Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi, born in Andalusia in 1165 CE, was a renowned Muslim scholar, philosopher, and mystic. Known as Shaykh al-Akbar (the Greatest Master), he significantly influenced Islamic mysticism (Sufism). Ibn Arabi’s teachings, found in works like “Fusus al-Hikam” and “Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya,” explore themes such as divine love and the unity of existence. He asserted that all phenomena are manifestations of the Divine, advocating for a deep understanding of spiritual interconnectedness. Ibn Arabi’s travels across the Islamic world allowed him to engage with scholars and rulers, spreading his philosophical and mystical ideas. Despite controversy, his legacy endures, inspiring scholars and spiritual seekers worldwide with his profound insights and poetic expression. Ibn Arabi is celebrated as a master of Islamic mysticism, his works transcending cultural and religious boundaries to offer guidance on the path of spiritual enlightenment.

Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi Quotes

01. “Being is subject to continual annihilation and continual renewal. Ibn Arabi says: ‘Man does not spontaneously arrive at a clear idea of the fact that at each ‘breath’ he is not and then again is… in ‘the Renewing of Creation at each breath’ the instant of annihilation coincides with the instant of the manifestation of its like.'”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

02. “He is the very existence of the First and the very existence of the Last, and the very existence of the Outward and the very existence of the Inward. So that there is no first nor last, nor outward nor inward except Him, without those becoming Him or His becoming them. His veil, that is phenomenal existence, is but the concealment of His existence in His Oneness, without any attributes. In His state of unity, God exists in Himself and in His state of multiplicity, He exists through Himself.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

03. “Sufism is assuming the character traits of God.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

04. “As regards the relation between the human soul and the Divine Soul, Ibn Arabi maintains that, on account of lack of Divine knowledge, we believe that our individual soul is a part of the Divine soul. When we gain Divine knowledge, the truth will be revealed in our heart and we will realize that our soul is nothing but the Divine soul in its original form.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

05. “The soul sees that it sees Him only through Him, not through itself, and that it loves Him only through Him, not through itself. So He it is who loves Himself; it is not the soul that loves Him. The soul gazes upon Him in every existent by means of His very eye.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

06. “Ibn Arabi does not accept the doctrine of unification with God because this logically implies man’s earlier ‘separation’ or apartness from God. Man’s union with God may be viewed only as his awareness of his existing identity with God. Man never becomes God. The Sufi, in his perfect state of mystical experience, knows that his soul and body are nothing but the Internal and External sides of One Absolute.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

07. “‘We ourselves are the attributes by which we describe God; our existence is merely an objectification of His existence. God is necessary to us in order that we may exist, while we are necessary to Him in order that He may be manifested to Himself.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

08. “Ibn Arabi mystically distinguishes between Divine Names and Divine Attributes. Prior to God’s manifestation into various forms, the Pure Essence is to be understood in terms of Divine Names. The Divine Attributes are the expressed forms or the revelations of the Divine Names.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

09. “Ibn Arabi does not accept theories of ‘pure transcendence’ and ‘pure immanence’ of God. He says, He is to be regarded as both immanent and transcendent.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

10. “The existence of the beggar is His existence and the existence of the sick is His existence. He is still Ruler as well as ruled and Creator as well as created. Now it is admitted and acknowledged that this existence is His existence and that the existence of all created things, both accidents and substances, is His existence.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

11. “None loves God but God, and there is no lover and no beloved but God. Lovers grasp this when they reach the point of seeing God in everything that exists.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

12. “Adam emerged in the form of the name God, because this name contains all the divine names. Thus the human beings, though small in body, contain all the meanings. Since God has let us know that Adam alone was created in His form,” It is as if He is saying, ‘All My names become manifest only in the human configuration.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

13. “When the mystics reach the utmost limits of the spiritual path, they enter the ocean of divine knowledge (Marifat), where all is bewilderment-not the bewilderment of being lost, but the bewilderment of having found all everything in an endless outpouring. ‘Guidance’, says Ibn Arabi, ‘is to be led to bewilderment then you will know that the whole affair is bewilderment, that bewilderment is agitation and movement, in life. There is no rest, no death, only existence, nothing of nonexistence.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

14. “It is He who is manifest within every beloved to the eye of the lover and there is no existent thing that is not a lover. So, the cosmos is all lover and beloved, and all of it goes back to Him. In the same way, no one is worshipped but He, for no worshipper worships anything without imagining divinity within it. Otherwise, he would not worship it.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

