Ibn 'Arabi Society

"Different Aesthetics" – A New Approach to Sufi Texts?
The topic of the MIAS-Warburg Symposium was inspired by an interdisciplinary
research project on Premodern Aesthetics spearheaded by the University of
Tuebingen. It approaches aesthetic acts and artifacts not as objects sufficient unto
themselves and hence to be viewed with 'disinterested pleasure' (Kant), but as
agents endowed with an aesthetic energy in which their true purpose resides, and
which explains the dynamic impact they can have on socio-cultural and
psychological processes. The aesthetic acts and artifacts studied by the project also
include Christian mystical texts whose aesthetic energy aims to engender in the
recipient a state of consciousness akin to the beatific vision. A collection of papers
produced by contributors to the Tuebingen project has just appeared in English
translation (Different Aesthetics: Principles, Questions, Perspectives, edited by A.
Gerock-Reiter et al., De Gruyter, 2025). The presentation will introduce the scope of
the project, discuss recent examples of its application to Christian and Muslim texts,
and conclude with remarks on its relevance for the study of the Akbarian tradition.

Stefan Sperl graduated from Oxford (Arabic) and SOAS (PhD 1977), and spent ten
years working for UNHCR in Egypt, Sudan and Geneva. He joined SOAS in 1988
and retired in 2018 as Emeritus Professor of Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies. His
publications include articles on Arabic, Islamic and Refugee Studies, as well as
Mannerism in Arabic Poetry: A Structural Analysis of Selected Texts (1989), Qasida
Poetry in Islamic Africa and Asia (with C. Shackle, 1996) and The Cosmic Script:
Sacred Geometry and the Science of Arabic Penmanship (with A. Moustafa, 2014)
which won the Iran Book of the Year Award (2016). His recent publications are 'The
Qur’an and Arabic Poetry' (The Oxford Handbook of Qur’anic Studies, 2020), the
volume Faces of the Infinite, Neoplatonism and Poetry at the Confluence of Africa,
Asia and Europe with the accompanying website lyrics-of-ascent.net (with Y. Dedes,
2022), and 'Islamic Spirituality and the Visual Arts' (The Wiley Blackwell Companion
to Islamic Spirituality, 2023). He continues to be actively engaged in research and
since 2023 has been teaching Arabic literature courses at the University of
Cambridge.


Recorded by Warburg Institute

The Body of the Caliph: Corporeal Governance of the Human Kingdom in Ibn 'Arabi's al-Tadbirat al-ilahiyya and its Commentaries

In his Book of the Divine Governances for the Restoration of the Human Kingdom (K. al-Tadbirat al-ilahiyya fi islah al-mamlaka al-insaniyya), Ibn 'Arabi describes how the flourishing of the individual depends on a spiritual policy ensuring harmony in the human microcosm. This governance of the individual is centred on the caliphal authority of the spirit and its vizier, the intellect. But where does that leave the body? Is it merely reduced to passive obedience to this authority, or does it too play an active role in this internal politics? In this presentation, we shall revisit the Tadbirat from the vantage point of the body, while also examining two later commentaries by Husayn b. Tu'ma al-Baytimani (d. 1175/1761) and Muhammad al-Damuni (d. ca. 1208/1794).

GREGORY VANDAMME is a scholar specialising in classical Sufi thought, particularly the works of Ibn 'Arabi and his commentators. He holds a PhD in Religious Studies from UCLouvain, where his dissertation focused on the concept of hayra (perplexity) in Ibn 'Arabi’s thought, exploring its implications in epistemology, metaphysics, and Qur'anic hermeneutics. Currently, Gregory is a post doctoral research associate at the University of Chester, following his roles as a research fellow at F.R.S.–FNRS and UCLouvain in Belgium, and as guest lecturer at SciencesPo Paris. His research primarily delves into the doctrines of speculative mysticism, Qur'anic hermeneutics, and spiritual education in Sufism.

