Salman Bashier

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the so-called Muslim rational philosophers have been revisited by Arab and Muslim scholars in their search for some sort of rational classical basis for a reformulation of modern life and thought. Often this has led into polarized perceptions of modernism and traditionalism. In recent years works have appeared that attempt to provide a novel approach to the study of Islam by unveiling intellectual layers which have not been given proper attention but which prove to have been dominant in Islamic thought. My work on the theme of the "four journeys" (al-asfar al-arba'a), which was developed by the followers of Muhyiddin Ibn al-'Arabi (d. 1240), grows out of this approach.

The theme of the four journeys is depicted by the process of the ascent of the philosopher-mystic from the reality of the shadows, which is represented in Plato's Allegory of the Cave as the reality of prisoners chained in a cave, to the sun, which represents philosophical truth and knowledge, and the process of his return to the cave.

An earliest account of this theme was presented by 'Afif al-Din al-Tilimsani (d. 1290) in his commentary on the work of the tenth-century Sufi Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Jabbar al-Niffari. Another important account was presented by Sa'id al-Din Farghani (d.1300) in his commentary on a famous long poem by the Sufi poet 'Umar Ibn al-Farid (d. 1234). This was followed by what I consider as the most comprehensive and systematically articulated account of this theme introduced in 1290 by the Baghdadi Sufi Sit 'Ajam bint al-Nafis in her commentary on Ibn al-'Arabi's book Contemplations of the Holy Mysteries, which he composed in imitation of al-Niffari's work. A second wave of followers of Ibn al-'Arabi's school provided their accounts of the four journeys, including important figures such as 'Abd al-Razzaq al-Qashani (d. 1329) and Dawwud al-Qaysari (d. 1350). The theme of the four journeys became so dominant in later Islamic thought that the seventeenth-century philosopher and theologian Sadr al-Din al-Shirazi chose the "four journeys" as a title for his major philosophical work. Yet, the theme has not received the proper philosophical attention that it deserves in modern scholarship.

In my research project, I highlight the special significance of the study of this theme for understanding one of the most original and highly innovative aspects of the later Islamic mystical-philosophical tradition. I present my study of this theme, which I conduct in a manner which makes it accessible to philosophical issues and free of ideological debates, as a contribution to the reconciliation of the rational, the mystical and the traditionalist divides in the Arab and Muslim world. I also endeavor to highlight the relevance of the conceptual framework underlying my study to the general understanding of our contemporary Western philosophical investigations.