Ibn Arabi
Sufi scholar and Sunni philosopher (1165–1240)
Ibn 'Arabī (July 1165 – November 1240) was a Sunni Muslim Arab scholar, Sufi mystic, poet, and Muslim philosopher from al-Andalus, who exercised notable influence within Sufi metaphysics and Islamic thought in general. There are 850 works attributed to Ibn 'Arabi, though only 700 of these are considered authentic, and only 400 are extant. His cosmological teachings became a dominant intellectual framework in many regions of the Muslim world.
His traditional title was Muḥyiddīn (Arabic: محيي الدين, lit. 'The Reviver of Religion'). After his death, practitioners of Sufism began referring to him by the honorific title Shaykh al-Akbar (Arabic: الشيخ الأكبر, lit. 'The Greatest Shaykh'), from which the term Akbarism is derived.
Ibn ʿArabī is considered a wali (saint) by some scholars and Muslim communities.
Ibn 'Arabī is known for being the first person to explicitly delineate the concept of wahdat al-wujūd (unity of existence), a monist doctrine that claimed that all things in the universe are manifestations of a singular reality. Ibn 'Arabī equated this reality with the entity he called "the Absolute" (al-wujūd al-muṭlaq, "the Absolute Existence").
Early life
Ibn 'Arabī was born in the Taifa of Murcia, in present-day southeastern Spain, on the 17th of Ramaḍān 560 AH (28 July 1165), although other sources suggest the 27th of Ramaḍān 560 AH (6 August 1165 AD) as an alternative birthdate. His first name was Muhammad.
The public source identifies “Ibn Arabi” as sufi scholar and Sunni philosopher (1165–1240). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Arabi, Sufi and scholar.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q46420. VIAF identifies the subject as 95223177. The Library of Congress control number is n50082069. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1165 and 1240.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ibn Arabi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.