IBN ‘ATA’ ALLAH AL-ISKANDARI AND HIS SUFI APHORISMS (KITAB AL-HIKAM)

 The present article is devoted to the study of famous Egyptian Islamic mystic (Sufi ) Ibn ‘Aṭā’ Allāh al-Iskandarī’s views in the context of Ibn ‘Arabi’s teaching of “wahdat al-wujud” (the Unity of Being). Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah al-Iskandari (d. 709/1309) was third great shaykh of the Sufi  order of the Shadhiliyya, founded by Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili (d. 656/1258). Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah wrote works on Sufi sm that had become a part of classical Sufi  legacy. His ‘Kitab al-Hikam’ (The Book of Wisdoms), a small collection of Sufi  aphorisms, is considered to be genuine masterpiece. He played also the important role in the establishment of institutional framework of the Sufi  order of the Shadhiliyya in Egypt. So, the spiritual legacy of him is embodied both in his disciples and in his books.

The aim of this article is to explore the infl uence of the Ibn ‘Arabi’s ideas on Shadhiliyya tradition, especially on Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah al-Iskandari’s thought. The famous medieval Islamic thinker Ibn ‘Arabi (1165–1240) was one of the most infl uential Islamic thinkers. His intellectual talents and his deep infl uence on Muslim thought are indisputable. There is no doubt that Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah was familiar with Ibn ‘Arabi’s doctrines. The author considers that some ideas and theories that had become a part of Ibn ‘Arabi’s philosophy afterwards entered into early Shadhili tradition before Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah and were gradually transformed in accordance with sober form of Sufi sm. According to the author’s viewpoint, several factors forced the Shadhili shaykhs to reject metaphysical doctrines of Ibn ‘Arabi and preferred doctrines of sober form of Sufi sm, like teaching of the prominent Muslim theologian, philosopher and mystic al-Gazali (1058–1111). 

1. Ibn ‘Ajiba. ’Iqaẓ al-himam fi sharḥ al-ḥikam [Wakening Aspiration: Com-mentary on the Ḥikam]. Cairo: Dar al-ma‘ārif, Without date. 653 p. (in Ar-abic).

2. Ibn ‘Aiyyad. Al-Mafākhir al-‘aliyya fi-l-ma’āthir ash-shādhiliyya [The best Qualities in the Shādhilī Sufī Order]. Cairo: Maktabat wa maṭba‘at Musṭafa al-Bābi al-Ḥalabi, 1993. 239 p. (in Arabic).

3. Ibn ‘Arabī. Al-Futuḥāt al-Makkiyya [The Meccan Revelations]. Beirut: Dār ’ihyā’ al- turāth al-‘arabī, 1998. 2720 p. (in Arabic).

4. Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah al-Iskandari. Al-Qasd al-mujjarrad fi ma‘rifat al-ism al-mufrad [The Pure Goal Concerning Knowledge of the Unique Name]. Cai-ro: Maktaba madbuli, 2002. 144 p. (in Arabic).

5. Ibn ‘Ata’ ’Allah al-Iskandari. Laṭā’if al-minan [The Subtle Blessings]. Cairo: Maktabat al-Qākhirah, 2004. 176 p. (in Arabic).

6. [Sheikh] Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah al-Iskandari (Aleksandriiskii). Kniga mudrostei (Kitab al-hikam [The Book of Wisdoms]). Perevod s arabskogo Nasyro-va I. R. Pod redaktsiei s kommentariyami i primechaniyami Nasyrova I. R. Ufa: RIO RUNMTS Goskomnauki RB, 2000. 290 p. (in Russian).

7. Knysh A. D. Uchenie Ibn ‘Arabi v pozdnej musul’manskoj tradicii [Ibn ‘Arabi’s Teaching and the Later Islamic Tradition]. Sufizm v kontekste musul’manskoj kul’tury [Sufism in the Context of Muslim Culture]. Ed. by N. Prygarina. Moscow: Vostochnaya literatura, 1989. Pp. 6-19 (in Russian).

8. Coreth E. Osnovy metafiziki [Metaphysics]. Kiev: Tandem, 1998. 248 p. (in Russian).

9. Al-Naisābūrī, Nizām al-Din al-Hasan. Tafsīr al-Naisābūri [The Com-mentary on the Qur’ān by al-Naisaburi]. Beirut: Dār al-kutub al ‘ilmiyya, 1996. 3735 p. (in Arabic).

10. Nasyrov I. R. Osnovaniya islamskogo mistisizma (Foundations of Islamic Mysticism). Moscow: Yaziki slavyanskoy kul’tury, 2009. 552 p. (in Russian).

11. Platon. Sobranie sochinenii [Collected Works], 4 Vol., ed. by A, Losev. Moscow: Mysl’, 1993. 2872 p. (in Russian).

12. Smirnov A. V. Velikij shejh sufizma (opyt paradigmal’nogo analiza filosofii Ibn Arabi) [The Great Shaykh of Sufism. A Sample of Paradigmatic Analy-sis of Ibn ‘Arabi’s Philosophy]. Moscow: Vostochnaya literatura, 1993. 327 p. (in Russian).

13. Schimmel’ A.-M. Mir islamskogo mistitsizma. Moscow: «Aleteia», «Enigma», 2000. 416 p. (in Russian).

14. Arberry A. J. Sufism: An Account of the Mystics of Islam. London: Allen & Unwin,1950. 141 p.

15. Chittick W. C. The Self-Disclosure of God (Principles of Ibn al-‘Arabi’s Cosmology). Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998. 526 p.

16. Ibn ‘Arabî. La production des cercles. Kitâb inshâ’ ad-dawâ’r al-ihâtiyya [The Book of the Description of the Encompassing Circles]. Traduit de l’ara-be, présenté et annoté par Paul Fenton & Maurice Gloton. Texte arabe étab-li par H. S. Nyberg. Paris: Editions de l’Eclat, 1996. 82 p.

17. Ibn ‘Aṭā’illāh al-Iskandarī. Ibn ‘Aṭā’illāh s. Ṣūfī aphorisms (Kitāb al-ḥikam). Translated with an introduction and notes by Victor Danner. Leiden. E. J. Brill. 1973. 88 p.

18. Lings M. Foreword, in: Ibn ‘Aṭā’illāh s. Ṣūfī Aphorisms (Kitāb al-ḥikam). Translated with an introduction and notes by Victor Danner. Leiden. E. J. Brill. 1973. VII-VIII p.

19. Masroori Cyrus. An Islamic Language of Toleration: Rumi’s Criticism of Religious Persecution // Political Research Quarterly. Vol. 63, No. 2 (June 2010). Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. on behalf of the University of Utah. Pp. 243-256.

20. Nwiya P. Ibn ‘Atā’ Allāh et la naissance de la confrérie šāḏilite (Ėdition cri-tique et traduction des Ḥikam, precedes d’une Introduction sur le soufisme et suivies notes sur le vocabulaire mystique Par Paul Nwiya). Beyrouth: Dar al-Machreq Ėditeurs. 1986. 323 p.