Women & Children in the Tomb of Ibn Arabi in Damascus (Photo by Emily O'Dell)
The movement which is the existence of the universe is the movement of love.
— Ibn ‘Arabi, Fusûs al-Hikam
As I mentioned in “Sharing the Sufis of Syria,” Ibn Arabi is considered one of the greatest mystic masters and theologians in Sufism–if not the greatest. When I went to visit his shrine in Damascus–it was filled with many women and children–some of whom you can see in the photograph above. Ibn Arabi’s shrine has long been a dynamic place of pilgrimage–with a steady stream of people (mostly Syrian) constantly coming and going to offer a prayer, and pay their respects to this great master of the heart.
I am the slave of passion and the slave of the Beloved.
The fire of passion burns my heart
And the One I love is in my mind.
Passion has seized hold of the reins of my heart
So wherever I turn my gaze
Passion is facing me.
— Ibn Arabi, On the Knowledge of the Station of Love and its Secrets
Because Ibn Arabi had at least two female teachers and wrote often about the feminine aspects of spirituality, women and girls feature prominently in his writings. One of my favorite stories of Ibn Arabi’s is found in Tarjumān al-ashwāq, in which he recalls meeting a beautiful “young girl” in Mecca who, when hearing him reciting poetry while circling the Kaaba says: “I am surprised to hear such verses from you, you who are the gnostic of your time!…What I desire is real awareness made known by non-existence, and the Path which consists of speaking truthfully.”
