Prayer of Blessing On The Prophet Muhamm

The Prayer of Blessing
[upon the Light of Muhammad]

by ¡Abd al-¡Az¨z al-Mahdaw¨
Pablo Beneito and Stephen Hirtenstein
Introduction
It is not often that a genuine masterpiece of spiritual writing

comes to light after many years of disregard and neglect, but in
the ¥eld of Ibn ¡Arab¨ studies this is a rather more common
occurrence as more material is slowly uncovered and made
available to Western readers. Mahdaw¨’s remarkable Prayer on
the Prophet is certainly a case in point, this being the ¥rst time
that it has been published even in Arabic, let alone a Western
Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society, Vol. 34, 2003

language, and we are delighted to at last be able to offer both a
critical edition and translation here. Not only is the author an
evident spiritual master who deserves to be better appreciated;
he is also someone who had a crucial impact upon Ibn ¡Arab¨
during his formative years, and of whom the latter speaks with
the utmost affection and respect.
It is through the autobiographical accounts in Ibn ¡Arab¨’s
Fut¬¢åt Makkÿa, R¬¢ al-quds and other works, that many lead-
ing spiritual masters of the time are chie¦y remembered, and
none more so than one who had been part of the celebrated Ab¬
Madyan’s circle, ¡Abd al-¡Az¨z al-Mahdaw¨ of Tunis. This shaykh
Ibn ¡Arab¨ clearly held in the very highest regard, since he not
only made a special journey to stay with him for some six
months in 590/1194, at the prompting of one of his Andalusian
masters, al-Rund¨,1 but also spent a second, longer period with
1. See R. W. J. Austin, Su¥s of Andalusia (partial trans. of Ibn ¡Arab¨ ’s

R¬¢ al-quds and al-Durrat al-fåkhira [Sherborne, Glos., 1971]), p.|118, where
Beneito-Hirtenstein.p65 1 02/12/03, 11:46

2 Pablo Beneito and Stephen Hirtenstein
him on his ¥nal departure from the Maghrib. He went on to

dedicate two major works to Mahdaw¨: the ¥rst, the Risålat R¬¢
al-quds, in many ways summarises Ibn ¡Arab¨’s Western training,
and the second, the beginning of his monumental Fut¬¢åt,
started out as a letter from Mecca to his “beloved friend” (al-wal¨
al-¢ab¨b).
¡ABD AL-¡AZÔZ AL-MAHDAWÔ (c.1150–1221)

Mahdaw¨ represents one of the major in¦uences upon Ibn ¡Arab¨
during the latter’s time in the Maghrib, but his subtle in¦uence
has also permeated the environs of Tunis, with his tomb still
an important place of pilgrimage to this day.2 According to the
later hagiographers, such as Ibn Qunfudh writing in the seventh/
fourteenth century, he is depicted as one of the most important
and in¦uential disciples of Ab¬ Madyan, a “leader of people of
excellence” (imåm al-fu‰alå¤), a “sea of lights and a treasure-trove
of mysteries” (ba¢r al-anwår wa-ma¡din al-asrår). This epithet
brings to mind the physical situation in which Mahdaw¨ lived:
a light-house on a hill-top close by the Mediterranean Sea.

Apart from the writings of Ibn ¡Arab¨, who provides the only
extant ¥rst-hand accounts,3 we know very little about Mahdaw¨.
Born some years before Ibn ¡Arab¨, perhaps around 1150, he
came originally, as his name indicates, from the Tunisian town
of Mahdia, which used to be one of the most formidable for-
tresses on the Mediterranean. Early in his life he is reported to
have undertaken a 40-day retreat in Monastir, some miles down
al-Rund¨, whom Ibn ¡Arab¨ considered one of the seven Substitutes (abdål),
tells the young man through an intermediary that the idea of the Tunis
visit would come to him at the very same moment as his greetings were
conveyed to him, and that he should “proceed thence in peace”.
2. See pp.|18–19 for a translation of the epitaph on his tombstone.
3. The key sources in Ibn ¡Arab¨’s works for the ¥rst (AH 590) and sec-
ond visits (AH 597–98) are the prologues to Mashåhid al-asrår, the R. R¬¢
al-quds, and the Fut¬¢åt. For translations and analysis of the major passages,
see G. Elmore’s comprehensive study of the available sources on Mahdaw¨ ’s
life, “Shaykh ¡Abd al-¡Az¨z al-Mahdaw¨, Ibn al-¡Arab¨’s mentor”, Journal of
African and Oriental Studies, 121.4 (2001), pp.|593–613.

