Hany Ibrahim: The Mysticism of Letters: Language and Being in the Teachings of Ibn al-ʿArabī (Part 1)

The statement attributed to Ibn al-ʿArabī, “kunnā ḥurūfan ʿāliyāt” — “We were exalted letters” — offers a profound affirmation of the pre-existent and sacred nature of all beings as articulations of Divine Speech. This is not merely poetic imagery, but a metaphysical vision: each created being is a singular word of God, a letter inscribed in the unfolding Book of Existence. In this course, we will begin to explore the science of letters (ʿilm al-ḥurūf) in the teachings of Ibn al-ʿArabī and consider the metaphysical significance of Arabic letters (al-ḥurūf) as primordial structures of existence and keys to Divine self-disclosure. For Ibn al-ʿArabī, letters are not merely linguistic signs but living realities through which creation is articulated, ordered, and unveiled. Through the study of selected letters such as al-Alif, the axis of Divine Oneness; al-Bāʾ, the womb of emergence; al-Lām-Alif, the interplay of affirmation and negation; and al-Nūn, the arc of containment and return, the course opens a symbolic cosmos in which the Arabic alphabet maps the unseen scaffolding of the universe, revealing how the Real speaks through creation—letter by letter, word by word, and form by form. Dr. Hany T. Ibrahim is an interdisciplinary scholar working across Religious Studies, Islamic thought, Sufism, Arabic philology, and Islamic art and architecture. His scholarship is dedicated to the study of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s writings, teachings, and metaphysics. He holds a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Calgary, an MA in Religious Studies from the University of Lethbridge, an MPhil in the Built Environment from London South Bank University, and a BArch from Helwan University. His work explores Islamic metaphysics, love, beauty, language, symbolism, sacred aesthetics, and the contemporary relevance of classical Islamic thought. He is the author of Love in the Teachings of Ibn al-ʿArabī (Equinox, 2023).