Ismail Hakki Bursevi’s translation of and commentary on Fusus al-Hikam by Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi, Volume 2

Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi was born in Andalusia, Spain, in 1165. From the age of thirty-two he travelled extensively throughout the Islamic world, conversing with the greatest mystics, divines and philosophers of his day. He wrote some 350 books, of which he considered the Fusus al-Hikam to be the most important. Although as an outspoken critic of religious and philosophical dogmatism he made many enemies, he was and is revered as a saint and as a teacher of incomparable stature. His last major opus, the Fusus al-Hikam, should be read with a pre-understanding of the point of view and reference and the ensuing perspective, for which Ibn 'Arabi is unmatched. It is to Ibn 'Arabi, who speaks from objective vision of the Unique Existence, that the exposition of Its Self-revelation may be ascribed, as the first Sufi to correlate the ‘theory’ of wahdat-i-wujud, of which he is celebrated as the originator and most complete propounder of all time. He died in Damascus in 1240.Ismail Hakki Bursevi (1653–1725), known as the ‘Bursevi’ from his long association with Bursa in Turkey, was originally from Aydos, near Adrianople. He studied with Osman Fazli, the shaykh of the Sufi Order of the Jelvetis, and eventually became his successor. His knowledge of both Arabic and Turkish was superlative. His extensive commentary upon the Fusus al-Hikam, published here in full, is surely the best of the many commentaries which this book has inspired, being aligned perfectly and completely to the spirit of the original, whilst his Introduction, printed in Volume 1, is without doubt a masterpiece in itself.Bulent Rauf was born in 1911 in Istanbul. He was educated first at home, where he had a classical Ottoman education, reading Turkish, Arabic and Persian, as well as three European languages, and then continued his studies at Robert College. He went to Cornell and Yale Universities, reading English literature in one and Hittite archaeology in the other. In 1945 he married Princess Faiza of Egypt, where they lived until Nasser came to power, when they moved to Paris. They were divorced in the early sixties. He settled in England in 1966 and married Angela Culme-Seymour. He then lived mostly in Scotland, engaged in research work and was Consultant to the Beshara Trust. His relationship with Ibn 'Arabi was atavistic, through his grandfather who is buried immediately behind the tomb of Ibn 'Arabi in Damascus, in compliance with his wish when he left Istanbul the last time for Mecca. Bulent Rauf died on 5 September 1987 and is buried at Chisholme House in the Scottish Borders.

• Volume Two Table of Contents:The Wisdom of the Transcended Magnificat in the Word of NoahThe Wisdom of Sanctity in the Word of Idris (Enoch)The Wisdom of Ecstasy and Rapture in the Word of AbrahamThe Wisdom of the Truth in the Word of IsaacThe Wisdom of Exaltedness in the Word of Ishmael