Terminologie súfijů

Muhyiddīn Abū ͨAbdallāh ibn ͨArabī, known as al-Shaykh al-Akbar (1165-1240 A.D. / 560-638 A.H.), was one of the greatest Sufis (mystics) of Islam. His minor treatise Istilāhāt al-sūfīya (Sufi Terminology) presents a compilation of chosen Sufi technical terms made by Ibn ͨArabī and assembled by him during his stay in Turkey in 1218 when he was fifty-three years old. It consists of 198 brief definitions (most of them are highly compact and reflect Ibn Arabī's elliptical style), intended to serve as basic reference work for readers without more direct access to Sufi idiom. In the course of time Ibn ͨArabī's Sufi Terminology has become very influential and it may prove particularly useful to western students of Islam in general and medieval Sufism in particular.