Mashrabaمشربة

Textual apparatus

Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam, chapter 4: The Ringstone of the Wisdom of Holiness in the Word of Enoch (Idrīs) · our method · grammar practice on this text

Chapter synthesis

The arc

The chapter opens from the Qurʾanic verse that Idrīs was raised to a high place and divides highness (ʿuluww) into highness of place (makān) and highness of rank (makāna), placing Idrīs's spirituality in the sun's sphere, the pivot of the cosmos, and assigning highness of rank to the Muhammadans. Through Q 47:35 and Q 87:1 it then argues that God shares with creatures only highness of rank, and that every creaturely highness, even that of the perfect human, angels and vicegerents, is derived and not essential. Ibn ʿArabī next asks over whom or above what God could be high when nothing is there but He, and concludes that His highness is essential and that He is, in respect of existence, the very entity of the existents. Multiplicity is placed in the names and in the ranked aspects of one entity, summed up in the formula 'He, not He'. Al-Kharrāz's saying that God is known by combining opposites, the soul that speaks and hears itself, and a long analogy of the One and number carry this identity of the one and the many forward. The analogy is applied to Creator and creation through Abraham's sacrifice, Eve's creation from Adam, and Nature appearing as many forms, ending in the command to gather and separate. The chapter closes by defining al-ʿAlī as the One whose perfection takes in every attribute, praised or blamed, by citing Ibn Qasī on each name bearing all the names, and by setting the highness of an inherent attribute such as knowledge against the removable highness of office.

Key moves

  1. Highness is divided into highness of place and highness of rank. Idrīs's highness of place is located in the sun's sphere, the fifteenth of the spheres, while highness of rank belongs to the Muhammadans.1
  2. God, being beyond place, shares with believers only highness of rank; works earn highness of place and knowledge earns highness of rank, while Q 87:1 removes any suggestion that God's highness is shared on equal terms.2
  3. No creature is high by its own essence. Because highness does not extend to every angel or every human, the highness of the 'lofty ones' and of vicegerents is a rank granted by God.3, 4
  4. Since nothing exists besides God, His highness cannot be relational and belongs to Him through Himself; in respect of existence He is the entity of the existents, while relative highness appears among the ranked aspects of that one entity.4, 5
  5. Citing al-Kharrāz, Ibn ʿArabī holds that God is known by combining opposites, so that He is manifest to Himself and hidden from Himself, and the one speaker is also the hearer, as the soul is in its inner speech.6, 7
  6. The One brings number into being and number unfolds the One; each numerical rank is a distinct reality yet always a collection of units, so the same thing is affirmed and denied in two respects.7, 8
  7. The number analogy is applied to God and world: the Real declared incomparable is the creation declared similar, illustrated by Abraham, his son and the ram, by Adam and Eve, and by Nature as one form in many mirrors, so the reader is told to gather and separate.9, 10, 11
  8. Al-ʿAlī is defined as the One whose perfection includes every attribute, praised or blamed; each divine name bears all the names through the Essence, and essential highness is contrasted with the removable highness of office through the lasting highness of knowledge.12, 13, 14

Where the sources agree

  • Essential highness belongs to God alone, and any highness found in creatures, including the perfect human, is derived through place, rank, or God's self-disclosure.

    al-Qāshānīal-QayṣarīJāmīBālī ZādeIbn TurkaAI translation

  • Highness that is not shared by every member of a kind, such as that of the exalted angels or vicegerents, cannot be essential to the kind and is a rank granted by God.

    al-Qāshānīal-Jandīal-Qayṣarīal-TilimsānīIbn TurkaJāmīBālī Zāde

  • The identity of God with the existents holds in respect of existence or reality, while delimitation and determination mark the respect in which they are not He; this is how 'He, not He' and 'the Creator is the created' are read.

    al-Qāshānīal-Jandīal-QayṣarīJāmīBālī ZādeIntertext notes

  • The relation of the One to number is an image of the relation of the Real to the many: multiplicity belongs to levels or entifications, and the One in itself is not a number.

    al-Qāshānīal-Jandīal-QayṣarīIbn TurkaJāmīBālī ZādeAI translation

  • A divine name is identical with the Named in respect of the Essence and distinct from it through its specific meaning, which is why each name carries all the others.

    al-Qāshānīal-Jandīal-QayṣarīJāmīBālī ZādeAI translationIntertext notes

  • Idrīs's highness is tied to his sanctification: through severe discipline he shed his bodily attributes and became like pure intellect, which is why the chapter's wisdom of holiness is assigned to him.

    al-Qāshānīal-QayṣarīIbn TurkaBālī Zādeal-Qūnawī

Live divergences

  • How far the identity of God and creation goes, and how real the distinction between them remains.

    • Bālī Zāde The identity holds only in one respect, in the reality of existence and universal matters, while the distinction of necessary and possible is real; he presents this as agreeing with the people of the Sunna.4, 9
    • al-Qāshānī He takes the identity strongly: the existents are nothing but He in reality, mirrors in which one face appears multiplied.4
    • al-Qayṣarī Creation is distinct from the Creator by its contingency, yet what makes things seem distinct from the One is imagined and has no reality, since nothing exists but Him.9
    • Jāmī The identity applies without restriction in actual realization, but in knowledge and intellection, and when restriction is set beside absoluteness, the two are other.4, 9

  • Whether the highness of Idrīs's high place involves rank, or is place alone.

    • al-Qayṣarī The sun's sphere is the highest place because of its rank and centrality, as the heart on which the spheres depend, so rank is found within highness of place.1
    • Bālī Zāde The rank belongs to the place and not to Idrīs; the verse establishes only highness of place for him, which does not entail highness of rank.1, 2
    • al-Jandī The sun's sphere, as center, combines highness of rank, since it causes the encompassing sphere, with highness of place, since it is above seven spheres.1
    • Ibn Turka Idrīs reached the summit of formal highness and the Muhammadans that of essential highness of meaning, so the two share in highness taken absolutely; sphere by sphere, however, the motionless pole is highest.1

  • Whether place and rank, or creatures, are ever high in themselves.

