Table Of ContentIbn ‘Arabî – Time and Cosmology
Time is one of the most important issues in physics,
cosmology, philosophy and theology. Many books and
articles have been published in this interdisciplinary field
before, but none of those studies have fully described Ibn
‘Arabî’s unique view which is central to understanding,
for example, his controversial theory of the ‘oneness of
being’.
This book is the first comprehensive attempt to explain
Ibn ‘Arabî’s distinctive view of time and its role in the
process of creating the cosmos and its relation with the
Creator. By comparing this original view with modern
theories of physics and cosmology, Mohamed Haj
Yousef constructs a new cosmological model that may
deepen and extend our understanding of the world, while
potentially solving some of the drawbacks in the current
models such as the historical Zeno’s paradoxes of
motion and the recent Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen paradox
(EPR) that underlines the discrepancies between
Quantum Mechanics and Relativity.
Ibn ‘Arabî – Time and Cosmology is an important
contribution to the fields of philosophy, cosmology,
physics and theology.
Mohamed Haj Yousef is lecturer in the Department of
Physics, United Arab Emirates University.
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Culture and civilization in the Middle East
General Editor: Ian Richard Netton
Professor of Islamic Studies, University of Exeter
This series studies the Middle East through the twin foci
of its diverse cultures and civilizations. Comprising
original monographs as well as scholarly surveys, it
covers topics in the fields of Middle Eastern literature,
archaeology, law, history, philosophy, science, folklore,
art, architecture and language. While there is a plurality
of views, the series presents serious scholarship in a
lucid and stimulating fashion.
1 The Epistemology of Ibn Khaldun
Zaid Ahmad
2 The Hanbali School of Law and Ibn Taymiyyah
Conflict or conciliation
Abdul Hakim I Al-Matroudi
3 Arabic Rhetoric
A pragmatic analysis
Hussein Abdul-Raof
4 Arab Representations of the Occident
East-West encounters in Arabic fiction
Rasheed El-Enany
5 God and Humans in Islamic Thought
Abd al-Jabbār, Ibn Sīnā and al-Ghazālī
Maha Elkaisy-Friemuth
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6 Original Islam
Malik and the madhhab of Madina
Yasin Dutton
7 Al-Ghazali and the Qur’an
One book, many meanings
Martin Whittingham
8 Birth of The Prophet Muhammad
Devotional piety in Sunni Islam
Marion Holmes Katz
9 Space and Muslim Urban Life
At the limits of the labyrinth of Fez
Simon O’Meara
10 Islam Science
The intellectual career of Nizam al-Din
al-Nizaburi
Robert G. Morrison
11 Ibn ‘Arabî – Time and Cosmology
Mohamed Haj Yousef
4
Ibn ‘Arabî – Time and Cosmology
Mohamed Haj Yousef
5
First published 2008
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14
4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
an informa business
© 2008 Mohamed Haj Yousef
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 10: 0-415-44499-3 (hbk)
ISBN 10: 0-203-93824-0 (ebk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-415-44499-6 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-203-93824-9 (ebk)
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To the Spirit of al-Shaykh al-Akbar Muhyi ed-Din Ibn
al-‘Arabî, may Allah’s Mercy be upon him,
To the Spirits of my parents, may Allah’s Mercy be
upon them,
To my dearest wife who supported me all the times,
To my two sons Abdullah and Yousef, and my
daughter Fatima,
To my brothers and sisters, in Islam, and in
humankind,
To all I dedicate this humble work.
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Contents
List of figures
List of tables
Foreword by Professor James W. Morris (Boston
College)
Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
1 Cosmology and time
2 General aspects of Ibn ‘Arabî’s concept of time and
days
3 The significance of the divine week and its seven
days
4 The actual flow of time
5 Unicity and multiplicity
6 The Single Monad model of the cosmos
7 The Single Monad model and its implications for
modern physics
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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9
Figures
1.1 ‘The Cloud’ and what it contains, down to the
‘establishing Throne’
1.2 The establishing Throne and what it contains down
to the Pedestal
1.3 The (divine) Pedestal and what it contains down to
the constellations
1.4 The orb of the constellations and what it contains
down to the Earth
2.1 The Cycle of Life
2.2 The daytime and night in the sky
3.1 The Divine Quadratic Rule
4.1 The taken-out days
4.2 The intertwined days, and their relation with the
circulated days
4.3 The Zodiac and the motion of the days through it
5.1 The Real, the ‘Possible’ existents, and the
‘Impossible’
6.1 Summary of the different types of knowable things
6.2 The Different Divisions of Existence
6.3 The Kaaba, with people on the Hajj
circumambulating it
6.4 How circumambulating the Kaaba is similar to the
Greatest Element’s creation of the Single Monad
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