Who was Ibn Arabi? The medieval Sufi master of Damascus
Today Muhyi al-Din Ibn Arabi is considered to be one of the most influential philosophers in the Islamic Sufi tradition.
Almost eight centuries after his death, his ideas continue to influence contemporary Sufi thinkers and to reverberate across the Islamic world - but not without controversy.
Born in 1165 in Murcia, Al-Andalus, in modern-day Spain, his early years were spent in Seville, a flourishing intellectual centre, which was formative in his later philosophical and mystical pursuits.
An early acquaintance was Abu Waleed Muhammed Ibn Rushd, known in the West as Averroes - one of the Islamic world’s most influential philosophers, who was himself influenced by the Aristotelian school.
While both Ibn Rushd and Ibn Arabi shared a common pursuit of truth under an Islamic framework, Ibn Rushd took on a heavily rationalistic approach while Ibn Arabi’s was marked by mystical thinking, dream analysis and trance-induced visions.
Ibn Arabi received a conventional Islamic education, including training in fiqh (jurisprudence) and hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) yet his inclination towards mysticism became apparent in his youth.
His journey into Sufism was profoundly shaped by a series of spiritual encounters.
At the age of 15, he experienced a transformative vision, which marked the beginning of his lifelong pursuit of spiritual knowledge.
He studied under numerous Sufi figures in al-Andalus and the Maghreb, including the female mystic Fatima of Cordoba, who is said to have played a pivotal role in his spiritual formation.
It was under their guidance that he renounced worldly ambitions and committed himself to the pursuit of inner knowledge.
The journey was not merely intellectual but also deeply spiritual and physical.
Like many Sufis before him, he embarked on extensive travels across the Islamic world in search of wisdom and divine inspiration.
His voyages took him from the courts of Andalusia to the deserts of North Africa, and ultimately to the heart of the Islamic world - Mecca.
His time in Mecca was especially formative. There, he began writing his magnum opus, Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya (The Meccan Revelations), a vast compendium of mystical insights, theological reflections, and personal spiritual experiences.
Mecca was, for Ibn Arabi, not just the geographical centre of Islam but also a symbol of the inward journey of the soul towards divine presence.
From Mecca, he continued his travels through Baghdad, Konya, and Anatolia, before finally settling in Damascus in 1223 CE.
By this time, he was in his late fifties and sought a place where he could dedicate himself to teaching and writing. The stability of Damascus in Syria under the Ayyubid dynasty provided the perfect refuge for his intellectual and spiritual pursuits.
He established a zawiya (spiritual lodge) at the foothills of Mount Qasioun, a mountain steeped in sacred narratives and long associated with ascetics and mystics.
Key ideas
Ibn Arabi’s intellectual and mystical legacy is vast, but his most controversial and celebrated concept is wahdat al-wujud (the Unity of Being).
The idea asserted that all existence is a singular reality, with God as its ultimate source and essence.
In this view, creation is not separate from God but a continuous manifestation of the Divine attributes.
Everything in existence, he argued, is a reflection of the Absolute Reality, much like the way light reveals itself in different forms and on different surfaces.
Another cornerstone of his philosophy was the concept of insan al-kamil (the Perfect Human).
For Ibn Arabi, the Prophet Muhammad represented the ultimate embodiment of human perfection, a being who fully realised divine attributes within him or herself.
The journey of the human soul, he believed, was one of self-discovery and purification, culminating in what he called ma‘rifa (an intimate knowledge of God).
French philosopher Henry Corbin later elaborated on Ibn Arabi’s works in the mid 20th century, bringing his philosophy to western audiences.
Corbin’s idea of the "Imaginal" is an interpretation of Ibn Arabi’s ideas on the nature of reality.
According to Corbin, the imaginal was a realm that connected the divine world to the physical world through dreams and transcendent experiences.
These ideas were not without controversy.
Many Islamic scholars to this day view Ibn Arabi’s writings as dangerously close to pantheism, leading to accusations of heresy.
Some theologians misinterpreted his notion of Divine Unity as negating the transcendence of God.
As a result, his works were banned intermittently in certain Muslim countries, and his legacy faced resistance, particularly from conservative clerical circles.
Yet among mystics and spiritual seekers, he remained a towering figure, revered for his unparalleled depth and insight into the nature of existence.
Ties to Damascus
Damascus, often described as the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, held a unique place in the Islamic imagination, which was the case during the life of Ibn Arabi.
The city had long been a hub of scholarship, trade, and spirituality. It was here that the Umayyads established the first great Islamic empire, making Damascus their capital in 661 CE.
Even after the Abbasid caliphate shifted power to Baghdad, Damascus retained its status as a significant centre of learning and piety.
The city’s libraries and markets were legendary, housing texts from across the Islamic world and beyond. Damascus was also a critical centre for the study of hadith and Islamic jurisprudence.
For Sufis and mystics, Damascus was particularly sacred. Mount Qasioun was believed to have been a retreat for prophets and saints
The presence of scholars such as Imam al-Nawawi, Ibn Taymiyyah, and Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah ensured that Damascus remained a stronghold of intellectual and religious discourse.
For Sufis and mystics, Damascus was particularly sacred. Mount Qasioun was believed to have been a retreat for prophets and saints.
The city’s mosques and khanqahs (Sufi lodges) were filled with seekers of divine knowledge. It was this spiritual atmosphere that drew Ibn Arabi to make Damascus his final home.
Despite the reverence Ibn Arabi received amongst his followers, his legacy suffered periods of decline, particularly after the Mamluk state, formed by former Caucasian and Central Asian slave warriors, took control of Damascus.
His works were censored and his tomb fell into neglect, as the rulers enforced more orthodox interepretations of religion. By the 14th century, his mausoleum had become so dilapidated that it was described as a waste-dump.
The Moroccan Sufi al-Fasi, who visited in 1511, lamented the state of disrepair and the fear surrounding his name due to opposition from the clerical establishment.
However, Ibn Arabi’s legacy was resurrected with the arrival of the Ottomans in 1517. Sultan Selim I, who reportedly admired the mystic, commissioned the construction of a mosque and takkiyya (Sufi lodge) around his tomb, thereby reinstating him to what he saw as his rightful place in Islamic history.
Today, Ibn Arabi’s tomb remains a site of pilgrimage, visited by scholars, Sufis, and spiritual seekers from across the world.