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Perspectives, Relationships and Relativity in Ibn al - ‘Arabī’s Thought 10 treat the basic issues in Ibn al - ‘Arabī’s thought to demonstrate that this system of using perspectives, relationships and relativity is a common denominator throughout his mystical philosophy . 12 I have divided the subject matter into chapters, each dealing with a specific issue . However, sometimes an issue can pertain to two or more chapters, thus forcing a decision on my part to choose only one chapter . For example, the issue of the isthmus barzakh ) can be placed in the chapter on existence or the one ( on human knowledge . I chose the latter . Generally, Ibn al - ‘Arabī does not confine a topic to one chapter or section, but disperses his discussion of the same issue among several different chapters . The examination of the stations maqāmāt ) is an exception . ( Ibn al - ‘Arabī’s main works that I use are : 1 . Al - Futūḥāt al - makkiyya ; 2 . Fuṣūṣ al - ḥikam ; 3 . Inshā’ al - dawā’ir ; 4 . ‘Uqlat al - mustawfiz ; 5 . Al - Tadbīrāt al - ilāhiyya ; 13 6 . Some of Ibn al - ‘Arabī’s epistles . It seems to me that these works including his magnum opus al - Futūḥāt al - makkiyya represent the Greatest Master’s fundamental ideas in various fields, and as such they may also teach us his perception of perspectives, relationships and relativity . The fact that these three elements penetrate every issue he discusses proves that this system of discussion is one of the main, if not the most important of his ideas . We shall begin our investigation by presenting God and His Essence, His attributes and names and His self - manifestation, then we shall move to examine existence, creation, the human being and his knowledge, the perfect human being and the Prophet . Qur’ān interpretation, the Law and the Sufi path are followed with the conclusion of our discussion . This is the name by which Affifi characterizes Ibn al - ‘Arabī’s thought . Affifi, 12 The Mystical Philosophy . The three last works ( 3 - 5 ) are located in H . S . Nyberg, Kleinere Schriften . 13
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