    • Ibn Turka Highness belongs to place and rank essentially, and even the divine names are high only through these two.3
    • al-Qāshānī Place and rank have no highness of their own; no delimited thing is high except through the Real, though because the existents are His existence they too are high in themselves.3, 4
    • Jāmī He extends essential highness to the level of differentiation and to creation, and notes the tension with the later ranking of existents as places of self-disclosure.4, 12

  • Whether the Real combines opposites from a single respect or from distinct standpoints.

    • al-Qayṣarī The Real is manifest insofar as He is hidden and hidden insofar as He is manifest, a combination from one respect that lies beyond the intellect.6
    • al-Jandī The entity is one and the difference lies only in standpoints of entification and intellectual consideration.6
    • Bālī Zāde Manifest and hidden are joined in the state of manifestation, yet the one speaker names Himself Manifest apart from the standpoint of His hiddenness, and the reverse.6

  • Whether knowledge of the one in the many removes bewilderment (ḥayra) or deepens it.

    • al-Qāshānī The knower is not bewildered even as his knowledge increases; bewilderment belongs to the beginner and the people of the veil.11
    • Jāmī Increase of knowledge normally brings bewilderment, as in the prayer 'My Lord, increase me in bewilderment'.11
    • al-Jandī The knower escapes the bewilderment of the veiled, but a final bewilderment remains that is itself true witnessing.10, 11

Left open

  • How the long metaphysical argument about essential highness bears back on Idrīs himself, since only al-Qāshānī ties the closing passage to Q 19:57 and the commentators differ on whether Idrīs shares in highness of rank.
  • How relative highness and the ranking of loci can be real within one entity whose grounding aspects are nonexistent relations, and whether that ranking is ontological or a matter of spiritual attainment.
  • Whether the 'form within Him' that shares the essential perfection is a divine name, an attribute, the perfect human form, or the forms of things, and how it relates to the Muhammadans who hold highness of rank.
  • Whether the blameworthy attributes included in God's perfection are blameworthy only relatively, are privations, or are transformed into praise by being ascribed to Him.

AI synthesis (Claude), built from the syntheses of each passage and the commentators' introductions to the chapter; every point names its sources. Public sources only. Each passage's own synthesis is under its translation in the reader.

Across the chapters so far

Themes & resonances of this chapter

What the text is about, and what it connects to across the history of thought. Every connection says what kind of claim it is: a documented lineage, a shared source, a resonance with no influence claimed, or a contrast. Mapped by AI; references are shown only once checked. Across the library

Themes

  • Highness of place, highness of rank, and highness in itselfعُلُوّʿuluwwroot علو
  • The One and numberالوَاحِدal-wāḥidroot وحد
  • Incomparability and the correction of 'withness'تَنْزِيهtanzīhroot نزه
  • God known by bringing opposites togetherالأَضْدَادal-aḍdādroot ضدد
  • Each name is the Named and other than the Namedاسْمismroot سمو
  • The perfect human, highest yet high only by derivationخَلِيفَةkhalīfaroot خلف
  • The sun's sphere as the pivot of the spheresفَلَكfalakroot فلك
  • Nature as one form in many mirrorsمِرْآةmirʾātroot رأي
  • The soul that speaks and hears itselfصُورَةṣūraroot صور
What each theme is here
  • Highness of place, highness of rank, and highness in itself. The chapter divides highness into highness of place (Idrīs in the sun's sphere) and highness of rank (the Muhammadans, vicegerents, office-holders), and argues that only the High (al-ʿAlī) is high through His own Essence, since nothing is there but He.
  • The One and number. The one brings number into being by repetition through the ranks, and number lays the one out in detail, so that each number is a distinct reality and also an aggregate of ones: an image of the one entity appearing as the many existents.
  • Incomparability and the correction of 'withness'. God's being 'with' the believers in highness (Q 47:35) implies a shared meaning, which Q 87:1 then removes by declaring His name the Most High; the chapter ends with the formula that the Real declared incomparable is the creation declared similar.
  • God known by bringing opposites together. Citing al-Kharrāz, the chapter holds that God is known only as the one of whom First and Last, Manifest and Nonmanifest, are all true, so that the Nonmanifest says 'No' when the Manifest says 'I'.
  • Each name is the Named and other than the Named. Following Ibn Qasī, every divine name carries all the names insofar as it denotes the Essence, and is distinct from the others by the specific meaning for which it was brought forth.
  • The perfect human, highest yet high only by derivation. The perfect human is the highest of existents, yet his highness comes to him only through place or rank, and vicegerency cannot be essential to humans since not every human is a vicegerent.
  • The sun's sphere as the pivot of the spheres. The sun's sphere is the fifteenth of the spheres, with seven above and seven below, the place on which the millstone of the spheres turns and the station of Idrīs's spirituality.
  • Nature as one form in many mirrors. Nature is neither diminished nor increased by the forms that appear from her, so the world of Nature is called forms in a single mirror, and then a single form in diverse mirrors.
  • The soul that speaks and hears itself. Every human knows from his own inner speech that one entity can be speaker, hearer and knower at once, and since the human is the form of the Real, this self-knowledge opens onto the oneness of the Real in its many rulings.

Connections

Lineage 5

Documented transmission: a chain of reading, teaching, translation or citation, grounded in a verified reference or in the later text itself.

  • Abū l-Qāsim ibn Qasī, Khalʿ al-naʿlayn (The Doffing of the Sandals)Sufism · firm

    Ibn ʿArabī names Ibn Qasī and his Khalʿ al-naʿlayn as the source of the teaching that every divine name is named by all the divine names. This is a direct citation of an earlier Andalusian Sufi author whose work he knew.

    Carried byاسْمismroot سمو“name”

    • Michael Ebstein, Mysticism and Philosophy in al-Andalus: Ibn Masarra, Ibn al-ʿArabī and the Ismāʿīlī Tradition (2014): Places Ibn Qasī and his circle in the Andalusian intellectual background that Ibn ʿArabī drew on.
    • Claude Addas, Quest for the Red Sulphur: The Life of Ibn ʿArabī (1993): Describes Ibn ʿArabī's Andalusian formation and his acquaintance with the movement and writings of Ibn Qasī.

