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0.1 - Preface to Volume Two

The Sun of the Greatest Master Muhyiddin Ibn al-Arabi had set down in the city of the righteous, Damascus, the cradle of civilizations, and the oldest inhabited city in history, after it filled the world with guiding light, and enlightened the minds with fascinating knowledge, and overwhelmed the hearts with inspiring wisdom. Thus, in accordance with the saying of Imam Ali, may Allah be pleased with him: “people are dead while those having knowledge are alive”, the sun of the Reviver of Religion did not really decline at all, but it was only temporarily veiled, because he, may Allah be pleased with him, is still alive in the hearts of his righteous disciples and followers, who are pleading God for him, whenever they read one of his works, and whenever the lamp of his wisdom lit up for them the road towards more divine knowledge. He is still receiving the benefits of all the good deeds of those who followed him amongst the scholars and seekers, just as he himself and all other followers of Islam are nothing but the good labor being recorded in the book of the master of all creation, Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, whom Allah has sent a mercy to the worlds [Quran, 21:107].

After his death, may Allah Almighty have mercy upon him, many of his students, seekers and followers have emerged over the past eight centuries, such as Sadr al-Din al-Qunawy, Abd al-Razzaq al-Qaishani, Abd al-Karim al-Jili, Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi and Abd al-Wahhab al-Shaarani, and many other sheikhs and thinkers. However, the sciences of Sheikh Al-Akbar did not receive the listening ear of some scholars who denied it, criticized it, and expiated it because of it. They wrote many books in response to it, and he was outraged by it. Among the most prominent of them was Sheikh Burhan al-Din al-Buqai and Sheikh Taqiy al-Din Ibn Taymiyyah.

On the other hand, still there are many people who did not really pay any serious attention to him, as they were uninterested in his works, neither positively nor otherwise. There may be some people who live right next to his famous mausoleum in Damascus, in the neighborhood district that is now called after his name, Shaykh Muhyiddin, yet they don't know much about him or his famous works that filled the libraries of the world, east and west.

However, the picture began to change gradually in the modern era, with ever more increasing number of students and intellectuals interested in his heritage. Some universities are teaching his books, and many master and doctorate projects and investigations are being pursued about him every year, in various research institutes in the Islamic world as well as in the West, especially after publishing several translations of his books to some European languages, such as French, English and Spanish, and after the establishment of some international associations dedicated for publishing and promoting serious research related to him, and arranging many international conferences to commemorate his legacy, as we shall describe in section 3.2 below.

Therefore, the sun of the Greatest Master Shaykh Abu-Abdullah Muhammad Ibn al-Arabi, the Reviver of Religion, is still shining bright in the West and in the East, even after all these generations and centuries, because it is a perpetual emanation of uninterrupted light, a rainy cloud sprinkling with inspiring knowledge, and not a glaring fancy of some passing historical echoes. Regrettably, however, while for the most wise of them this guiding light is still reinforcing their inner wisdom and awakening their flairs, some of the people were overwhelmed by this light that they became screened, while yet some others may remain indifferent because they do not care or they are not paying the due attention, just like the Sun which may be shining bright in the middle of the Sky and yet many people do not realize its benefits, while for others its rays are still imprinted in their minds and souls even when it is hiding behind the hills or veiled by the clouds or even after it declines below the horizons.