[THE MECCAN REVELATIONS: STANDARD CAIRO EDITION OF ARABI'S MAGNUM OPUS] Al-Futuhat Al-Makkiyyah. 4 volumes set.

MUHYIDDIN IBN ARABI, (1165-1240).

Bulaq - Cairo - Egypt, [AH 1329] = 1911 AD.

Original 1/3 leather bdg. Raised bands with decorative illustrations embossed between the compartment. Numbered volumes on spines of each volume with a period paper shaped "1, 2, 3, 4" in Arabian numeric system. 4to. (29 x 20 cm). In Arabic. Ibn 'Arabi wrote two versions of his magnum opus, al-Futûḥât al-Makkīyah. He completed the first in 629H and began writing the second in 632H, completing that in 636H. The original manuscripts of the first version appear to have been lost, although partial copies still exist. The 37 volumes that make up the second version holographs (manuscripts in the author's own hand) exist to this day, with the exception of volume 9, which is a defective replacement. Late manuscripts of the Futûḥât tended to contain hybrids of the two versions, presumably because scribes and collators were more or less ignorant of the fact that Ibn 'Arabi had written two versions. Ever since the 3rd edition (the standard Cairo edition) modern editors have attempted to bring their editions as close as possible to the second version holographs, the "Konya" manuscripts, once part of Sadr al-Din Qunawi's waqf, and now in Istanbul (Evkaf Müzesi 1845-1881). First edition published by Bulaq (1269-1274H) in four volumes, Second edition published by Bulaq (1293H), and this, Third edition published by Bûlâq (1329H) - Standard Cairo Edition. The famous third edition of Bulaq (1329/1911) reproduced the second version of the Futûhât thanks to the investigative efforts of the Emir 'Abd al-Qâdir al-Jazâ'irî. Once again published in 4 volumes and with the same divisions as the first two editions: v.1 (763 pages; ch.0-72); v.2 (704 pages; ch.73-299); v3. (568 pages; ch.300-400); v.4 (571 pages - but colophon is on p.553-4; ch.401-560). This edition of 1329H has been the object of numerous reproductions in Beirut since 1968. (Source: The Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society). Al-futûhât al-Makkiyyah [i.e. The Meccan revelations] is the major work of the philosopher and Sufi Ibn Arabi, written between 1203 and 1240. The Andalusi thinker exposes his spiritual journey, his theology, his metaphysics, and his mysticism, using sometimes prose, sometimes poetry. The book contains autobiographical elements: encounters, events, and spiritual illuminations. The book takes its title from the holy city of Mecca, to which Ibn Arabi traveled on pilgrimage in 1202, and in which he received a number of revelations of divine origin. In the Illuminations, Ibn Arabi develops a theory of the imagination and the imaginary world explained by Henry Corbin. There is also a psychological and religious description of the effects of Allah's Love (in both the subjective and objective sense of the expression). According to Michel Chodkiewicz, this book occupies a particularly important place in Ibn Arabi's work because it represents "the ultimate state of his teaching in its most complete form". Women are prominently featured in the book, particularly in Chapter 178 on love. Ibn Arabi is initiated into a religious experience by a spiritual woman called Nizham, a young Iranian woman whose name means "Harmony". He quotes the poems of the writer Rabia of Basra, who according to him is "the most prestigious interpreter" of love. Ibn Arabi also recounts his encounter and service to mystic Fatima bint al-Muthanna, with whom he recites Al Fâtiḥah (the first surah of the Quran) and whose degree of spiritual elevation he admires. The Illuminations are a classic of Sufism, theology, and Islamic philosophy. They influenced the "Spiritual Writings" of the emir Abd el-Kader, who published the book in 1857, and perhaps Dante. Henry Corbin compared Dante's Béatrice, which leads the poet to paradise in the Divine Comedy and awakens him to love in the Vita Nuova, to Ibn Arabi's Nizhâm, a mystical woman who initiates the Andalusian philosopher to the experience of God's love. (Source: Wikipedia; The Meccan Revelations).