O Marvel!
a garden amidst the flames.
My heart has become capable of every form:
it is a pasture for gazelles
and a convent for Christian monks,
and a temple for idols
and the pilgrim's Kaa'ba,
and the tables of the Torah
and the book of the Quran.
I follow the religion of Love:
whatever way
Love's camels take,
that is my religion and my faith.
-Muhammed Ibn 'Ali Ibn 'Arabi
I should add this:
Mystic, philosopher, poet, sage,
Muhammad Ibn 'Arabi is one of the world's great spiritual teachers.
Known as Muhyiddin (the Revivifier of Religion)
and the Shaykh al-Akbar (the Greatest Master),
he was born in 1165 AD
into the Moorish culture of Andalusian Spain,
the center of an extraordinary flourishing and
cross-fertilization of Jewish, Christian and Islamic thought,
through which the major scientific and philosophical works of antiquity
were transmitted to Northern Europe. Ibn 'Arabi's spiritual attainments
were evident from an early age, and he was renowned for his great visionary
capacity as well as being a superlative teacher. He travelled extensively in the
Islamic world and died in Damascus in 1240 AD.
He shocked the world with his thoughts and theories.
posted by Arabized at
2:09 PM
7 Comments:
hmmm. i'm not sure I understood exactly what he is talking about. but very typical of you to write about Ibn Arabi.
Just remember that your baba said you are too young to read it! :P
Ask him how old do you have to be to read it! 40?
haha you know us all too well!
>> Ask him how old do you have to be to read it! 40? <<
You know that some of the family members who participated in this discussion were younger than 40! so let me post their comments. If anybody wants to join in, go ahead.
ok this is what happened, i sent my dad this poem. He then sent it to various family members, and these were their thoughts.
this is how some went:
>>
Salamat Ya "biz" (:P),
You started by Ibn Arabi; he is too much for you in this age.
do you understand what he said? or what he meant?
It is very creticla to not take his words by its literal meaning.
His words (the same words) have different meanings in different time and
situation.
So what do you think about "LOVE" in its more abstract meaning?
is it the basic for crearion?
is love form the motive for GOD to create the world?
What dou think?
-Dad
>>
Salamat all,
I haven't approach ibn Arabi yet given that for me he
is "so far out there" that I need to have a stronger
life-line to bring me safely back to shore (so to
speak). A poem such as this one is very difficult for
me to understand without understanding ibn Arabi's
state and his understanding of The Truth. Is Love the
basis of creation? Or is it Mercy? Is it both? Is
it all of the 99 names of Allah? If He is The First
and The Last, is He ultimately the only basis of
creation? Which one of His attributes can we say is
the basis? I don't know, but maybe ibn Arabi does.
What do you think?
Ma'salama
Di
>>
Salamz,
What always catches my eye by Ibn Arabi is his use of polarity, or opposites in his descriptions, whether its in the Names of Allah swt or in his creation...so cant just hate the polar opposite of what we think is good, as it is within Allah creation too, so dont hate, appreciate!
-H
>>
Salam,
Ibn Arabi said different things during different stages of his life!
He followed the religion of Love when he needed love.
He followed the religion of Peace when peace became the issue!!
-R
>>
Salam!
I guess what I am particularly referring to as
troubling at first sight, and troubling to me due to
lack of understanding, is his statement that his heart
is capable of being a temple for idols. This seems to
be contradictory to being in a state of ikhlas, for
how can you harbor idols in your heart? HOwever, this
may be, in ibn Arabi's state, an ultimate
representation of tawhid as there is no other
existence except Allah...
DOn't know.
-Di
Then i replied to my dad's email:
Salamz,
I didnt start off with ibn arabi, i started off with Omar Khayyam. haha :)
ok when i first read the poem, it baffled me. how could he be all of this?
then i read his biography. He is from spain, and during that time, christians, muslims, jews and people of other beliefs all lived there together. Maybe he was talking about a place in spain, like maybe cordobola? In that he is all of this, because he is from Spain and that it defines him? This is just a simple thought. I'm reaching here.
