Ismail Hakki Bursevi's Translation of and Commentary on Fusus Al-Hikam by Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi, Volume 1: Volume 1

This is an English translation of the famous 17th-century Ottoman Turkish translation (from the original Arabic), with its extensive commentary, of Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi's Fusus al-Hikam. Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi, known as the 'Greatest Shaykh', considered the Fusus al-Hikam, his last major opus, to be the most important of his more than 350 books. Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi was born in Andalusia, Spain, in 1165. From the age of thirty-two he travelled extensively throughout the Islamic world, conversing with the greatest mystics, divines and philosophers of his day. Although, as an outspoken critic of religious and philosophical dogmatism, he made many enemies, he was and is revered as a saint and as a teacher of incomparable stature. He died in Damascus in 1240. The theme of the Fusus al-Hikam is the Infinite Wisdom that is at once unique in Itself and many-faceted in Its representation in the line of prophets from Adam to Mohammed. It is simultaneously an explanation of the profoundest meaning of man's existence and perfectibility, and an esoteric exegesis of the Quran. In treating of the Divine Wisdom, it is so faithful to its subject that the book is itself a paradigm of its theme. The reader does not require knowledge of Arabic or Turkish to benefit from reading this book. It is intended for anyone with an interest in the true meaning and purpose of their own existence and that of the cosmos. It is a work that can be returned to for a lifetime, and if the reader approaches it with sincerity and respect, it may yield new understandings with every visit. This second edition has been revised and reset, using modern standard diacritics throughout. Volume 1: Introduction to the Fusus; chapters on Adam and Seth.