On July 26 in 1165 AD/CE, Andalusian Islamic scholar, theologian, philosopher, Sufi, and poet Muhyi al-Din Ibn Arabi was born in Murcia, Spain. Known as Muhyiddin (“the revivifier of religion”) and the Shaykh al-Akbar (“the greatest master”), Ibn Arabi provided an understanding of Islam from its most literal to its most profound meaning.
He wrote over 350 works including the Fusus al-Hikam, an exposition of the inner meaning of the wisdom of the prophets in the Judaic / Christian / Islamic line. In his Dīwān and his Tarjumān al-Ashwāq, he also wrote some of the finest poetry in the Arabic language.
See Also: Mawlana Abd al-Rahman Jami, A Short Biography
Ibn Arabi’s paternal ancestry was from the South Arabian tribe of Tayy and his maternal ancestry was North African Berber. Born in the town of Murcia in Spain, Ibn Arabi moved to Seville where he studied religious sciences. Ibn Arabi spent many years in Andalusia and North Africa. He traveled to Tunis, Alexandria, and Cairo and from there to Makkah for the pilgrimage where he joined a group of Sufis.
He lived in Mecca for three years, and there began writing his work Al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya ‘The Meccan Illuminations’. His writings were not limited to the Muslim elites but made their way into other ranks of society through the widespread reach of the Sufi orders.
See Also: Imam al-Tirmidhi, A Short Biography
He traveled extensively in the Islamic world and died in Damascus in 1240 AD/CE. After his death, Ibn Arabi’s teachings quickly spread throughout the Islamic world. Arabi’s work also popularly spread through works in Persian, Turkish, and Urdu. Many popular poets were trained in the Sufi orders and were inspired by Arabi’s concepts.
