Ibn ‘Arabi & the Philosophers: Reason, Revelation and Inspiration

Saturday May 6, 2017

A symposium jointly organised by the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society and Professor Stefan Sperl of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. To be held at at the Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, SOAS, London.

Symposium Description

Ibn ‘Arabi, in reporting meetings with Ibn Rushd (Averroes) on two occasions – once as a ‘beardless youth’ and once at the great Aristotelian philosopher’s funeral – highlighted the differences between their ways of thinking. Philosophical knowledge, he declared, is based on reason (aql) and revelatory knowledge is based on insight (kashf) and inner certainty (yaqin). In some cases they are the same and in others they differ.

However, a difference between points of view is not an essential separation. The Shaykh al-Akbar would surely have agreed with the last recorded words of the great Neo-platonist Plotinus “Strive to give back the Divine in yourselves to the Divine in the All.” Greek philosophical texts, first translated in Baghdad in the 8th and 9th centuries, were widely available in Muslim Spain. Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi, who is sometimes called Ibn Aflatun ‘The Son of Plato’, would have had access to these, both directly and indirectly through the Islamic philosophical schools. This symposium aims at delving into these roots by exploring Ibn Arabi’s engagement with the philosophical heritage of his time.

Programme

Saturday, May 6th

8.45 am Doors open. Registration begins
9.15 Introduction. Stefan Sperl and Richard Twinch
9.30 Salman Bashier The Merging of the Two Seas of Mysticism and Philosophy in Ibn ‘Arabi
10.30 Coffee & Tea
11.00 Maria de Cillis Free Will and Predestination. Between Philosophy and Mysticism
12.00 pm Eric Geoffroy Some Aspects of “Supra-reason” in Ibn ‘Arabî’s Epistemology
1.00 pm Lunch
2.30 pm Husam al Mallak Ibn al-‘Arabi and the (Postmodern) Philosophical Heritage of Nietzsche
3.30 Tea & Coffee
4.00 – 5.00 pm Workshops with speakers
5.15 pm Plenary
5.45 pm End

There may be changes to this programme. Visit the Ibn ‘Arabi Society website for full details, updates and information on speakers.

Booking & Fees

Booking: Eventbrite online registration

Registration fees: 
Student* £10
Standard £50
Standard Early Bird £45 (closes on 28th February)
MIAS Member £45
MIAS Member Early Bird £40 (closes on 28th February)

*Please bring student ID to the symposium

All bookings up to May 3rd (9.00 am) are refundable. Online bookings for Member and Standard bookings include a non-refundable booking fee.

For Member and Standard bookings, Latecomer bookings between May 3rd to 6th will be at the full Standard registration fee of £50. No lunch included. No refunds.

For further information, please contact the Symposium organiser, Richard Twinch events.uk@ibnarabisociety.

Course / Event location

Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, SOAS, Thornhaugh St, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

http://www.ibnarabisociety.org/events.html

Mirrors of the Transcendent in the Cosmos of Ibn Arabi: The Body as Metaphor of Divine Self-Revelation

25th-26th July 2025
The Warburg Institute, University of London

A joint symposium held by the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society and The Warburg Institute.

More details: https://ibnarabisociety.org/events/
Booking: https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/events/cosmos-of-ibn-arabi-2025

Aspects of Imagination, Science and the Mystical

Aspects of Science, Imagination and the Mystical

Saturday 14th June 2025
14:00–17:00 BST
The October Gallery, London

With Peter Coates

This talk will consider the vital role of the Creative Imagination in Natural Science and in the Mystical Philosophy of Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi.

Contact: Michael Cohen  london@beshara.org

Hakim Omar Khayya’m and Edward FitzGerald

Paradise E’Now or The Smile of the Spirit

Saturday 24th May 2025
14:00–17:00 BST
The October Gallery, London

With Charles Mugleston

A special Birthday Celebration with music, exploring, experiencing & soulfully enjoying the Ruba’iya’t of Hakim Omar Khayya’m translated & adapted by the Anglo-Irish genius Edward FitzGerald of Woodbridge, Suffolk into “English Music” in 1859.

Contact: Michael Cohen  london@beshara.org

Open Meetings

Monday 7th April, 2025
Monday 5th May, 2025
17:30–18:30 BST

Saturday 26th April, 2025
Saturday 24th May, 2025
9:00am-10:00am BST

Are you interested in sharing your thoughts and in contributing to the development of Beshara? We are excited to invite you to another series of monthly online Open Meetings

Open Meetings

Saturday 22nd March, 2025
9:00am–10:00am GMT

Inspired by the turn out at the recent open meetings, we are pleased to invite you to our next online Open Meeting. This meeting will give priority to our friends in Australia and the Asia Pacific before we open up the space to continue the conversation with everyone else.

Know Yourself

Saturday 26th April 2025
14:00–17:00 BST
The October Gallery, London

You yourself are the object of your quest

Reading and discussion of a classic explanation of the Oneness of Being, attributed to Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi and Awhad al-din Balyani and translated from the Arabic by Cecilia Twinch.

Contact: Michael Cohen, london@beshara.org

Bhagavad Gita – ‘The Song of the Spirit’

From 15th May 2025
20:30–21:30 BST

An opportunity to study and explore the timeless wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita in an online group setting. All welcome.

Contact: John Brown at besharacourses@beshara.org to book a place.

Daily Meditation

From 6th January 2025
07:30–08:00 GMT

Daily 30-minute silent meditation beginning with a dedication of intent and ending. All welcome.

Contact: John Brown at besharacourses@beshara.org for a Zoom invite

Open Meetings

Monday 13th & 27th January, 2025
Monday 10th & 24th February, 2025
18:30–19:30 GMT

Are you interested in sharing your thoughts and in contributing to the development of Beshara? We are excited to invite you to a series of four fortnightly online Open Meetings launching in January 2025.

Love and Knowledge in the Light of Unity | the Direct Path

Beshara Foundation Course

Autumn 2025 (dates to be confirmed)

Introductory weekend at Sutton Courtenay Abbey, Oxfordshire
(Zoom attendance also available)

10 x bi-weekly evening online sessions

This course provides a full introduction to the principles of Beshara in terms of both knowledge and practice. Taking the metaphysics of Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi as a starting point, the course explores what it means to understand oneself and the world in the light of the Unity of Existence.

Contact: besharacourses3@beshara.org

Love Divine: a conversation between Rumi and St. John of the Cross

Meditation and poetry workshops 

Fortnightly from 18th January – 29th March
Saturdays: 10:00am – 11:30pm (GMT)
or
Fortnightly from 25th January – 5th April
Saturdays: 10am – 11:30am (Pacific Time), 12:00pm-13:30 (Central Time), and 5:00pm-6:30pm (UK time).


Meditation workshops following a format of reading some lines of poetry with contemplative meditation and shared reflections. There are a few places left.

Jesus Across Space and Time

An interactive seminar

Saturday 30th November 2024
14:00–17:00 BST
The October Gallery, London

An afternoon devoted to discussion of the question: what is the knowledge we can attain if we contemplate the person of Jesus and his function and role in the world of humanity?