In answer you question about 'Love' in its abstract meaning>> Love is a form that takes different forms. You can't really define it.It varies from situation to situation. There are different degrees of love, like the love for allah, the love for islam, the love for your country, the love for your spouse/significant other, the love for your family, the love for children and so forth. I can only say its the connection you have with something of importance to you.
Was 'love' the basis for creation? Sure, why not. From the love Allah has was the basis of creation. And from allah's love, the 99 attributes(names of allah) were formed. The attributes all lead to the love allah has. (it makes more sense when i verbally explain it. you guys know what im talking about.)
-arabized
and the discussion continues:
Salamz,
sounds like he was smoking something at the time
...just kidding
seems like he is saying that there are many paths that lead to God, but one thing that has in common is the path of Love-whether it be the love of God to please Him, be near to Him, etc, or that having love and mercy in your heart towards other ppl, regardless of background, faith, etc, which will lead to good character and hopefully reaching the gardens of heaven and Allah's love.
but i could also be smoking something too...
-S
(and this is coming from a CEO of a hospital lmao!)
and it continues :
It is nice to hear from you all.
I compiled most the answers about Ibn Arabi's Poem in the attached file.
It is very interesting to show all these explanations for the meaning
of the words Ibn Arabi would like to convey to us. I would like to add the following questions
to our discussion.
Allah said in Quran: "The religion for Allah is Islam"
Ibn Arabi said in the poem: "I follow the religion of Love"
Is that, according to Ibn Arabi: Islam = Love?
Or how we (or Ibn Arabi) could relate Islam to Love or Love to Islam?
We need to investigate the word "Love" in Quran and how it was used by Allah ( swt).
Another issue needs to be investigated.
The place of "Heart" in defining/indicating to "Things" or "Reality".
Just we need to understand Ibn Arabi statement:
"My heart has become capable of every form"
Relate this to the verses in Quran:
(1) "the people with Hardness of the Heart will receive hardship" " Wellon Lil Quassiat Qulobohom"
(2) "Mention Allah, your heart will be calmed (gain tranquility) "Ala Be Zaikr Allah Tatmain Al Qulob" (indicating that Love Allah is the basis for Al Zaikr)
For Ibn Arabi, it is not the polarization (binary, yes/no, black/white), but everything.
Ibn Arabi opened the space to all the possibility/probability.
So doubt about everything created in this world may be the basis for his thinking.
The verse: "Everything will be destroyed and Allah face will stay" may explain this situation.
So may be Love for Ibn Arabi is the only thing he was sure about it and its place is in the "heart".
Accordingly, what do you see is not real by itself but by his Creator (Allah) who create them out of LOVE.
If you see by the eye of LOVE (by your HEART), you will see Allah Creation; you will not see individuals by themselves. So they are all equals according to Ibn Arabi (may be).
-Dad
salam
You make a lot of good points. Now that I will have a few days off for the holiday break I'll look into the usage of the word Love in the qur'an. So that part is for another email. However, when I think of the religion of love, I wonder if ibn Arabi is saying that Love is the defining element of that religion? Or is he saying that love is the golden thread that runs through all the religions? It could be that he is using the word love as one of the attributes of the religion. I don't think that ibn Arabi would ever deny that his religion was Islam, so with that anchor point, how do we look at his statement?
If Allah is The First, and is The Last, i.e. all will perish except the Face of Allah, what does it mean about all of creation? In other words, if He is The First, and absolutely nothing can exist along side Him (or else, he would have a partner) then what does this mean about all the things that ibn Arabi mentions in his poem? If we have an existence of our own, then we would occupy a space that is beside the space that Allah occupies, which to me is illogical. Therefore, in a misterious way, the truth is that only Allah exists and somehow we fit into his existence. This may be what the sufi saints mean when they proclaim that they are Allah. Not that they are a deity, but that ultimately, only Allah is real, and we are not. We have a derived existence from Him, where every cell of our body comes from him. Is ibn Arabi acknowledging this unity in his poem?
-Di
>>It is very critical to not take his words by its literal meaning<<
yes i know that. that is what lead to his death, people who took his words literally. but he made his own death bed i guess :/
so this has gotten out of control and has resulted in asking an expert for his opinion.
lmao.
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