15. “Ibn Arabi was the first Sufi who developed the concept of a Universal Religion. He says, since there is one Divine Essence in innumerable forms, God may be worshipped through innumerable ways. One Perfect God cannot be limited to any particular belief or creed. The true gnostic follows the principle of one God and one religion.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

16. “Divine knowledge leads to the realization of ‘Fanaa’. For Ibn Arabi ‘fana’ is only a process of the recognition of inmost self or the awareness of the ‘Oneness’ with God. It frees man from the bondage of ignorance.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

17. “In a sense, both God and man are interdependent because in His act of manifestation, God requires man to reveal Himself and man depends on God because apart from God he is nothing in himself.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

18. “He is and there is with Him no before or after, nor above nor below, nor far nor near, nor union nor division, nor how nor where nor place. He is now as He was, He is the One without Oneness and the Single without singleness.
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

19. “Being is subject to continual annihilation and continual renewal. Ibne Arabi says: “Man does not spontaneously arrive at a clear idea of the fact that at each ‘breath’ he is not and then again is… in ‘the Renewing of Creation at each breath’ the instant of annihilation coincides with the instant of the manifestation of its like.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

20. “He is the very existence of the First and the very existence of the Last, and the very existence of the Outward and the very existence of the Inward. So that there is no first nor last, nor outward nor inward except Him, without those becoming Him or His becoming them. His veil, that is phenomenal existence, is but the concealment of His existence in His Oneness, without any attributes. In His state of unity, God exists in Himself and in His state of multiplicity, He exists through Himself.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

21. “Sufism is assuming the character traits of God.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

22. “As regards the relation between human soul and the Divine Soul. Ibn Arabi maintains that, on account of lack of Divine knowledge, we believe that our individual soul is a part of the Divine soul. When we gain Divine knowledge, the truth will be revealed in our heart and we will realise that our soul is nothing but the Divine soul in its original form.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

23. “The soul sees that it sees Him only through Him, not through itself, and that it loves Him only through Him, not through itself. So He it is who loves Himself; it is not the soul that loves Him. The soul gazes upon Him in every existent by means of His very eye.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

24. “Ibn Arabi does not accept the doctrine of unification with God because this logically implies man’s earlier ‘separation’ or apartness from God. Man’s union with God may be viewed only as his awareness of his existing identity with God. Man never becomes God. The Sufi, in his perfect state of mystical experience, knows that his soul and body are nothing but the Internal and External sides of One Absolute.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

25. “We ourselves are the attributes by which we describe God; our existence is merely objectification of His existence. God is necessary to us in order that we may exist, while we are necessary to Him in order that He may be manifested to Himself.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

26. “Ibne Arabi mystically distinguishes between Divine Names and Divine Attributes. Prior to God’s manifestation into various forms, the Pure Essence is to be understood in terms of Divine Names. The Divine Attributes are the expressed forms or the revelations of the Divine Names.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

27. “Ibne Arabi does not accept theories of ‘pure transcendence’ and ‘pure immanence’ of God. He says, He is to be regarded as both immanent and transcendent.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

28. “The existence of the beggar is His existence and the existence of the sick is His existence. He is still Ruler as well as ruled and Creator as well as created. Now it is admitted and acknowledged that this existence is His existence and that the existence of all created things, both accidents and substances, is His existence.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

29. “None loves God but God, and there is no lover and no beloved but God. Lovers grasp this when they reach the point of seeing God in everything that exists.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

30. “Adam emerged in the form of the name God, because this name contains all the divine names. Thus the human beings, though small in body. contains all the meanings. Since God has let us know that Adam alone was created in His form,” It is as if He is saying, ‘All My names become manifest only in the human configuration.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

31. “When the mystics reach the utmost limits of the spiritual path, they enter the ocean of divine knowledge (Marifat), where all is bewilderment-not the bewilderment of being lost, but the bewilderment of having found all everything in an endless outpouring. “Guidance”, says Ibne Arabi, “is to be led to bewilderment then you will know that the whole affair is bewilderment, that bewilderment is agitation and movement, in life. There is no rest, no death, only existence, nothing of nonexistence.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arabi

32. “It is He who is manifest within every beloved to the eye of lover and there is no existent thing that is not a lover. So, the cosmos is all lover and beloved, and all of it goes back to Him. In the same Way, no one is worshipped but He, for no worshipper worships anything without imagining divinity within it. Otherwise, he would not worship it.”
— Muhiuddin Ibn Arab