  • Abū Saʿīd al-Kharrāz (d. c. 286/899): God known only by bringing opposites togetherSufism · probable

    The chapter quotes the early Baghdad Sufi al-Kharrāz for the saying that God is known only through combining opposites, and makes Kharrāz himself one of the faces of the Real. Ibn ʿArabī builds his reading of Q 57:3 on this inherited saying.

    Carried byالأَضْدَادal-aḍdādroot ضدد“opposites”

    In the library:al-Risāla al-Qushayriyya

  • Ibn Taymiyya's polemics against the Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikamKalam · firm

    Formulas of this chapter, such as the Real being in respect of existence the very entity of the existents and the Creator being the created, were among the statements later Hanbali and other critics, Ibn Taymiyya foremost, quoted and condemned. The reception is documented as a long controversy over the Fuṣūṣ.

    Carried byعَيْنʿaynroot عين“the very entity of the existents”

    In the library:Faṣṣ Nūḥ ¶7

    • Alexander D. Knysh, Ibn ʿArabi in the Later Islamic Tradition: The Making of a Polemical Image in Medieval Islam (1999): Documents Ibn Taymiyya's and later critics' attacks on the Fuṣūṣ and its teaching on the oneness of existence.

  • ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Qāshānī, commentary on the Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikamAkbarian tradition (after Ibn Arabi) · firm

    The commentators after Ibn ʿArabī read the number analogy as the relation of the one existence to its entifications, and the formula 'He, not He' as the distinction between existence and delimitation; al-Qāshānī's commentary is the standard example of this reading.

    Carried byالوَاحِدal-wāḥidroot وحد“the One and number”

  • The Arabic Hermes: Idrīs identified with Hermes TrismegistusHermetism · probable

    In Islamic tradition the prophet Idrīs, 'raised to a high place', was identified with Hermes, teacher of astronomy and the sciences of the heavens; that identification forms part of the background of a chapter that sets Idrīs's spirituality in the sun's sphere. Suhrawardī, who honoured Hermes as father of the sages, addresses the sun itself as a living light.

    Carried byإِدْرِيسIdrīsἙρμῆςHermēs“Idrīs / Hermes”

    In the library:Taqdīs al-shams ¶2Hayākil al-nūr ¶24Path: Light and its veils

    • Kevin van Bladel, The Arabic Hermes: From Pagan Sage to Prophet of Science (2009): Documents how Hermes came to be identified with the Quranic Idrīs in Arabic sources.

Resonance, not influence 7

Resonance, not influence: a structural or thematic likeness. No influence is claimed.

  • al-Ghazālī, Mishkāt al-anwār: 'God is greater' in no relationSufism · probable

    al-Ghazālī reads Allāhu akbar to mean that God is greater than being called greater by comparison, since nothing stands beside Him. Ibn ʿArabī makes the same move with the name the High: high over whom, when nothing is there but He.

    Carried byالعَلِيّal-ʿAlīroot علو“highness without relation”

    In the library:Mishkāt al-anwār ¶50Mishkāt al-anwār ¶47Path: Unification: the soul at peace

  • al-Qushayrī, al-Risāla: union (jamʿ) and separation (farq)Sufism · probable

    The chapter closes with the command 'gather and separate', using the pair jamʿ and farq that al-Qushayrī defines among the Sufis' terms: separation sees the servant's acts, union sees all as from God. Ibn ʿArabī turns the pair from a description of states into a way of reading the one entity and its many forms.

    Carried byجَمْعjamʿroot جمع“gathering and separating”

    In the library:al-Risāla al-Qushayriyya ¶24al-Risāla al-Qushayriyya ¶25

  • Plotinus, Ennead VI.9: by the One all beings are beings, and the One is not a numerical unitNeoplatonism · probable

    Plotinus says that all beings are beings by the One and warns that the One is not one as a unit among counted things. Ibn ʿArabī's one that brings number into being without being a number makes a similar point by a different argument, and no direct borrowing is claimed here.

    Carried byالوَاحِدal-wāḥidroot وحدτὸ ἕνto hen“the One”

    In the library:Ennead VI.9, ch. 1Ennead VI.9, ch. 6

  • Nicholas of Cusa, De docta ignorantia (1440): coincidentia oppositorumMedieval Latin philosophy · firm

    Cusanus held that in God the maximum and the minimum coincide and that God is approached beyond the rule of contradiction. Al-Kharrāz's saying in this chapter makes the knowledge of God depend on bringing opposites together; the two are independent formulations.

    Carried byالأَضْدَادal-aḍdādroot ضدد“coincidence of opposites”

  • Zhuangzi, chapter 2 (Qiwu lun): 'this is also that, that is also this'Daoism and Chinese thought · probable

    Zhuangzi lets 'this' and 'that' turn into each other at the pivot of the Way, much as the chapter's 'He, not He; you, not you' affirms and denies the same thing in two respects. Izutsu set Ibn ʿArabī and Zhuangzi side by side as a structural comparison with no claim of contact.

    Carried by“He, not He”

  • Augustine, Confessions III.6.11: 'interior intimo meo et superior summo meo'Early Christianity and the Fathers · probable

    Augustine calls God more inward than his inmost part and higher than his highest. The chapter's God who is 'with you' in highness and yet the Most High above all sharing holds a similar pairing of nearness and height, without any line of influence.

    Carried byمَعِيَّةmaʿiyya“withness and highness”

    In the library:al-Risāla al-Qushayriyya ¶60

  • Ibn Ṭufayl, Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān: polished bodies that receive lightFalsafa (Arabic philosophy) · probable

    Ibn Ṭufayl ranks bodies by how they receive the sun's light, some as polished mirrors, while this chapter makes Nature one form shown differently in many mirrors, the differences coming from the locus. Both use the mirror to explain how one source appears unequally.

    Carried byمِرْآةmirʾātroot رأي“mirror”

    In the library:Ḥayy (Ibn Ṭufayl) ¶48Ḥayy (Ibn Ṭufayl) ¶49Path: The mirror

Contrast 2

An instructive opposite: the difference teaches something about both.

