Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240)
Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam فصوص الحكم
Bezel 1 of 27
The divine wisdom in the word of Adam
ḥikma ilāhiyya
Root أ ل ه
A faṣṣ is the stone set in a signet ring, the part that bears the seal. Ibn ʿArabī names his book after it: each chapter sets one wisdom in the "word" of one prophet, and the book lists all 27 at the end of its first chapter.
Read this figure as a list
The 27 bezels in the book's order.
- إلهِيَّةٌ آدَمِيَّةٍ · The divine wisdom in the word of AdamRoot أله · in the reader
- نَفْثِيَّةٌ شِيثِيَّةٍ · The inspired (breathed-in) wisdom in the word of SethRoot نفث · in the reader
- سُبُّوحِيَّةٌ نُوحِيَّةٍ · The transcendent (glorifying) wisdom in the word of NoahRoot سبح · in the reader
- قُدُّوسِيَّةٌ إِدْرِيسِيَّةٍ · The most holy wisdom in the word of IdrīsRoot قدس · in the reader
- مُهَيْمِيَّةٌ إِبْراهِيمِيَّةٍ · The ecstatic (enraptured) wisdom in the word of AbrahamRoot هيم · in the reader
- حَقِّيَّةٌ إِسْحاقِيَّةٍ · The real (of truth) wisdom in the word of IsaacRoot حقق · in the reader
- عَلِيَّةٌ إِسْماعِيلِيَّةٍ · The exalted wisdom in the word of IshmaelRoot علو
- رُوحِيَّةٌ يَعْقُوبِيَّةٍ · The spiritual wisdom in the word of JacobRoot روح
- نُورِيَّةٌ يُوسُفِيَّةٍ · The wisdom of light in the word of JosephRoot نور
- أَحَدِيَّةٌ هُودِيَّةٍ · The wisdom of unity in the word of HūdRoot أحد
- فاتِحِيَّةٌ صالِحِيَّةٍ · The opening wisdom in the word of ṢāliḥRoot فتح
- قَلْبِيَّةٌ شُعَيْبِيَّةٍ · The wisdom of the heart in the word of ShuʿaybRoot قلب
- مَلَكِيَّةٌ لُوطِيَّةٍ · The wisdom of power in the word of LotRoot ملك
- قَدَرِيَّةٌ عُزَيْرِيَّةٍ · The wisdom of destiny in the word of ʿUzayrRoot قدر
- نَبَوِيَّةٌ عِيسَوِيَّةٍ · The prophetic wisdom in the word of JesusRoot نبأ · in the reader
- رَحْمَانِيَّةٌ سُلَيْمانِيَّةٍ · The merciful wisdom in the word of SolomonRoot رحم
- وُجُودِيَّةٌ دَاوُدِيَّةٍ · The wisdom of being in the word of DavidRoot وجد
- نَفَسِيَّةٌ يُونُسِيَّةٍ · The wisdom of the Breath in the word of JonahRoot نفس
- غَيْبِيَّةٌ أَيُّوبِيَّةٍ · The wisdom of the unseen in the word of JobRoot غيب
- جَلالِيَّةٌ يَحْيَوِيَّةٍ · The wisdom of majesty in the word of John (Yaḥyā)Root جلل
- مالِكِيَّةٌ زَكَرِياوِيَّةٍ · The wisdom of sovereignty in the word of ZakariyyāRoot ملك
- إيناسِيَّةٌ إِلْياسِيَّةٍ · The wisdom of intimacy in the word of IlyāsRoot أنس
- إِحْسانِيَّةٌ لُقْمانِيَّةٍ · The wisdom of excellence in the word of LuqmānRoot حسن
- إِمامِيَّةٌ هارُونِيَّةٍ · The wisdom of leadership in the word of AaronRoot أمم
- عُلْوِيَّةٌ مُوسَوِيَّةٍ · The wisdom of eminence in the word of MosesRoot علو
- صَمَدِيَّةٌ خالِدِيَّةٍ · The everlasting (of the Refuge) wisdom in the word of KhālidRoot صمد
- فَرْدِيَّةٌ مُحَمَّدِيَّةٍ · The wisdom of singularity in the word of MuḥammadRoot فرد
Synthesis of the readings
AIThis synthesis covers only chapters 1, 2 and 3 of the twenty-seven chapters of Ibn ʿArabī's Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam (the ringstones of Adam, Seth and Noah) and says nothing about the chapters not yet available.
The three chapters build one line of thought about how the Real is known and received. Chapter 1 sets out the all-comprehensive being (kawn jāmiʿ), Adam, as the polished mirror in which the Real sees His Names. It also fixes the one boundary between creature and God: the creature's need set against God's independence and essential necessity. Chapter 2 turns the mirror image toward the recipient. Every gift answers the recipient's preparedness (istiʿdād) and fixed entity (ʿayn thābita), and in the self-disclosure of the Essence the seer beholds only his own form. It also introduces the Seal of the messengers and the Seal of the saints as holders of this highest knowledge. Chapter 3 draws the doctrinal consequence: declaring God incomparable (tanzīh) and likening Him (tashbīh) must be held together, and the Muhammadan comprehensiveness that gathers both is set against Noah's separated call. Across the three chapters, comprehensiveness moves from Adam to the Seal to Muḥammad, and the hard Qurʾānic language of blame, asking and punishment is steadily reread as a language of manifestation, preparedness and annihilation (fanāʾ) in God.
Where the commentators agree and differ, chapter by chapterevery point names its sources