The Universal Tree and the Four Birds

159 Pages·2006·1.28 MB·Arabic

by  Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi

Mystical Treatises of Muhyiddin Ibn ¡Arabi
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The Universal Tree and the Four Birds, one of Ibn ¡Arab¨’s early works, is e

a dazzling blend of poetry and rhymed prose, encompassing a number of U
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themes that were of perennial concern to the Shaykh al-Akbar. Based on
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the mystical framework of the ascent, the stages of the journey to union v
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with the Real are described in an intriguingly enigmatic way. Beginning r
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with a dizzying series of poems that explain the existential fl uctuation of
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the human heart, the narrator goes on to describe his meeting with his T
Essential Self in a place outside of space and time. He then fi nds himself r
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in a garden with the Universal Tree and four delightful birds: an Eagle, a e

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Ringdove, a fabulous ¡Anqå¤, and a Jet-Black Crow. Each in turn regales
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the author with a tale of its origins and essential characteristics, but only d

at the end are their true natures revealed. th
The elegant translation is complemented by Angela Jaffray’s illumi- e

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nating commentary on key elements in the text and extensive notes, and
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a Foreword by Rafi Zabor. The Arabic text, critically edited from the u
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best manuscripts by Denis Gril, is also included.
B
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r The Universal Tree
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and the Four Birds
www.ibn-arabi.com
[email protected]
ANQA
Translated by Angela Jaffray
PUBLISHING ANQA
Printed in the USA
The Universal Tree
and the Four Birds
MYSTICAL TREATISES OF
MUHYIDDIN IBN ¡ARABI
FORTHCOMING TITLES
The Four Cornerstones of the Way
(±ilyat al-abdål)
Annihilated in Contemplation
(Kitåb al-fanå¤ fi’l-mushåhada)
Technical Terms of Sufism
(al-I߆ilå¢åt al-߬f¨ya)
Mu¢yidd¨n Ibn ¡Arab¨
The Universal Tree
and the Four Birds
Treatise on Unification (al-Itti¢åd al-kawn¨)

Introduction, Translation and Commentary
ANGELA JAFFRAY
ANQA PUBLISHING • OXFORD
in association with the
muhyiddin ibn arabi society
¡
Published by Anqa Publishing
PO Box 1178
Oxford OX2 8YS, UK
www.ibn-arabi.com
In association with the
Muhyiddin Ibn ¡Arabi Society
www.ibnarabisociety.org
© Angela Jaffray, 2006
Angela Jaffray has asserted her moral right
under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act, 1988, to be identified as the author
of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, without
the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
Cover design: Michael Tiernan
Manuscript on the back cover: Shehit Ali 2813, f.33, dated AH 621,
copied by Ayy¬b b. Badr al-Muqr¨ and checked by the author.
Courtesy of the Suleymaniye library, Istanbul.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-10: 0 9534513 9 9
ISBN-13: 978 0 9534513 9 5
Printed in the USA
I am in love with no other than myself,
and my very separation is my union ...
I am my beloved and my lover;
I am my knight and my maiden.
Mu¢yidd¨n Ibn ¡Arab¨

contents
Acknowledgements viii
Of the Tree and its Four Birds, by Rafi Zabor 1
Biography of Ibn ¡Arab¨ 9
Introduction 16
Overview 16
Stylistic Considerations 18
Treatise on Unification 21
Dedication 26
Discourse of the Universal Tree 35
Discourse of the Ringdove 38
Discourse of the Royal Eagle 42
Discourse of the Strange ¡Anqå¤ 46
Discourse of the Jet-Black Crow 47
Commentary 53
The Title 53
The Proemial Poems 61
The Dedicatee 63
The Fourth Poem 77
Meetings in the Barzakh 78
Soliloquies of the Universal Tree and the Four Birds 80
Cosmic Marriage and the Genealogy of the Birds 103
Appendix: The Edition of the Text 111
Bibliography 115
Index of Qur¤anic Citations 123
Index of Names and Terms 125
Arabic text
vii
Acknowledgements
I owe special thanks to my friend Rafi Zabor, who suggested several
years ago that I translate the Itti¢åd al-kawn¨ for the Web journal
Words without Borders, and supplied the illuminating introductory
essay.
Thanks, also, to Words without Borders who published an early
version of the translation in their August 2004 issue.
I couldn’t ask for more responsive and meticulous editors than
Stephen Hirtenstein and Michael Tiernan at Anqa Publishing.
Stephen’s learned comments enriched my commentary immensely,
and Michael’s design and careful editing are each, in their own
domain, things of beauty.
Without the sublime French translation, sagacious notes, and ex-
pert edition of the Itti¢åd by Denis Gril, I would have found myself
frequently at a loss. Lovers of Ibn ¡Arab¨ owe a tremendous debt to
him and other pioneers in the enterprise of Ibn ¡Arab¨ translation for
their deep knowledge of the Shaykh’s words and works.
Jim Robinson, eagle-eyed companion in devoir, has accompanied
this translation from fledgling stage to final flight. He has given
me many helpful suggestions, kept me from colossal mistakes, and
offered unflagging encouragement all the way.
Lå tawf¨q illå bi-llåh
viii
Of the Tree and
its Four Birds
Rafi Zabor
It is He who is revealed in every face, sought in every
sign, gazed upon by every eye, worshipped in every
object of worship, and pursued in the unseen and
the visible. Not a single one of His creatures can fail
to find Him in its primordial and original nature.
Mu¢yidd¨n Ibn ¡Arab¨
Ibn ¡Arab¨ – or Ab¬ ¡Abd Allåh Mu¢ammad ibn al-¡Arab¨ at-Ê夨
al-±åtim¨, also called Mu¢yidd¨n, the Revivifier of the Faith – was
born in 1165 CE in the city of Murcia in Muslim Andalusia, and died
seventy-five years later in Damascus: a narrative traversal of the
Islamic world more than mirrored by his encompassment of its in-
ternal, esoteric aspect. Called within the Sufi tradition the Shaykh
al-Akbar, or Greatest Master, and seen as its ultimate exemplar of
esoteric Knowledge, he was, among many other things, the author
of approximately three hundred books, some of them no longer than
a pamphlet, others comprising several volumes. The best known and
doubtless most important of these are the Fuß¬ß al-¢ikam, in many
ways the crystallization of a lifetime’s gnosis, and the enormous
Fut¬¢åt al-Makkiyya, which combines the functions of a spiritual
encyclopedia and intimate autobiography. The work translated here
(Risålat al-itti¢åd al-kawn¨, likely written before the author’s arrival
in Mecca circa 1203 CE), combining verse, prose, and rhymed prose,
is certainly one of Ibn ¡Arab¨’s most beautiful and, while quite unlike
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