  • Plotinus, Ennead VI.9: the One beyond every predicateNeoplatonism · firm

    Plotinus keeps the One clear of all attributes, so that nothing can be said of it. Ibn ʿArabī's High is high because every attribute, praised or blamed, is predicated of Him, and His perfection leaves none outside.

    Carried byكَمَالkamālroot كمل“perfection that encompasses all attributes”

    In the library:Ennead VI.9, ch. 3

  • Plato, Republic VII and Alcibiades I: only the one who knows should rulePlatonism · probable

    Plato asks that the knower be compelled to go down and rule, and Socrates tells Alcibiades he may not govern before he knows himself. Ibn ʿArabī accepts that the most ignorant may hold office over the most knowing, and places lasting highness in knowledge, which no dismissal removes, apart from office.

    Carried byمَكَانَةmakānaroot كون“rank of office and rank of knowledge”

    In the library:Republic VI–VII 520cAlcibiades I 134c

Claude (opus) via Claude Code, headless, no web access, 2026-10-03. A reference with a check was found and checked with a web search.

The whole Fuṣūṣ

Status of this text

The text in this reader is a working edition, not an authoritative one. It exists to be read and studied closely, and it answers to the scholarly editions listed below. Where we depart from them, or they from each other, this page says so.Since 2026-10-03 its letters follow the manuscript read before Ibn ʿArabī (al-Qūnawī's copy) wherever both critical editions agree, and its vowels were corrected to them; elsewhere it keeps its earlier base. The comparison was automatic and the AI vowelling of ¶12–13 and the remaining decisions have not yet been reviewed by a person.

Authorities and witnesses, in order of weight

  1. Golfetto (ed.), Brill 2024, based on the earliest extant manuscript: the copy al-Qūnawī read before Ibn ʿArabī, with the author's certificates. Fully vowelled, with a manuscript apparatus. The reference for disputed readings. In copyright: compared in the private layer only.
  2. Niẓām al-Dīn Aḥmad (ed.), Cairo (Maktabat Miṣr), a second critical edition of the same manuscript, fully vowelled, with notes on where the manuscript itself carries vowels or marginal corrections. Independent of Golfetto as an editorial reading. In copyright: compared in the private layer only.
  3. ʿAfīfī, Cairo 1946, the long-standard edition, from a different manuscript base, through the OpenITI OCR (witness B).
  4. The commentators, readers of the text in manuscript from al-Qūnawī's circle onward, who sometimes report readings (listed below).
  5. M. Haj Yousef's digital text (ibnalarabi.com), typed (witness A): our base before the re-base on the manuscript, and still where the editors differ. It follows ʿAfīfī's readings.
  6. Our working copy: vowelled from witness A, with AI vowelling where it was missing (¶12–13, marked in the reader). Derived, not a witness.

Versions

23 layers, each with its licence

The original

Golfetto's critical edition (Brill 2024)M. A. Golfetto · 2024Copyrighted: cited only
By
M. A. Golfetto (editor) · 2024
Source:
M. A. Golfetto (ed.), Ibn al-ʿArabī's Kitāb Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam wa-Khuṣūṣ al-Kalim: Edition Based on the Earliest Extant Manuscript (Leiden: Brill, 2024). From al-Qūnawī's copy read before Ibn ʿArabī, with the author's certificates (Evkaf Müzesi 1933) · link ↗
In the reader:
Cited only. Where it was compared, its readings appear only in the private layer; the public pages give counts and individually cited adopted readings
Licence:
In copyright (© Brill): compared privately, cited only, never shown
Notes
Based on the earliest extant manuscript: the copy al-Qūnawī read before Ibn ʿArabī, with the author's certificates. Fully vowelled, with a manuscript apparatus. The reference for disputed readings, first in order of weight. In copyright: compared in the private layer only. Compared word by word for chapter 1 (Faṣṣ Ādam) only; for the other chapters no licensed copy was available, it was not consulted, and every reading adopted from Niẓām al-Dīn's edition waits to be confirmed against it.
Niẓām al-Dīn Aḥmad's critical edition (Cairo)al-Sayyid Niẓām al-Dīn Aḥmad · UNVERIFIEDCopyrighted: cited only
By
al-Sayyid Niẓām al-Dīn Aḥmad (editor) · UNVERIFIED
Source:
al-Sayyid Niẓām al-Dīn Aḥmad (ed.), Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam: taḥqīq li-aqdam makhṭūṭ (Cairo: Maktabat Miṣr, n.d. (UNVERIFIED)). Base: the same Evkaf Müzesi 1933 manuscript as Golfetto (siglum ق), with the Şehid Ali Paşa and Carullah manuscripts; notes where ق itself carries vowels or marginal corrections; cites al-Qayṣarī on readings
In the reader:
Cited only: counts, and each reading adopted from it listed one by one on the chapter's apparatus page
Licence:
In copyright (© the editor, reproduction forbidden): compared privately, cited only
Notes
A second critical edition of the same manuscript, fully vowelled, with notes on where the manuscript itself carries vowels or marginal corrections. Independent of Golfetto as an editorial reading. In copyright: compared in the private layer only. Its pages were read from page images by AI (in full for chapter 1; differences only for the others); see each chapter's own edition record.
UNVERIFIED:
The year of Niẓām al-Dīn Aḥmad's edition is not recorded in the repo.
ʿAfīfī's edition (Cairo 1946), through the OpenITI OCR (witness B)Abū l-ʿAlāʾ ʿAfīfī, OpenITI · 1946Open licence
By
Abū l-ʿAlāʾ ʿAfīfī (editor); OpenITI (Kraken OCR (0638IbnCarabi.FususHikam.Kraken21042913-ara1)) · 1946
Source:
Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, ed. Abū l-ʿAlāʾ ʿAfīfī (Cairo, 1946; vol. 1 the text, vol. 2 his Taʿlīqāt), the long-standard edition, from a different manuscript base. Used through OpenITI 0638IbnCarabi.FususHikam.Kraken21042913-ara1, an unvowelled OCR of an ʿAfīfī-based edition · link ↗
In the reader:
Not shown as a text: used to check the working edition, and to settle places where the worksheet stands alone against witness A
Licence:
OpenITI digital text: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. ʿAfīfī's own editorial matter is not reproduced
Notes
Third in order of weight. Our former base (witness A) follows ʿAfīfī's readings; Golfetto's apparatus marks them ع. A digital transcription of ʿAfīfī with his variant markers (B′) and a scan of the print were also used, privately, for chapter 1; neither is a new witness.
M. Haj Yousef's digital text (witness A)Mohamed Ali Haj Yousef, OpenITI · UNVERIFIEDOpen licence
By
Mohamed Ali Haj Yousef (digital text (ibnalarabi.com)); OpenITI (barzakh IAC00077) · UNVERIFIED
Source:
OpenITI barzakh 0638IbnCarabi.FususHikam.IAC00077-ara1, typed, partly vowelled; copied from ibnalarabi.com/fusus/matn.php · link ↗
In the reader:
Our base before the re-base on the manuscript, and still where the critical editions differ or were not consulted; its readings are given in the word card
Licence:
OpenITI: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; the site states © 1999–2024. Used for private, non-commercial study; to be re-checked before public launch
Notes
Typed (witness A). It follows ʿAfīfī's readings. Fifth in order of weight, after the commentators.
UNVERIFIED:
The date of Haj Yousef's digital text (and of the OpenITI copy used) is not recorded in the repo.
The commentators' quoted lemmata (witness C)al-Jandī, al-Qāshānī, al-Qayṣarī, al-Tilimsānī, Ibn Turka, Jāmī, Bālī Zāde · 7th/13th–11th/17th c.Open licence
By
al-Jandī, al-Qāshānī, al-Qayṣarī, al-Tilimsānī, Ibn Turka, Jāmī, Bālī Zāde (readers of the text in manuscript) · 7th/13th–11th/17th c.
Source:
The commentaries aligned to each chapter (see Commentaries), from OpenITI barzakh pinned to commit 6b19bdc · link ↗
In the reader:
Their notes on readings are listed on each chapter's apparatus page, each linked to its line
Licence:
Classical texts; OpenITI digital texts CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Notes
Readers of the text in manuscript from al-Qūnawī's circle onward, who sometimes report readings (fī baʿḍ al-nusakh …) or how a word may be vowelled. Fourth in order of weight.

