These figures in turn prepared the ground for Ibn ‘Arabī...

These figures in turn prepared the ground for Ibn ‘Arabī, although he is a colossal and providential figure whose writings cannot be reduced to simply historical influences of his predecessors.5 Many have quite rightly considered Ibn ‘Arabī as the father of theoretical gnosis or doctrinal Sufism.6 His writings as already mentioned are not, however, concerned only with pure metaphysics and gnosis.

They also deal extensively with Quranic and Hadīth commentary, the meaning of religious rites, various traditional sciences including the science of the symbolic significance of letters of the Arabic alphabet, ethics, law and many other matters, including poetry, all of which also are of an esoteric and gnostic nature.

As far as the subject of this essay is concerned, it will be confined to works devoted completely to theoretical gnosis and metaphysics, works which deal directly with the Supreme Science of the Real. Otherwise, every work of Ibn ‘Arabī and his School is related in one way or another to gnosis or ma‘rifah as are writings of many other Sufis.

The seminal work of Ibn ‘Arabī on the subject of gnosis and one which is foundational to the whole tradition of theoretical gnosis in Islam is the Fusūs al-hikam (“Bezels of Wisdom”)7 along with certain sections of his magnum opus al-Futūhāt al-makkiyyah, (“The Meccan Illuminations),8 and a few of his shorter treatises including Naqsh alfusūs which is Ibn ‘Arabī’s own commentary upon the Fusūs.

In any case the Fusūs was taken by later commentators as the central text of the tradition of theoretical gnosis or doctrinal Sufism. Many of the major later works of this tradition are in fact commentaries upon this inspired text.

The history of these commentaries, many of which are “original” works themselves, stretching from the 7th/13th century to this day, is itself of great import for the understanding of this tradition and also reveals the widespread nature of the influence of this tradition from Morocco to the Malay world and China.

Unfortunately, despite so much scholarship carried out in this field during the past few decades, there is still no thorough history of commentaries upon the Fusūs any more than there is a detailed history of the tradition of theoretical gnosis and/or Sufi metaphysics itself. Ibn ‘Arabī died in Damascus in 638/1240 and it was from there that his teachings were disseminated.