Self-Disclosure of God, The

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Self-Disclosure of God, Cosmology Principles of Ibn al-Arabis Cosmology William C. Chittick - Author $30.95 Paperback - 483 pages Release Date: December 1997 Summary Explicates the cosmology of Ibn al-Arabi, the greatest mystical thinker of Islamic civilization. The Self Disclosure of God offers the most detailed presentation to date in any Western language of the basic teachings of Islams greatest mystical philosopher and theologian. It represents a major step forward in making available to the Western reading public the enormous riches of Islamic teachings in the fields of cosmology, mystical philosophy, theology, and spirituality. Chittick has refined his way of translating Ibn al-Arabis terminology to a high degree of perfection. -- Gerhard Bowering, Yale University The Self-Disclosure of God continues the authors investigations of the world view of Ibn al-Arabi, the greatest theoretician of Sufism and the seal of the Muhammadan saints. The book is divided into three parts, dealing with the relation between God and the cosmos, the structure of the cosmos, and the nature of the human soul. A long introduction orients the reader and discusses a few of the difficulties faced by Ibn al-Arabis interpreters. Like Chitticks earlier work, The Sufi Path of Knowledge, this book is based primarily on Ibn al-Arabis monumental work, al-Futuhat al-makkiyya The Meccan Openings. More than one hundred complete chapters and subsections are translated, not to mention shorter passages that help put the longer discussions in context. There are detailed indices of sources, Koranic verses and hadiths. The books index of technical terminology will be an indispensable reference for all those wishing to delve more deeply into the use of language in Islamic thought in general and Sufism in particular. This is the type of work that many will refer to as a tour de force. Among its other accomplishments, it represents a painstaking reading, translation, and analysis of a major Muslim Arab th