A Consideration of the Concept of Epiphany from Ibn Arabī’s Viewpoint

Abstract

Epiphany (tajallī) is one of the most important concepts in Islamic mysticism and Ibn Arabī is one of the most outstanding figures in this realm. He is known as the founder of ‘theoretical mysticism.’ Therefore, in this inquiry diverse types of epiphany from Ibn Arabī’s viewpoint are discussed and his various interpretations on it are considered. Ibn Arabī acknowledged two kinds of epiphany, ‘the most sacred effusion’ and ‘hieratic effusion’ that are also named as ‘theophany of the Essence’ and ‘theophany of Divine name’. Moreover, in this paper other kinds of epiphany from Ibn Arabī’s point of view are also considered such as: theophanies of Jalāl (majesty) and Jamāl (the Beauty), Qurb (approximation) and Buʻd (remoteness), Ḍātī(the Essence) and Asmā’ī (Divine names), Qurb (approximation) and Shahādat (saintly effusion), Jenn (demon), bashar (human), fereshteh (angel) and inkār (denial).

Keywords

• key words: epiphany
• theophany
• ibn arabī
• theophany of majesty
• theophany of the beauty
• theophany of the essence
• theophany of divine name
• saintly effusion
• the most sacred effusion
• hieratic effusion