Ibn al-'Arabi's Barzakh: The Concept of the Limit and the Relationship between God and the World

221 Pages·2004·0.75 MB·English

by  Salman H. Bashier

S A L M A N H . B A S H I E R
Ibn al- Arab¯ı’s
c
B
arzakh
The Concept of
the Limit and the Relationship
between God and the World
Ibn al->Arab•’s Barzakh

Ibn al->Arab•’s
Barzakh
The Concept of the Limit
and the
Relationship between God and the World
Salman H. Bashier
State University of New York Press
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
©2004 State University of New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bashier, Salman, H., 1964–
Ibn al->Arab•’s Barzakh : the concept of the limit and the relationship between
God and the world / Salman H. Bashier.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-7914-6227-7 (alk. paper)
1. Ibn al->Arab•, 1165-1240. 2. Intermediate state—Islam. 3. Creation (Islam)
I. Title.
B753.I24B37 2004
181'.92—dc22
2003067308
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Peter Von Sivers

Contents
Acknowledgments xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
1. Ibn al->Arab•’s Liminal (Barzakh•) Theory of Representation:
An Outlook from the Present Situation 11
Presentation and Representation: Complementary Elements
in the Mystical Experience 11
Carter’s View 15
Rorty’s Antirepresentational Stand 19
Ibn al->Arab•’s Stand 22
Wasserstrom’s Criticism of Mystocentrism 25
2. Creation ex nihilo, Creation in Time, and Eternal Creation:
Ibn S•nåversus the Theologians 29
Creation ex nihiloin theQur’ån 29
Creation ex nihilo,Creation in Time, and Islamic Theologians 31
Ibn S•nå’sAnswers to the Theologians’Arguments 36
Ibn S•nåon the Possible- and the Necessary-of-Existence 38
Ibn S•nå’s Distinction between Essence and Existence 40
3. Ibn Rushd versus al-Ghazål•on the Eternity of the World 43
BetweenTheIncoherence of the Philosophers
andThe Incoherence of the Incoherence 43
viii Contents
The First Proof 45
The Second Proof 49
The Third Proof 51
Ibn Rushd’s Doctrine of Eternal Creation:
The Emergence of the Problem of the Limit 52
4. Mysticism versus Philosophy: The Encounter
between Ibn al->Arab•and Ibn Rushd 59
Mysticism between Theology and Philosophy 59
An Interpretation of the Encounter between Kha∂ir
and Moses from Ibn al->Arab•’s Perspective 60
The Encounter between Ibn Rushd and Ibn al->Arab• 66
5. The Barzakh 75
The Intermediate State (Barzakh) in the Qur’ån
and in the Canonical Tradition 75
The Barzakh in the Exegesis of the Qur’ån
and in Scholastic Theology 80
Plato’s Theory of the Forms 83
Ibn al->Arab•’s Definition of theBarzakh 86
Ibn al->Arab•versus Ibn S•nå: Two Conceptions of the Relative 92
6. The Third Entity: The Supreme Barzakh 97
Plato’s Form, The Mu>tazilites’Nonexistent,
and Ibn al->Arab•’s Fixed Entity 97
Plato’s Introduction of the Receptacle 99
Ibn al->Arab•’s Introduction of the Third Thing 102
The Problem of the Creation of the World Revisited 106
7. The Perfect Man: The Epistemological Aspect
of the Third Thing 113
The Perfect Man as the Conclusion of Divine Love 113
The Perfect Man as the Possessor of Divine Knowledge 117
The Logic of the Knowledge of Perfection 122
8. The Limit Situation 129
On Knowing the Waystation of “In The Articulations is
the Knowledge of the Stairs” 129
Contents ix
The Paradox of Infinity 132
The Limit Situation 134
Conclusions 143
Notes 149
Bibliography 187
Index 197