Our edition

The vowelled working copy (worksheet "NEW FUSUS AL-HIKAM", W)The editor of this reader · UNVERIFIEDOur work
By
The editor of this reader (worksheet (a vowelled copy of witness A, divided into reading passages)) · UNVERIFIED
In the reader:
Its vowels are the base of our vowels, corrected to the critical editions
Licence:
Our working copy; derived, not a witness
Notes
Derived from witness A; never an authority. Each chapter has its own tab and export (see the chapter's edition record). Where it stands alone against witnesses A and B, A/B are adopted by rule.
UNVERIFIED:
Who vowelled the worksheet, and when, is not recorded in the repo.
Our working edition of Faṣṣ IdrīsClaude (AI), The editor of this reader · 2026-10-03Our work
By
Claude (AI) (readings of the edition's page images, collation and decisions by rule); The editor of this reader (editorial decisions (rules; the re-base)) · 2026-10-03
Source:
Worksheet W, tab "4. IDRIS", col. B (≈0.8 marks per letter), exported 3 Oct 2026; scripts/fusus/edition_ch.py 4, rebase_ch.py 4; text record docs/texts/fusus-04-idris.md
In the reader:
In full, 14 passages. Consonants: the manuscript read before Ibn ʿArabī (al-Qūnawī's copy) where Niẓām al-Dīn reads it and a second reading confirmed it; elsewhere witness A. Vowels: the working copy, corrected to that edition. Every adopted reading and decision is listed on the apparatus page
Licence:
Ours
Made by:
UNVERIFIED (the text record says "AI agents" / "AI readers" without naming the model), 2026-10-03 (AI reading of Niẓām al-Dīn's page images, differences only, each difference read twice; adopted by rule (rebase_ch.py))
Notes
A working edition, not an authoritative one: it exists to be read and studied closely, and answers to the scholarly editions. Re-based on the manuscript 2026-10-03 (scripts/fusus/rebase_ch.py 4) through Niẓām al-Dīn's edition alone, PDF pp. 173–185 (printed pp. 70–82), 13 pages, differences only: AI readers recorded only the words where the print differs from ours (vowels 52, letters 22, words the print lacks 9, words it adds 5); an independent AI reader re-read every difference, and a difference was adopted only where both readings agree, never inside a Quran quotation or an editor's bracketed supplement. Adopted: 33 letter changes and 48 vowel changes; not adopted 7. 11 of the editor's notes on the manuscript are recorded privately. Golfetto was not consulted for this chapter: every adopted reading is in the review queue, to confirm against it. Before the re-base, places where the worksheet stands alone against witnesses A and B were decided by rule for A/B (data/sources/fass-*-decisions.json). Not yet reviewed by a person.
UNVERIFIED:
The model of the AI readers that compared Niẓām al-Dīn's pages for chapter 4 is not named in the text record.

