The Circle and the Compass

The Circle and the Compass

Author: Selected speakers May 4, 2022 Duration: 38:52
Stephen Hirtenstein has been editor of the Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society since its inception in 1982, and is a co-founder of Anqa Publishing. He read History at King's College, Cambridge, and then studied at the Beshara School of Intensive Esoteric Education in Gloucestershire and Scotland. After a teaching career, he began writing and giving talks on Ibn 'Arabi's thought at conferences across the world. In addition to lecturing and writing, he organises and leads tours in the footsteps of Ibn 'Arabi. He currently works as a Senior Editor for the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, and is a Short courses tutor in the Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford. His publications include The Unlimited Mercifier – The spiritual life and thought of Ibn 'Arabi (1999), The Seven Days of the Heart Prayers for the nights and days of the week – Ibn 'Arabi's Awrad al-usbu (2000), Divine Sayings – 101 Hadith Qudsi – The Mishkat al-Anwar of Ibn 'Arabi (2004), and most recently The Alchemy of Human Happiness – Chapter 167 of Ibn 'Arabi's Meccan Illuminations – Fi ma'rifat kimiya' al-sa'ada (2017)

The Ibn 'Arabi Society podcast offers a deep and nuanced exploration into the life, work, and enduring legacy of the 13th-century Andalusian mystic and philosopher, Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi. This series presents a curated selection of talks from the Society's annual symposia, featuring a diverse range of Selected speakers including scholars, translators, and practitioners. Each episode delves into specific themes from Ibn 'Arabi's vast corpus-such as the Oneness of Being, the imagination as a creative cosmic force, and the perfect human-placing his thought in dialogue with contemporary questions in spirituality, philosophy, and culture. Listening to this podcast feels like attending a rigorous yet accessible academic gathering, where complex ideas about the nature of reality, love, and divine knowledge are unpacked with care and passion. You'll hear detailed analyses of primary texts, cross-cultural comparisons, and reflections on how these profound teachings apply to modern life and interfaith understanding. It is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to move beyond superficial summaries and engage seriously with one of history's most influential spiritual intellects. The discussions are richly layered, rewarding both newcomers and those already familiar with Sufi metaphysics, and together they build a comprehensive portrait of a thinker whose work continues to resonate across centuries and disciplines.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 181

Ibn 'Arabi Society
Podcast Episodes
Some Aspects of 'Supra-reason' in Ibn 'Arabi's Epistemology [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:39
Professor Eric Geoffroy is an expert in Islamic thought and spirituality, he teaches Islamic studies at the University of Strasbourg, and other centres. He is specialist of Sufism and also works on issues of spirituality…
An Atlas of Love [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:06:40
Dr Eric Winkel (Shu'ayb) has studied Ibn 'Arabi for three decades and has spent the last four years dedicated to producing the first translation of the 10,000 page Futuhat al-Makkiyah of Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi. The first tw…
The Structure of Divine Light and Human Knowledge [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:34
Ahmad Sukkar has recently completed the Imam Bukhari Visiting Research Fellowship at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies with a project about the intellectual history of Islam, focusing on the relationship between Isla…
Water, Light, Knowledge: Towards an Ecology of Imagination [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:03
Todd Lawson is emeritus professor of Islamic Thought at the University of Toronto where he taught for 25 years. He has published widely on Qur'an commentary (tafsir) the Qur'an as literature, Sufism, Shi'i Islam and the…
Ibn 'Arabi and Reimagining Gender [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:09
Sa'diyya Shaikh teaches at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She has an interest in Sufism and its implications for Islamic feminism and feminist theory. She teaches courses in religion, gender, Islamic mysticis…