Ibn al-ʿArabī's Barzakh

Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. Ibn al-'Arabi's Liminal (Barzakhi) Theory of Representation: An Outlook from the Present Situation Presentation and Representation: Complementary Elements in the Mystical Experience Carter's View Rorty's Antirepresentational Stand Ibn al-'Arabi's Stand Wasserstrom's Criticism of Mystocentrism 2. Creation ex nihilo, Creation in Time, and Eternal Creation: Ibn Sina versus the Theologians Creation ex nihilo in the Qur'an Creation ex nihilo, Creation in Time, and Islamic Theologians Ibn Sina's Answers to the Theologians' Arguments Ibn Sina on the Possible- and the Necessary-of-Existence Ibn Sina's Distinction between Essence and Existence 3. Ibn Rushd versus al-Ghazali on the Eternity of the World Between The Incoherence of the Philosophers and The Incoherence of the Incoherence The First Proof The Second Proof The Third Proof Ibn Rushd's Doctrine of Eternal Creation: The Emergence of the Problem of the Limit 4. Mysticism versus Philosophy: The Encounter between Ibn al-'Arabi and Ibn Rushd Mysticism between Theology and Philosophy An Interpretation of the Encounter between Khadir and Moses from Ibn al-'Arabi's Perspective The Encounter between Ibn Rushd and Ibn al-'Arabi 5. The Barzakh The Intermediate State (Barzakh) in the Qur'an and in the Canonical Tradition The Barzakh in the Exegesis of the Qur'an and in Scholastic Theology Plato's Theory of the Forms Ibn al-'Arabi's Definition of the Barzakh Ibn al-Arabi versus Ibn Sina: Two Conceptions of the Relative 6. The Third Entity: The Supreme Barzakh Plato's Form, The Mutazilites' Nonexistent, and Ibn al-Arabi's Fixed Entity Plato's Introduction of the Receptacle Ibn al-'Arabi's Introduction of the Third Thing The Problem of the Creation of the World Revisited 7. The Perfect Man: The Epistemological Aspect of the Third Thing The Perfect Man as the Conclusion of Divine Love The Perfect Man as the Possessor of Divine Knowledge The Logic of the Knowledge of Perfection 8. The Limit Situation On Knowing the Waystation of "In the Articulations is the Knowledge of the Stairs." The Paradox of Infinity The Limit Situation Conclusions Notes Bibliography Index