Published translations

R. W. J. Austin, The Bezels of WisdomR. W. J. Austin · UNVERIFIEDCopyrighted: cited only
By
R. W. J. Austin (translator) · UNVERIFIED
Source:
R. W. J. Austin (tr.), Ibn al-ʿArabī: The Bezels of Wisdom (UNVERIFIED: publisher and year not recorded in the repo)
In the reader:
Never shown; the AI translator was told not to reproduce or imitate it
Licence:
In copyright: private study layer only, cited only
UNVERIFIED:
Austin's Bezels of Wisdom: publisher and year are not recorded in the repo.
Caner Dagli, The Ringstones of WisdomCaner K. Dagli · 2004Copyrighted: cited only
By
Caner K. Dagli (translator) · 2004
Source:
Caner Dagli, The Ringstones of Wisdom (2004) (publisher UNVERIFIED)
In the reader:
Never shown; compared privately in the triangulation of chapters 5, 6 and 15, where differences are described in our words with short cited quotations
Licence:
In copyright: private study layer only, cited only
UNVERIFIED:
Dagli's Ringstones of Wisdom: publisher not recorded in the repo.
Binyamin Abrahamov, Ibn al-ʿArabī's Fuṣūṣ al-ḤikamBinyamin Abrahamov · 2015Copyrighted: cited only
By
Binyamin Abrahamov (translator) · 2015
Source:
Binyamin Abrahamov, Ibn al-ʿArabī's Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam (2015) (publisher UNVERIFIED)
In the reader:
Never shown; compared privately in the triangulation of chapter 4
Licence:
In copyright: private study layer only, cited only
UNVERIFIED:
Abrahamov's translation: publisher not recorded in the repo.
Bursevi (English translation of his commentary)UNVERIFIED · UNVERIFIEDCopyrighted: cited only
By
UNVERIFIED (translator) · UNVERIFIED
Source:
Named "Bursevi" among the published translations held in the private layer (docs/ROADMAP.md; the chapter 1 text record); edition not recorded (UNVERIFIED)
In the reader:
Never shown
Licence:
In copyright: private study layer only, cited only
Notes
Possibly Bulent Rauf's English version made through Bursevi's Turkish commentary (docs/research/market-landscape.md names such a version); not confirmed.
UNVERIFIED:
The "Bursevi" translation in the private layer: translator, title, publisher and year are not recorded in the repo.
Portuguese working translation (Engastes de Sabedoria)UNVERIFIED · UNVERIFIEDCopyrighted: cited only
By
UNVERIFIED (translator) · UNVERIFIED
Source:
NEW FUSUS AL-HIKAM (Engastes de Sabedoria), a Portuguese working translation with the Arabic; rights assigned to Logos Editora
In the reader:
Never shown; compared privately in the triangulation of chapters 4, 5, 6 and 15
Licence:
In copyright (assigned to Logos Editora): private study layer only
UNVERIFIED:
The Portuguese working translation: translator and date are not recorded in the repo.

AI layers

English translationClaude (AI) · 2026-10-03Our work
By
Claude (AI) (translator) · 2026-10-03
In the reader:
Under each passage
Licence:
Ours; marked AI
Made by:
Claude (Opus; exact version not recorded), 2026-10-03 (first commit of app/src/content/ai/fusus-4.json (the file has no generatedOn); scripts/fusus/ai_translate_ch.py 4)
Notes
Translated from the Arabic with a fixed Akbarian glossary (headless, minimal context); told not to reproduce or imitate any published translation (Austin, Dagli, Abrahamov, Burckhardt). Not a published translation; not scholar-reviewed.
Word glossesClaude (AI) · 2026-10-03Our work
By
Claude (AI) (glosses) · 2026-10-03
In the reader:
One gloss per word, in the word card
Licence:
Ours; marked AI
Made by:
Claude (Opus; exact version not recorded), 2026-10-03 (made with the translation, same file and call (app/src/content/ai/fusus-4.json); date = its first commit)
Term notes, key words and their historyClaude (AI) · 2026-10-03Our work
By
Claude (AI) (term notes) · 2026-10-03
In the reader:
Term notes in the word card; the 30 key words of the chapter, each with the tradition's readings in order of death
Licence:
Ours; marked AI
Made by:
Claude (Opus; exact version not recorded), 2026-10-03 (made with the translation (app/src/content/ai/fusus-4.json); date = its first commit)
Notes
The term notes are AI, made with the translation. The key words (app/src/data/fusus-4-keywords.json) are selected by rule from them and from frequency; their history (fusus-4-term-history.json) quotes Ibn ʿArabī's Iṣṭilāḥ, the aligned commentaries and al-Jurjānī from OpenITI, with AI English.
Wordplay and Quran readingsClaude (AI) · 2026-10-03Our work
By
Claude (AI) (readings) · 2026-10-03
In the reader:
Anchored to the words they read
Licence:
Ours; marked AI
Made by:
Claude (Opus; exact version not recorded), 2026-10-03 (first commit of app/src/content/ai/fusus-4-intertext.json; the file's own generatedOn (2026-09-28) is a constant written by scripts/fusus/ai_intertext_ch.py, not the run date)
Notes
AI readings. Each phrase is anchored in the text; each Quran reference was checked against the Tanzil text (the verse exists and shares words with the phrase); items failing the mechanical checks were dropped.
English of the commentariesClaude (AI) · 2026-10-03Our work
By
Claude (AI) (translator) · 2026-10-03
In the reader:
Beside each commentary entry
Licence:
Ours; marked AI
Made by:
Claude (Sonnet; exact version not recorded), 2026-10-03 (scripts/fusus/ai_translate_commentaries_ch.py 4 (model sonnet); date = first commit of app/public/data/commentaries/fusus-4.json)
Notes
Commentators aligned in this chapter: al-Qāshānī, al-Jandī, al-Qayṣarī, al-Tilimsānī, Ibn Turka, Jāmī, Bālī Zāde, al-Qūnawī; 740 entries translated, plus the introductions. Keyed by a hash of lemma and comment, so re-alignment keeps it. The introductions' English was trimmed on 4 Oct 2026 when the running page header was removed (not re-translated).
Translators differ (triangulation)Claude (AI) · 2026-10-03Our work
By
Claude (AI) (comparison of the translations (scripts/triangulate.py, PROTOCOLS §17)) · 2026-10-03
In the reader:
Only the serious divergences, as a note under the passage; the AI-English flags are listed for a person to fix in our own words
Licence:
Ours; marked AI
Made by:
Claude (Opus; exact version not recorded), 2026-10-03 (generatedOn of app/src/content/triangulation/fusus-4.json)
Notes
Translations compared privately: Binyamin Abrahamov, Ibn al-ʿArabī's Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam (2015), Portuguese (working translation). Commentaries weighted by lineage (al-Qūnawī highest, then al-Jandī, al-Tilimsānī, al-Qāshānī, al-Qayṣarī; Ibn Turka, Jāmī, Bālī Zāde later). Descriptions are ours (AI); quotations are the translators' own words, cited. No divergence between the two translators judged a difference of meaning (thin: two translations, one a working translation). AI-English check: 7 "doubtful", none "contradiction".
Synthesis of the interpretationsClaude (AI) · 2026-10-03Our work
By
Claude (AI) (synthesis) · 2026-10-03
In the reader:
Per passage, and for the chapter (on the apparatus page)
Licence:
Ours; marked AI
Made by:
Claude (Opus; exact version not recorded), 2026-10-03 (generatedOn of app/src/content/synthesis/fusus-4.json (scripts/synthesis.py))
Notes
From public sources only: our AI translation, the classical commentaries (with our AI English), our intertext notes and key words. No copyrighted translation was given to the model.
Themes and resonancesClaude (AI) · 2026-10-03Our work
By
Claude (AI) (map of themes and connections) · 2026-10-03
In the reader:
On the apparatus page (chapter level) and per passage
Licence:
Ours; marked AI
Made by:
Claude (Opus; exact version not recorded), 2026-10-03 (generatedOn of app/src/content/resonances/fusus-4.json (scripts/resonances.py))
Notes
Made by the method in docs/RESONANCES-METHOD.md, without web access. Every connection states its kind; parallels are resonances, not claims of influence. External references are shown only after an agent verified them with a web search.

