Seal of the Saints (Prophethood and Sainthood in the Doctrine of Ibn Arabi)

IBN 'ARABI, recognized in his lifetime as al- Shaykh al-Akbar the supreme spiritual Master - was born in 1165 in Andalusia and died at Damascus in 1240. Over a period of eight centuries he has exerted a profound influence on Islamic mysticism.
In recent years a number of important studies helped acquaint the Western. reader with Ibn 'Arabi's metaphysics so that a coherent picture of his spiritual supremacy has begun to emerge. This process in now greatly enhanced by the present volume in which Michel Chodkiewicz explores for the first time, the Master's 'hagiology' or teaching on saint hood. Founded on a careful analysis of the relevant texts, Chodkiewicz's work examines this essential aspect of Ibn 'Arabi's formulation of a doctrine of sainthood, defining the nature and function of sainthood, while also specifying the criteria for a typology of saints based on the notion of prophetic inheritance.
The book concludes with a detailed description of the two phases of the initiatory journey, the ascent to God, followed by the descent to created a being which, once accomplished, makes a saint the necessary mediator between Heaven and Earth

Michel Chodkiewicz is the Director of Studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. His teaching, research, translations, and writing focus on Sufism, particularly on the important figures of Ibn Arabi and his direct and indirect disciples.
He is the author of Seal of the Saints: Prophethood and Sainthood in the Doctrine of Ibn Arabi, An Ocean Without Shore: Ibn Arabi, the Book, and the Law, and The Spiritual Writings of Amir Abd al Kader. He is also the editor of The Meccan Revelations, vols. 1 and 2.