'Those who believe are more intense in love': Ibn al-'Arabi and the Paradoxes of Love

'Those who believe are more intense in love': Ibn al-'Arabi and the Paradoxes of Love

Author: Selected speakers July 5, 2023 Duration: 1:03:53
Love is mysterious and many splendored—the source of our greatest joys and deepest sorrows; easy to talk and sing about, but impossible to define. "One who defines love has not known it, and one who has not tasted it by drinking it down, has not known it," writes Ibn al-'Arabi. While Rumi is more associated with love in the contemporary imagination, love is equally central to the writings and tradition of the great Andalusian writer, thinker, and spiritual teacher, Ibn Al-'Arabi (d. 1240), known as al-Shaykh al-Akbar (The Greatest Master). Through an examination of his commentaries on two verses of the Qur'an (2:165 and 45:23), and exploration of the paradoxes and seeming contradictions therein, this workshop will explore how love is key to understanding Ibn Al-'Arabi’s vast and kaleidoscopic oeuvre, and how these writings and perspectives can, in turn, help us better understand the undefinable nature of love and longing. For Ibn Al-'Arabi, love is more than a feeling, it is the fundamental nature of consciousness, God, and reality itself.

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: en-us Episodes: 50

Ibn 'Arabi Society
Podcast Episodes
Receptivity, activity and gender in Ibn Arabi's work [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:47
Jane Clark is a Senior Research Fellow of the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society and has worked particularly on the Society's Archiving Project as well as looking after the library. She has been studying Ibn Arabi for more than…
Divine 'writing' and the feminine in Ibn 'Arabi [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:29
Gracia Lopez Anguita obtained her degree in Arabic Philosophy at the University of Cordoba. In 2005 she joined the Department of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Seville, where she is currently Assistant Pro…
The half-door and Salma's house: the architecture of love [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:24
At Haverford College (BA), then the University of Pennsylvania (MA), then the University of South Carolina (PhD), Eric Winkel undertook eclectic studies, mostly religion at first, focusing on spiritual matters, then late…
Julian of Norwich: All manner of things shall be well [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:30
Cecilia Twinch is a Senior Research Fellow of the Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society, Oxford. Besides working as a teacher, translator and editor, she has written numerous articles and has lectured on Ibn 'Arabi and mysticism…
Love in the teachings of Ibn 'Arabī [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:05
Hany Talaat Ibrahim completed his PhD in Religious Studies at the University of Calgary. He is currently teaching at the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University, Canada. He specializes in pre-modern Islamic thou…
Language Acts and Worldmaking [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11:06
Ibn Arabi's Creative Imagination: Crossing Borders to Discover the Meaning of Being Human. Collaborative presentation between Language Acts and Worldmaking and the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society. This event, originally an o…
Language Acts and Worldmaking [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:15
Ibn Arabi's Creative Imagination: Crossing Borders to Discover the Meaning of Being Human. Collaborative presentation between Language Acts and Worldmaking and the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society. This event, originally an o…