Automatic analysis

Word analysis: CAMeL ToolsCAMeL Tools 1.6 (CAMeL Lab, NYU Abu Dhabi), scripts/fusus/analyze.py, analyze_ch.py · 2026-09-27Open licence
By
CAMeL Tools 1.6 (CAMeL Lab, NYU Abu Dhabi) (morphological analyser (calima-msa-r13 + MLE)); scripts/fusus/analyze.py, analyze_ch.py (our pipeline) · 2026-09-27
Source:
CAMeL Tools 1.6, calima-msa-r13 database with the MLE disambiguator, constrained by the text's vowelling (scripts/fusus/analyze.py; analyze_ch.py strips the Quranic annotation marks of the verbatim Tanzil quotations before lookup) · link ↗
In the reader:
Lemma, root, part of speech and clitics in the word card, with a grey "Automatic" badge; words where the analysis disagrees with the vowels are flagged
Licence:
Code MIT; calima-msa-r13 database GPL v2 (used offline to produce our analysis layer, not redistributed)
Notes
Automatic, not generative AI. The date is the first commit of chapter 1's data; each chapter was analysed when it was established.
Quran quotations, matched and given verbatim (Tanzil)Tanzil Project, scripts/fusus/edition_ch.py, scripts/quran_refs.py · 2026-09-28Open licence
By
Tanzil Project (Uthmani Quran text); scripts/fusus/edition_ch.py, scripts/quran_refs.py (automatic matching) · 2026-09-28
Source:
Tanzil Uthmani text, reproduced verbatim; quotations found by an automatic match on the consonantal skeleton (≥ 0.8, letter-exact for short quotations), corrections recorded per chapter (quoteOverrides) · link ↗
In the reader:
Quran quotations in the text are given in the verbatim Tanzil text; listed on each apparatus page
Licence:
Tanzil: free to use with attribution and a link to tanzil.net; the text may not be modified
Notes
Automatic, not generative AI. Date: first commit of app/src/data/quran-refs/fusus-1.json. Adapted quotations are kept in Ibn ʿArabī's wording and marked.

