The
Self-Disclosure of God: Principles of Ibn Al-Arabi's Cosmology
By: Chittick, William C.
Publication Date: 1997/09
Binding: Paper
ISBN:0791434044
Our Price:
$24.95
Publisher
The Self-Disclosure
of God continues the author's investigations of the world view of Ibn
al-'Arabi, the greatest theoretician of Sufism and the "seal of the
Muhammadan saints." The book is divided into three parts, dealing
with the relation between God and the cosmos, the structure of the
cosmos, and the nature of the human soul. A long introduction orients
the reader and discusses a few of the difficulties faced by Ibn al-'Arabi's
interpreters. Like Chittick's earlier work, The Sufi Path of Knowledge,
this book is based primarily on Ibn al-'Arabi's monumental work, al-Futuhat
al-makkiyya "The Meccan Openings." More than one hundred
chapters and subsections are translated, not to mention shorter passages
that help put the longer discussions in context. There are detailed
indexes of sources, Koranic verses, and hadiths. The book's index of
technical terminology will be an indispensable reference for all those
wishing to delve more deeply into the use of language in Islamic thought
in general and Sufism in particular.
Booknews
Chittick
(comparative studies, State U. of New York-Stony Brook) continues his
investigation into the Sufi theoretician al-Arabi (AD 1165-1240), again
drawing heavily from the monumental from which he translates over 100 chapters and subsections as well as
shorter passages. He deals with the relation between God and the cosmos,
the structure of the cosmos, and the nature of the human soul. He
includes indexes of sources, Koranic verses, hadiths, and technical
terminology relevant both the Sufism and to Islam as a whole. Annotation
c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
The
Self-Disclosure of God: Principles of Ibn Al-Arabi's Cosmology