 Opening pages of theKonya Manuscript of theMeccan Revelations, handwritten byIbn Arabi. | |
| Original title | الفُتُوحَات المكّيّة |
|---|---|
The Meccan Revelations (Arabic:كِتَابُ الفُتُوحَاتِ المَكِّيَّة,romanized: Kitâb Al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya)[1] is the major work of thephilosopher andSufi[2]Ibn Arabi, written between 1203 and 1240.
TheAndalusi thinker exposes his spiritual journey, histheology, hismetaphysics and hismysticism, using sometimesprose, sometimespoetry. The book contains autobiographical elements: encounters, events, and spiritual illuminations.
Ibn Arabi wrote two versions ofal-Futūḥāt al-Makkīyah, hismagnum opus.[3] He completed the first in the year 629 of theHijra and worked on the second version between the years 632 and 636 of the Hijra.[3] The second version, called theKonya Manuscript (مخطوط قونية), exists in manuscripts in Ibn Arabi's own hand, with the exception of volume nine.[3] These manuscripts, once part of thewaqf ofSadr al-Din al-Qunawi, are known as the "Konya" manuscripts and they are now kept in Istanbul (Evkaf Muzesi 1845-1881).[3]
It was first published by theBulaq Press in four volumes inDhū al-Ḥijja 1269/1853.[3] The Bulaq Press published a second edition in 1293/1876, also in four volumes.[3] The third edition, the standard Cairo edition, printed 1329/1911, also published by the Bulaq Press in four volumes, is based on Ibn Arabi's second version completed in 636 H, thanks to the research ofEmir Abdelkader.[3]
TheRevelations is a book of 37 volumes, divided into 560 chapters.[4]
The book takes its title from the holy city ofMecca, to whichIbn Arabi travelled on pilgrimage in 1202, and in which he received a number of revelations of divine origin.
In theIlluminations Ibn Arabi develops a theory of theimagination and the imaginary world explained byHenry Corbin.[5] There is also a psychological and religious description of the effects ofAllah's Love (in both the subjective and objective sense of expression).
According toMichel Chodkiewicz, this book occupies a particularly important place in Ibn Arabi's work because it represents "the ultimate state of his teaching in its most complete form".[6]
Aside from Ibn Taymiyyah, his many critics have included the historian Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406), Sufi Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi (d. 1624), some of the 'Salafiyyah' and beyond, and an array of modern Muslim revivalists and modernists. Controversy over his teachings flared again in 1979 when the Egyptian parliament attempted to ban the republication of the print edition of The Meccan Revelations. The attempt failed due to public outcry.[7]
Women are prominently featured in the book, particularly in Chapter 178 on love. Ibn Arabi is initiated into religious experience by a spiritual woman called Nizham, a young Persian woman whose name means "Harmony". He quotes the poems of the writerRabia of Basra, who according to him is "the most prestigious interpreter" of love.[8] Ibn Arabi also recounts his encounter and service to mysticFatima bint al-Muthanna [fr], with whom he recitesAl Fātiḥah (the firstsurah of theQuran) and whose degree of spiritual elevation he admires.[9]
TheIlluminations are a classic ofSufism, theology andIslamic philosophy. They influenced the "Spiritual Writings" of theemirAbd el-Kader, who published the book in 1857, and perhapsDante.[10] Henry Corbin compared Dante'sBéatrice, which leads the poet to paradise in theDivine Comedy and awakens him to love in theVita Nuova, to Ibn Arabi's Nizhâm, a mystical woman who initiates the Andalusian philosopher to the experience of God's love.[11]
