Ibn Al' Arabi: The Bezels of Wisdom (Classics of Western Spirituality) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

First of all, what's a "bezel"? A bezel is the grooved interior of the setting on a ring which holds the precious stone in place: a feat of craftsmanship in the days of irregular jewels. Here it's a metaphor for the Prophets, each a unique receptacle for a unique precious stone: an aspect of Divine Wisdom revealed to one person, at one place and time.

The Qur`an has its own perspective on Prophets, different from Judaism or Christianity. Mankind perpetually strays from Divine Wisdom and God sends messengers to call us back. Thus a variety of Biblical figures are considered as Prophets: Adam, Enoch, Noah, Aaron, Jacob, Joseph, Job, John the Baptist and Jesus. There are also Arab Prophets not in the Bible: Sâlih, Hûd, Shu`aib.

Formless Divine Wisdom is Infinite, so this list of Qur`anic Prophets can only be a sample of Its limitless manifestations. But it's hard for us to realise how deeply traditional Muslims were imbued with the Qur`an: those who could read learnt to read from it; it was recited constantly; it was not uncommon to know the whole text by heart. For Ibn `Arabî, the succession of Prophets was a symbolic history of the world, and so although only a sample of God's Self-Revelations, they form a symbolically complete picture, a mandala.

From the beginning this text was singled out from Ibn `Arabî's enormous output: it was more widely studied, the subject of more commentaries, than any of his other works. It is one of his most difficult, yet accessible works. Difficult because... well, read a bit and see. Accessible because it comes closest to summing up his ideas. Westerners are often baffled when they first encounter a work like this. What exactly is it? Philosophy, poetry, theology, mysticism? Complex philosophical arguments in the Neo-Platonic tradition mingle harmoniously with Scriptural commentary, poetic and metaphorical language, and mystical paradoxes.

We are told at the start of the first chapter (about Adam) that God Knows Himself directly, but it is different to know oneself through Another, so God created the Universe to be His mirror. At first it was amorphous and rough [mirrors were made of metal in those days] but gradually it was polished until it could reflect Him. With the creation of human beings, self-conscious like God Himself, the Universe reached completion. Adam was the first Prophet, the first to receive Formless Wisdom in a unique form. The task of every human being is to know God, so that He may know Himself in us.

I have written at such length to try to give some idea of what this unique and wonderful book is, what you can expect to find in it. This is the most readable translation yet of a work that has for centuries been considered a marvel.

This book is truly impressive. Arabi's deep knowledge of philosophy allowed him to describe many aspects of the experience of gnosis and prayer in a rare form that could be comprehended by the rational mind of only someone who has been there even to some small degree. This kind of reflection is beautiful and useful. Arabi is completley experienced and educated in Philosophy, but is not what we would call a philosopher in the impractical, rhetorical, or sophist sense. Rather, this work brings Philosophy back to it's primal roots as a way of mapping out mystical experience.

This is a book that, at first, shatters all your dogmas about Islam and the search for the Reality (God), and then rebuilds your faith in the most beautiful way. ibn Arabi was the first of the Sufis to write openly about a knowledge closly held by mystics of old. His book Bezels of Wisdom, therefore, broke new ground by revealing to the world the Real truths behind the Wisdom sent to each Prophet.