Ibn Arabi – författare

Journey to the Lord of Power is the first English translation of Ibn 'Arabi's twelfth-century text dealing with spiritual ascent. 'Arabi, whose metaphysical teachings have had a profound influence on both the Muslim and Christian worlds, is known as one of the greatest writers of mystical love poetry of all time. Written in answer to the questions of a friend, this illuminating guide describes the evolutionary path of our higher spiritual aspirations--the quest for the ultimate reality, the journey toward God. It is chiefly concerned with spiritual retreat, an advanced and potentially dangerous Sufi practice that aims at the attainment of the Presence of God through absolute abandonment of the world. Realizing the imagination's deceptive power, 'Arabi warns that this form of retreat should not be undertaken except at the order of a sheikh or by one who has mastered the self. Each stage of the journey is accompanied by a temptation which can be overcome only by an unshakable desire for God. 'Arabi explains each step of the ascent leading toward human perfection. In this perilous voyage of self-discovery, the reader will encounter the Realms of the mineral, vegetable, and animal worlds, eventually reaching the Gardens and the Throne of Mercy. The traveler of the Sufi mystic path is called upon to cleanse his or her heart in order to safely reach the final destination--the Lord of Power.

A wise man advised his children upon his death - and they were a group - and he said to them: Bring me sticks. So he gathered them together and said to them: Break them - and they were in a group - but they were not able to do that, then he separated them and said to them: Take them one by one and break them, so they broke them, and he said to them: This is how you are after me. You will not be defeated as long as you come together. If you disperse, your enemy will seize control of you and annihilate you. Likewise, if those in charge of religion come together to establish the religion and do not disperse in it, no enemy will defeat them. Likewise, if a person in himself unites in himself to establish the religion of God, he will not be defeated by a human or jinn devil with what he whispers to him, with the help of faith and kingdom through his word to him.