Commentaries

al-Qūnawīal-Fukūk fī asrār mustanadāt ḥikam al-FuṣūṣOpen licence
Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Qūnawī (d. 673/1274), al-Fukūk fī asrār mustanadāt ḥikam al-Fuṣūṣ
Edition:
Not recorded by OpenITI: the barzakh file has no .yml metadata record, and the ibnalarabi.com page it was taken from names no printed edition.
Licence:
OpenITI distributes its texts under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; ibnalarabi.com states © 1999–2024. The commentary itself is a classical work in the public domain; the edition behind the digital text is unidentified.
Taken from:
ibnalarabi.com/fusus/qunawi.php. The OpenITI file's own header (#META# source) names this page: the text was copied from the Ibn ʿArabī website directed by Dr Mohamed Ali Haj Yousef. Every IAC-coded file used here names a page of that site in its header; barzakh is OpenITI's repository for texts awaiting integration into the corpus.
al-TilimsānīSharḥ Fuṣūṣ al-ḤikamOpen licence
ʿAfīf al-Dīn al-Tilimsānī (d. 690/1291), Sharḥ Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam
Edition:
Not recorded by OpenITI: the barzakh file has no .yml metadata record, and the ibnalarabi.com page it was taken from names no printed edition.
Licence:
OpenITI distributes its texts under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; ibnalarabi.com states © 1999–2024. The commentary itself is a classical work in the public domain; the edition behind the digital text is unidentified.
Taken from:
ibnalarabi.com/fusus/tilmasani.php. The OpenITI file's own header (#META# source) names this page: the text was copied from the Ibn ʿArabī website directed by Dr Mohamed Ali Haj Yousef. Every IAC-coded file used here names a page of that site in its header; barzakh is OpenITI's repository for texts awaiting integration into the corpus.
al-JandīSharḥ Fuṣūṣ al-ḤikamOpen licence
Muʾayyad al-Dīn al-Jandī (d. c. 691/1291), Sharḥ Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam
Edition:
Not recorded by OpenITI: the barzakh file has no .yml metadata record, and the ibnalarabi.com page it was taken from names no printed edition.
Licence:
OpenITI distributes its texts under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; ibnalarabi.com states © 1999–2024. The commentary itself is a classical work in the public domain; the edition behind the digital text is unidentified.
Taken from:
ibnalarabi.com/fusus/jandi.php. The OpenITI file's own header (#META# source) names this page: the text was copied from the Ibn ʿArabī website directed by Dr Mohamed Ali Haj Yousef. Every IAC-coded file used here names a page of that site in its header; barzakh is OpenITI's repository for texts awaiting integration into the corpus.
al-QāshānīSharḥ Fuṣūṣ al-ḤikamOpen licence
ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Qāshānī (d. 730/1330), Sharḥ Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam
Edition:
Not recorded by OpenITI: the barzakh file has no .yml metadata record, and the ibnalarabi.com page it was taken from names no printed edition.
Licence:
OpenITI distributes its texts under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; ibnalarabi.com states © 1999–2024. The commentary itself is a classical work in the public domain; the edition behind the digital text is unidentified.
Taken from:
ibnalarabi.com/fusus/qashani.php. The OpenITI file's own header (#META# source) names this page: the text was copied from the Ibn ʿArabī website directed by Dr Mohamed Ali Haj Yousef. Every IAC-coded file used here names a page of that site in its header; barzakh is OpenITI's repository for texts awaiting integration into the corpus.
al-QayṣarīMaṭlaʿ khuṣūṣ al-kilam fī maʿānī Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikamOpen licence
Dāwūd al-Qayṣarī (d. 751/1350), Maṭlaʿ khuṣūṣ al-kilam fī maʿānī Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam
Edition:
Not recorded by OpenITI: the barzakh file has no .yml metadata record, and the ibnalarabi.com page it was taken from names no printed edition.
Licence:
OpenITI distributes its texts under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; ibnalarabi.com states © 1999–2024. The commentary itself is a classical work in the public domain; the edition behind the digital text is unidentified.
Taken from:
ibnalarabi.com/fusus/qaysari.php. The OpenITI file's own header (#META# source) names this page: the text was copied from the Ibn ʿArabī website directed by Dr Mohamed Ali Haj Yousef. Every IAC-coded file used here names a page of that site in its header; barzakh is OpenITI's repository for texts awaiting integration into the corpus.
Ibn TurkaSharḥ Fuṣūṣ al-ḤikamOpen licence
Ṣāʾin al-Dīn Ibn Turka (d. 835/1432), Sharḥ Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam
Edition:
Not recorded by OpenITI: the barzakh file has no .yml metadata record, and the ibnalarabi.com page it was taken from names no printed edition.
Licence:
OpenITI distributes its texts under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; ibnalarabi.com states © 1999–2024. The commentary itself is a classical work in the public domain; the edition behind the digital text is unidentified.
Taken from:
ibnalarabi.com/fusus/taraka.php. The OpenITI file's own header (#META# source) names this page: the text was copied from the Ibn ʿArabī website directed by Dr Mohamed Ali Haj Yousef. Every IAC-coded file used here names a page of that site in its header; barzakh is OpenITI's repository for texts awaiting integration into the corpus.
JāmīSharḥ Fuṣūṣ al-ḤikamOpen licence
Nūr al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Jāmī (d. 898/1492), Sharḥ Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam
Edition:
Not recorded by OpenITI: the barzakh file has no .yml metadata record, and the ibnalarabi.com page it was taken from names no printed edition.
Licence:
OpenITI distributes its texts under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; ibnalarabi.com states © 1999–2024. The commentary itself is a classical work in the public domain; the edition behind the digital text is unidentified.
Taken from:
ibnalarabi.com/fusus/jami_matn.php. The OpenITI file's own header (#META# source) names this page: the text was copied from the Ibn ʿArabī website directed by Dr Mohamed Ali Haj Yousef. Every IAC-coded file used here names a page of that site in its header; barzakh is OpenITI's repository for texts awaiting integration into the corpus.
Bālī ZādeSharḥ Fuṣūṣ al-ḤikamOpen licence
Muṣṭafā b. Sulaymān Bālī Zāde (d. 1073/1663), Sharḥ Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam
Edition:
Not recorded by OpenITI: the barzakh file has no .yml metadata record, and the ibnalarabi.com page it was taken from names no printed edition.
Licence:
OpenITI distributes its texts under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; ibnalarabi.com states © 1999–2024. The commentary itself is a classical work in the public domain; the edition behind the digital text is unidentified.
Taken from:
ibnalarabi.com/fusus/bali.php. The OpenITI file's own header (#META# source) names this page: the text was copied from the Ibn ʿArabī website directed by Dr Mohamed Ali Haj Yousef. Every IAC-coded file used here names a page of that site in its header; barzakh is OpenITI's repository for texts awaiting integration into the corpus.
BosnevîTecelliyât-ı ʿarâʾis en-nuṣûṣ fî menaṣṣât ḥikem el-FuṣûṣPublic domain
ʿAbdallāh al-Bosnawī (Abdullah Bosnevî, d. 1054/1644), Tecelliyât-ı ʿarâʾis en-nuṣûṣ fî menaṣṣât ḥikem el-Fuṣûṣ
Edition:
Istanbul, 1290/1873 (Ottoman Turkish), vol. 1; the scan of Princeton University Library's copy at HathiTrust (catalog record 008919315).
Licence:
Public domain (1873 print); our OCR collation is ours. Each comment links to its page in the HathiTrust scan.
Taken from:
HathiTrust. Full view of the scanned volume.

✦ marks AI that no person has reviewed yet; ✧ marks AI reviewed by a named person. Copyrighted works are cited, never shown. All sources · How texts are established

Checked against a critical edition

The edition is in copyright. We compared our text with it privately, word by word (differences only, AI-read twice); only these counts are published. Golfetto (Brill 2024) was not consulted for this chapter.

  • Of our 1138 words, checked on 13 pages of Niẓām al-Dīn's edition of the same manuscript: 33 of its readings and the vowelling of 48 words were adopted where two independent readings agreed; 7 were not adopted.
  • 11 notes of the editor on the manuscript are recorded privately.
  • Every adopted reading is listed below and awaits review by a person; Golfetto's edition was not consulted for this chapter.

Collated 2026-10-03.

Consonantal decisions (5)

Our vowelling against the authoritative edition

The word-by-word comparison with Golfetto's edition is available in the private layer.

Readings discussed by the commentators (13)

Where a commentator reports another manuscript reading, or how a word may be vowelled.

Vowelling supplied or questioned by AI

Passages ¶12–13 were left (partly) unvowelled in our working copy; their vowels were completed by AI, with every letter checked unchanged, and are underlined in amber in the reader. The AI also flagged these places where the working copy's vowels look wrong or where the reading is genuinely open. None has been applied.

Quotations

Mechanical clean-up (1)

chapter heading (kept as the edition's title) (1)