The Metaphysics of Ibn al-ʿArabī in the Muqaddimat al-Qayṣarī
Editor:
Mukhtar H. Ali
The Horizons of Being explores the teachings of Ibn al-ʿArabī by examining Dāwūd al-Qayṣarī’s (d. 751/1350) Prolegomena to his commentary on the
Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, popularly known as the
Muqaddimat al-Qayṣarī. A masterpiece of Sufism, the
Muqaddima is both a distillation of the
Fuṣūṣ and a summary of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s entire metaphysical worldview. As such, it is a foundational text that delves into the most important subjects characterizing the philosophical Sufi tradition: Being, God’s attributes, divine knowledge, the universal worlds, unveiling, creation and the microcosm, the perfect human, the origin and return of the spirit, prophethood and sainthood. The present work is a complete translation of the
Muqaddima and a commentary that incorporates the ideas of the main exponents of this tradition.