Ibn Arabi's influence on Rumi

[Rumist]

Dear Mr. Gamard,


Salamu alaikum,


Will you please clarify whether or not Rumi was influenced by Ibn
Arabi? I often hear that his "Irfaan" was that of Ibn Arabi's as
though
the latter was the sole influence on the shaping of Rumi's thoughts. I
find it hard to believe though, given the abundance of
similar themes in the works of previous Farsi mystics such as Sanaai
and Attar to mention a few.


Wasallam

[daralmas...@gmail.com]

Dear `Abdul,
Wa `alaykuma 's-salaam,

A major part of this misunderstanding is the fact that during the late
Ottoman Empire, Masnavi was commonly interpreted by means of Akbari
theosophy. The writings of Ibnu 'l-`Arabi (known as "ash-Shaykhu 'l-
Akbar") and his school of thought were very intensively studied by the
well-educated Ottoman sufi elite. At the same time, the Masnavi was so
popular that Daru 'l-Masnavi institutes/libraries were founded in
order to teach Masnavi to the general public. Some of the leading
Masnavi teachers teaching the public in the later period were shaykhs
belonging to other sufi tariqats. Meanwhile, in the Mevlevi centers
(tekkes), the Masnavi was taught to Mevlevis also from an Akbari
perspective. The primary commentary on Masnavi studied in Mevlevi
centers was by Anqaravi (died 1631--- http://dar-al-masnavi.org/about_anqaravi.html
---), strongly based on Akbari teachings--as were the other great
Ottoman Masnavi commentaries, such as the one by Bursevi

To this day, the Masnavi classes taught in Istanbul (one semi-private
for men, mostly Mevlevi-identified, another for the general public but
mostly attended by Mevlevi-identified men and women) are based on a
commentary that is a condensation the Ottoman Turkish "Sharh-e
Anqaravi" written in contemporary Turkish by Mevlevi teachers of
Masnavi, Tahiru-l-Mevlevi (died 1951) and his student Shafiq Jan (died
2005).

Also, Nicholson's own commentary (in two volumes, little known) was
based primarily on Anqaravi's commentary and this influenced the way
he translated Masnavi (the only complete translation of Masnavi into
English, based on the earliest manuscripts), such as using the Akbari
term "Perfect Man" in his footnotes (16 cases) and in parentheses
within the translation (3 cases-- VI: 818, 868, & 3204). This gives
the false impression that Mawlana was deliberately referring to an
Akbari view of the term "al-insaanu 'l-kaamil" when he wasn't. And yet
he also wrote about the extraordinary potential of matured and
"cooked" human beings regarded as among the Muslim
"saints" [awaliyaa].

In my studies of the earliest Persian sources, there is no clear
evidence of an influence of Ibnu 'l-`Arabi's teachings on those of
Mawlana Rumi. Rather my agreement is with you: the similarities are
better explained by a common body of sufi spiritual doctrines and
wisdom shared by sufi Muslims from Spain to Central Asia.

Sadru 'd-din Qunavi, who was the step-son of Ibnu 'l-`Arabi and the
major promulgator of his teachings in the Persian language, was a
contemporary of Mawlana's who lived in Konya, was a rival (and
wealthy) sufi teacher for a number of years, and who became friends
with Mawlana during the Mawlana's last years. There is very little
mention of Sadr 'd-din Qunavi by Aflaki, who collected all the stories
still extant about Mawlana, his predecessors, son, and grandsons.

In the "Discourses" (Maqaalaat) of Shams-e Tabrizi, consisting of the
notes recorded by his disciples, Shams refers quite a few times to his
dialogues in Damascus with a "Shaykh Muhammad", whom some scholars
think may have been Ibnu 'l-`Arabi. Shams told how he eventually
rejected this teacher because he was not "following" [mutaaba`at] the
Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh). And Shams found what he was searching
for when he met Mawlana in Konya--in contrast to sufi masters he
rejected, who evidently viewed themselves as so spiritually advanced
that they felt less bound to follow the Sunnah. In my own studies of
the Discourses of Shams in Persian (with the help of the selections
translated into English by Chittick, read last year; and the
selections translated from a Turkish translation into English by Refik
Algan and re-Englished by Camille Helminski, reading currently), there
are no clear influences of Ibnu 'l-`Arabi's teachings--but many
teachings and stories that were later incorporated by Mawlana into
Masnavi.

Ibrahim

[Rumist]

SA,
Very clarifying indeed, Dr. Gamard! Thank you so much for replying in
such a timely manner and with sufficient info. As a matter of fact, as
a result of the clues provided in your reply, I will be able to pursue
the subject further on my own. Wsalam

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