2.5.5 - The Beginning of the Good Tidings (Cordoba, 586/1190)

We have mentioned in section 2.3.5 above that Shaykh Muhyiddin had seen all the apostles and prophets from Adam to Muhammad, peace be upon them, as he mentioned in the Meccan Revelations. In the Bezels of Wisdom, the Greatest Shaykh shows that this vision was in Cordoba during the year 586/1190, where he says: “You should know that when the Real made me know and witness the entities of His messengers, peace be upon them, and all His prophets, amongst the humans, from Adam to Muhammad peace be upon them all, in a scene I saw Cordoba, during the year 586, then none of that communion talked to me except Hud, peace be upon him, and he told me the reason of their gathering.” [Fusus: p. 110] Elsewhere, Shaykh Muhyiddin says he met the prophets and apostles twice as we also mentioned in section 2.3.5 above.

What was the reason for their gathering? What is the role of Ibn al-Arabi, may Allah be pleased with him, in this assembly? We will find that he gives more detail about this vision and that it was in consolation of Shaykh Abu Mohammed Makhlouf al-Kabbani, whom we shall mention in section [ref:al-kabbani] below, and who had been in a fatal sickness in which he will die, but - as Claudia Addas explains in the Quest for Red Sulphur - that this was probably one of the reasons, while the main reason that Ibn al-Arabi does not reveal here has been conveyed by his close disciples and followers, as various studies have shown through their books and commentaries they gave on the Bezels of Wisdom. For example, Muayyaduddin al-Jundi, whom we shall mention in chapter VII, mentioned in his commentary on the Bezels of Wisdom, citing his teacher Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi, who was adopted by Ibn al-Arabi, that Shaykh Muhyiddin was told that he would be the Seal of the Mohammedan Saints at the end of a nine-month retreat [Muayad al-Din al-Jundi, explain the Bezels of Wisdom: p. 109. See also Red Sulfur Search: p. 92]. Such narration is also confirmed by a number of other followers of Ibn al-Arabi, such as Abdul-Razzaq al-Qishani (died 730/1330) and Dawud al-Qaysari (died 751/1350), that this scene by Ibn al-Arabi of this gathering of all the prophets and apostles had been for his candidacy to the post of Seal of Muhammadan Sainthood [Abdul Razzaq al-Qishani, explain the Bezels of Wisdom: p. 130. See also Red Sulfur Search: p. 76].

We will see later that the tidings will continue in this regard until it is culminated in Mecca when Shaykh Muhyiddin reaches the age of completeness when he becomes forty years old, in the year 600/1204.