The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn al-Arabi’s Metaphysics of Imagination
- Date of account
- 1989; major 1990s reception
- Location
- Ibn Arabi traditions centered in Andalusia, Damascus, Cairo and Fez
- Source
- model_recalled_reference
- Record updated
- 2026-10-10
Record summary
William C. Chittick’s influential study of Ibn al-‘Arabi’s metaphysics remained an important reference during the 1990–2009 period. It analyzes imagination, divine names, cosmology, sainthood, and knowledge in Ibn al-‘Arabi’s writings, offering a precise comparative framework for transformation claims that might otherwise be mislabeled as magic or alchemy. The lead concerns interpretation of a medieval textual corpus, not a modern experiment. Editions, translations, and terminology differ, and the relationship between Ibn al-‘Arabi’s own writings and later Sufi institutions must be checked carefully.
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