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- Title
Ibn ʿArabī’s Letter to Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī: A Study and Translation*.
- Authors
Rustom, Mohammed
- Abstract
This article offers a study and translation of an important but understudied letter written by the famous Sufi Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240) to the foremost theologian of his day, Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210). After situating the letter against the backdrop of the general Rāzī ‘polemic’ which had emerged in Central Asia and Anatolia during the sixth/twelfth and seventh/thirteenth centuries (particularly in Persian Sufi writings), the article explores the manner in which Ibn ʿArabī attempts to convince Rāzī to channel his aspirations in the right direction—namely to empty himself of his reliance upon his discursive powers and turn to the Sufi path. In order to drive his point home, Ibn ʿArabī offers a fundamental distinction between knowledge gained by way of intellectual reflection and knowledge afforded by ‘unveiling’, taking as his point of departure Rāzī’s own well-known crisis of certitude. The foregoing discussion then paves the way for a complete, annotated translation of this important letter.
- Subjects
IBN al-Arabi, 1165-1240; AL-Razi, Fakhr al-Din; SUFISM; RELIGIOUS life in Islam; SUFIS; LETTERS; TRANSLATIONS; HISTORY
- Publication
Journal of Islamic Studies, 2014, Vol 25, Issue 2, p113
- ISSN
0955-2340
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/jis/ett071