The Bezels of Wisdom (Fusus al-hikam)

Introduction

In the preface Ibn Arabi says that in 1229, in Damascus, the Prophet Muhammad appeared to him in a dream holding the book and told him to pass it on. Each of the 27 chapters links a prophet, from Adam to Muhammad, with an aspect of divine wisdom; a “bezel” is the setting that holds the stone of a ring. The text is dense and was usually read with commentaries, beginning with that of his stepson and pupil Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi. It became the core text of the school later associated with the “unity of being” (wahdat al-wujud). It was also fiercely attacked, for example by Ibn Taymiyya.

Connections

Taken up in

• The Four Journeys (al-Asfar al-arbaʿa)c. 1628 · Mulla Sadra