Recorded by Warburg Institute

This paper explores the pivotal role of the Adamic fass in unlocking the profound metaphysical framework of Ibn al-'Arabi's Fusus al-Hikam. Centering on the concept of the comprehensive Being (al-kawn al-jami'), a term mentioned in the opening paragraph of the Fusus, the Adamic fass emerges as the key to understanding the divine necessity of human existence as a mirror of God's names and attributes. By elucidating the unique ontological position of Adam as the khalifa (vicegerent) and the synthesis of all divine manifestations, this study demonstrates how the Adamic 'fass' provides the interpretive lens through which the overarching unity and wisdom of each fass of the Fusus al-Hikam can be accessed. Ultimately, the paper argues that Adam represents not only the archetype of perfected humanity but also the means through which the divine self-disclosure (tajalli) achieves its fullest realization, making the Adamic fass the cornerstone for comprehending Ibn al-Arabi's vision of existence.


Mukhtar Ali is Professor of Islamic Studies, specializing in Sufsm, Islamic philosophy and ethics. His areas of interest include Arabic and Persian literature, Qur'anic studies, theology, traditional medicine and comparative religion. He is the author of Philosophical Sufsm: An Introduction to the School of Ibn al-'Arabi (Routledge, 2021) and The Horizons of Being: The Metaphysics of Ibn al-'Arabi in the Muqaddimat al-Qaysari (Brill, 2020) and his forthcoming work, Inscriptions of Wisdom: The Sufism of Ibn al-'Arabi in the Mirror of Jami, is a study on Ibn al-'Arabi's masterpiece, Fusus al-hikam through the lens of Jami's Naqd al-nusus fi sharh Naqsh al-Fusus.

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Recorded by Warburg Institute

Ibn 'Arabi states in Futuhat that 'the breath of the creatures comes from the divine breath' or that 'the human breath has the same form as that of the Merciful.' Parting from this idea, a whole set of implications related with the articulation of language, the act of praising, the continuous creation, the esoteric-exoteric dialectic or even with love, unfolds itself. From the reading of some of Ibn Arabi's cosmological texts, it can be deduced that there is a correlation between the cycle of breath exhalation/inhalation and the rhythm of creation/annihilation in the Universe.

Gracia López Anguita is a lecturer in the Dept. of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Seville. She obtained her European PhD with a thesis on Ibn Arabi's treatise 'Uqlat al-mustawfiz awarded with the Doctorate Prize. She focuses her research on the thought of this Master and his school. She has been a visiting researcher at Allameh Tabatabai University and at the École Pratique des Hautes Études and is currently part of the team of the research project funded by the Spanish Government and European funds: "Cultural and Religious Identity in Sufism in Morocco and Senegal: Hagiographies, Gender and Symbology."

Recorded by Warburg Institute

Muhammad writes: This lecture explores the concept of the anthropocosmic self in Ibn 'Arabi's thought, presenting his vision of life as a dynamic interplay between the human being, the cosmos, and the divine. Ibn ʿArabi, a seminal figure in Sufism, offers a profound framework for understanding selfhood - not as an isolated entity but as a microcosm deeply interwoven with the macrocosm and the divine. This anthropocosmic perspective reorients the purpose of human existence from self-centred individuality to a participatory role in the unfolding of divine realities within creation. It argues that the ultimate vision of life, according to Ibn 'Arabi, is a journey of spiritual realization, wherein the human being transcends dualities and becomes a living bridge between the physical and the transcendent realms. The talk concludes by reflecting on the contemporary relevance of Ibn 'Arabi’s anthropocosmic vision, particularly in addressing modern existential and ecological crises, offering a model of selfhood that harmonizes personal flourishing with cosmic and spiritual interconnectedness.


Muhammad U. Faruque is Associate Professor of Islamic Philosophy and Environmental Studies at the University of Cincinnati. A scholar of Islamic Studies and global philosopher, he has lectured widely across North America, Europe, and Asia. His work, translated into multiple languages, has been recognized by major U.S. funding bodies, including the Templeton Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education. His first book, Sculpting the Self (University of Michigan Press, 2021), won the World Prize for Book of the Year from the President of Iran. His forthcoming book, The Interconnected Universe: Sufism, Climate Change, and Ecological Living, explores how Sufi contemplative practices foster an ecologically sustainable way of life through an "anthropocosmic" vision of the self.