adjunct Professor of Philosophy, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y. — John R. Sommerfeldt President, University of Dallas, Irving, Texas. — David Steindl-Rast Monk of Mount Savior Monastery, Pine City, N.Y. — William C. Sturtevant General Editor, Handbook of North American Indians, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. — David Tracy Professor of Theology, University of Chicago Divinity School, C—hicago, 111. Victor Turner William B. Kenan Professor in Anthropology, The Center for Advanced Study, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. — KallistOS Ware Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford; Spalding Lecturer in Eastern Orthodox Studies, Oxford University, England. Othervolumes in thisseries Julian of Norwich • SHOWINGS Jacob Boehme • THE WAY TO CHRIST Nahman of Bratslav • THE TALES Gregory of Nyssa • THE LIFE OF MOSES Bonaventure • THE SOUL'S JOURNEY INTO GOD, THE TREE OF LIFE, and THE LIFE OF ST. FRANCIS William Law • A SERIOUS CALL TO A DEVOUT AND HOLY LIFE, and THE SPIRIT OF LOVE Abraham Isaac Kook • THE LIGHTS OF PENITENCE, LIGHTS OF HOLINESS, THE MORAL PRINCIPLES, ESSAYS, and POEMS Ibn 'Ata' Illah • THE BOOK OF WISDOM and Kwaja Abdullah Ansari • INTIMATE CONVERSATIONS Johann Arndt • TRUE CHRISTIANITY Richard ofSt. Victor • THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS, THE MYSTICAL ARK, BOOK THREE OF THE TRINITY Origen • AN EXHORTATION TO MARTYRDOM, PRAYER AND SELECTED WORKS Catherine ofGenoa • PURGATION AND PURGATORY, THE SPIRITUAL DIALOGUE Native North American Spirituality of the Eastern Woodlands • SACRED MYTHS, DREAMS, VISIONS, SPEECHES, HEALING FORMULAS, RITUALS AND CEREMONIALS Teresa of Avila • THE INTERIOR CASTLE Apocalyptic Spirituality • TREATISES AND LETTERS OF LACTANTIUS, ADSO OF MONTIER-EN-DER, JOACHIM OF FIORE, THE FRANCISCAN SPIRITUALS, SAVONAROLA Athanasius • THE LIFE OF ANTONY, A LETTER TO MARCELLINUS Catherine ofSiena • THE DIALOGUE Sharafuddin Maneri • THE HUNDRED LETTERS Martin Luther • THEOLOGIA GERMANICA Native Mesoamerican Spirituality • ANCIENT MYTHS, DISCOURSES, STORIES, DOCTRINES, HYMNS, POEMS FROM THE AZTEC, YUCATEC, QUICHE-MAYA AND OTHER SACRED TRADITIONS Symeon the New Theologian • THE DISCOURSES IBNAL'ARABI THE BEZELS OF WISDOM TRANSLATION AND INTRODUCTION BY AUSTIN R.W.J. PREFACE BY TITUS BURCKHARDT PAULIST PRESS NEW YORK RAMSEY TORONTO • Cover Art The artist, Gloria Ortiz, is a native ofCali, Colombia. Currently a free lance designer and artist in Manhattan, Ms. Ortiz studied art at Marymount College in Tarrytown, New York and has shown her paintings in Bogota and New York. Design: Barbini, Pesce & Noble, Inc. Copyright © 1980 by The Missionary Society ofSt. Paul the Apostle in the State of New York All rights reserved. No part ofthis book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 80-83892 ISBN: 0-8091-233l-2(Paper) 0-8091-0313-3 (Cloth) Published by Paulist Press 545 Island Road, Ramsey, N.J. 07446 Printed and bound in the United States of America 1 Contents PREFACE xi FOREWORD xvii INTRODUCTION 1 THE LIFE AND WORK OF MUHYI AL-DlN IBN AL-'ARABl 1 HIS HISTORICAL AND SPIRITUAL CONTEXT 14 THE BEZELS OF WISDOM 16 HIS THOUGHT 21 THE BEZELS OF WISDOM PREFACE 45 THE WISDOM OF DIVINITY IN THE WORD OF I ADAM 47 THE WISDOM OF EXPIRATION IN THE WORD II OF SETH 60 THE WISDOM OF EXALTATION IN THE WORD III OF NOAH 71 IV THE WISDOM OF HOLINESS IN THE WORD OF ENOCH 82 Y THE WISDOM OF RAPTUROUS LOVE IN THE WORD OF ABRAHAM 90 VI THE WISDOM OF REALITY IN THE WORD OF ISAAC 96 VII THE WISDOM OF SUBLIMITY IN THE WORD OF ISHMAEL 104 VIII THE WISDOM OF SPIRIT IN THE WORD OF JACOB 1 1 IX THE WISDOM OF LIGHT IN THE WORD OF JOSEPH 19 1 X THE WISDOM OF UNITY IN THE WORD OF HUD 128 XI THEWISDOM OF OPENING IN THE WORD OFSALIH 139 XII THE WISDOM OF THE HEART IN THE WORD OF SHU'AIB 145 XIII THE WISDOM OF MASTERY IN THE WORD OF LOT 156 XIV THE WISDOM OF DESTINY IN THE WORD OF EZRA 163 XV THE WISDOM OF PROPHECY IN THE WORD OF JESUS 172 XVI THE WISDOM OF COMPASSION IN THE WORD OF SOLOMON 187 XVII THE WISDOM OF BEING IN THE WORD OF DAVID 198 XVIII THE WISDOM OF BREATH IN THE WORD OF JONAH 206 XIX THE WISDOM OF THE UNSEEN IN THE WORD OFJOB 212 XX THE WISDOM OF MAJESTY IN THE WORD OF JOHN 218 XXI THE WISDOM OF DOMINION IN THE WORD OFZAKARIAH 222 XXII THE WISDOM OF INTIMACY IN THE WORD OF ELIAS 228 XXIII THE WISDOM OF VIRTUE IN THE WORD OFLUQMAN 236 XXIV THE WISDOM OF LEADERSHIP IN THE WORD OF AARON 241 XXV THE WISDOM OF EMINENCE IN THE WORD OF MOSES 249 XXVI THE WISDOM OF RESOURCE IN THE WORD OF KHALID 267 XXVII THE WISDOM OF SINGULARITY IN THE WORD OF MUHAMMAD 269 BIBLIOGRAPHY 285 INDEXES 28*