Text in English & Arabic. If it is true, as Ibn 'Arabī claims, that voyaging never ceases in all worlds and dimensions, the paradigmatic voyages recounted in this remarkable book offer the reader an inexhaustible source of reflection. As a well-known Sufi saying puts it, 'the spiritual journey is called "voyage" (safar) because it "unveils" (isfār) the characters of the Men of God'. This book explores the theme of journeying and spiritual unveiling as it plays out in the cosmos, in scripture and within the soul of the mystic. Beginning with a series of cosmological contemplations, Ibn 'Arabī then turns to his own selective readings of Prophetic lore, in which he gives profound Muhammad, Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Lot, Jacob and Joseph, and Moses. Angela Jaffray's translation of Kitāb al-Isfār 'an natā'ij al-asfār brings this major treatise to an English-speaking audience for the first time. It is accompanied by a new edition of the Arabic text based in a manuscript in Ibn 'Arabi's own hand, an introduction and extensive notes. It also includes a rich in-depth commentary that will guide the reader through Ibn 'Arabī's subtle and allusive writing.
Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi was an eminent scholar and teacher of Islam in the Moorish culture of Andalusian Spain during the 12th century. Stephen Hirtenstein is the cofounder of Anqa Publishing and the editor of the Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society.
Angela Jaffray holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilisations from Harvard University. Her translation of Ibn 'Arabī's al-Ittihād al-Kawnī (The Universal Tree and the Four Birds) was published by Anqa Publications in 2007. She currently resides in Chicago and Jerusalem.
Angela Jaffray holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilisations from Harvard University. Her translation of Ibn 'Arabī's al-Ittihād al-Kawnī (The Universal Tree and the Four Birds) was published by Anqa Publications in 2007. She currently resides in Chicago and Jerusalem.