The Secret of God’s Most Beautiful Names

Event Description

The Secret of God’s Most Beautiful Names

What is meant by the Most Beautiful Names of God? and what is their secret? This seminar will preview a forthcoming book, the English translation of Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi’s treatise on the Names of God, Kashf al-maʿnā ʿan sirr asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā, entitled ‘The Secret of God’s Most Beautiful Names’.

The seminar will explore one of the key features of the Abrahamic religions, i.e. the naming of God, which is identical to calling upon God and ultimately to participating in God’s naming of Himself.  We will draw on passages from Ibn ‘Arabi’s Kashf al-maʿnā, and discuss the Divine Names in relation to ourselves and the world around us.

Stephen Hirtenstein is director of Anqa Publishing and Honorary Fellow of the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society (MIAS). He recently retired as chief editor of the MIAS Journal (1982–2023), and is working on the MIAS Archiving Project (2001–present), cataloguing the manuscripts of Ibn ʿArabi’s works. In addition to teaching at the University of Oxford, he is currently working on various book projects. His publications include a 3-part study of Ibn ʿArabi’s Fihrist (2023–4), Patterns of Contemplation (2021), The Alchemy of Human Happiness (2017) and The Unlimited Mercifier (1999).

Saturday 29th June 2024 2 pm – 5 pm BST
The October Gallery,
24 Old Gloucester Street
London
WC1N 3AL

Refreshments Provided