The Prayer of Blessing by ¡Abd al-¡Az¨z al-Mahdaw¨ 3
the coast from Tunis. This kind of rigorous spiritual practice

apparently led the imam of the Mahdia mosque to remark: “If
¡Abd al-¡Az¨z dies, no-one should pray for him, as he will have
killed himself.” On hearing of that, Mahdaw¨ retorted: “It is he
who will die [¥rst] and ¡Abd al-¡Az¨z will pray for him”, and this
was what happened. After this retreat, he appears to have been
unable to eat, and when asked if he was alright, he replied: “I
am alive, with a life after which there is no death evermore.”4
He then seems to have been drawn into Ab¬ Madyan’s circle. It
is recorded that he met Ab¬ Madyan in Tunis in the year 570/
1175, when the latter was heading for Mecca. He subsequently
spent time with Ab¬ Madyan and his group of disciples in Bejaia,
undergoing a thorough training from “the shaykh of shaykhs”,
who referred to him as a “lion of souls”. As Vincent Cornell has
pointed out, Ab¬ Madyan’s way emphasised the disciplines of
fasting (especially the 40-day fast modelled on the austerities of
Moses in the desert and the retreats of Muhammad in the cave
of Hira), seclusion and meditation, as well as being a full partici-
pant in social life, whose detachment from the world enabled
the person to act with integrity and generosity of spirit both

towards himself and towards others.5 According to Ibn ¡Arab¨,
Mahdaw¨ himself became a model of remarkable self-discipline:
One of our companions told us regarding our shaykh, the master

of the spiritual community, Ab¬ Madyan Ibn Shu¡ayb b. ±usayn,
who resided at Bejaia, that he had said: “When I am hungry, I re-
cite the Quran and then I am satis¥ed, and when I am thirsty, I
pray blessings upon Muhammad, may God bless him and give him
peace, and my thirst is quenched.” Now another of our compan-
ions told me that the gnostic shaykh, ¡Abd al-¡Az¨z al-Mahdaw¨,
acted in the same manner, but I have forgotten the details. What
I do know, however, is that he had given up eating bread for more
than ten years. I myself stayed with him for eight months, night
4. See Ibn Qunfudh’s Uns al-faq¨r, edited by M. al-Fås¨ and A. Fauré

(Rabat, 1965), pp.|97–100, and al-Fårisÿa (Tunis, 1968), p.|146. Ibn
Qunfudh’s account was written down in the late seventh/fourteenth
century, and may have come from oral sources that he met when visiting
the cemetery in La Marsa.
5. See V. Cornell, Realm of the Saint (Austin, Texas, 1998), pp.|134ff.

and day, and I never saw him touch bread at all. When he ate, he
took little, and yet he was large and in the best of health. I never
saw anyone more tough and hardy than him, and with regard to
God he showed a soul of steel.6
This austerity, and in particular the 40-day fast which

Mahdaw¨ accomplished early in his life, may help to explain the
cryptic title mentioned by Ibn ¡Arab¨ in the following passage
from the Fut¬¢åt:
I heard one of the shaykhs saying: “As long as he has his mortal
nature (basharÿa), speech belongs to him from behind a veil, but
when he departs from his mortal nature, the veil will be lifted.”
This Shaykh was ¡Abd al-¡Az¨z ibn Ab¬ Bakr al-Mahdaw¨, known
as Ibn al-Karra. I heard this from him in his house in Tunis. He was
correct in that and he erred.7
Literally “the son of return”, the unusual epithet, Ibn al-

Karra,8 would appear to refer to Mahdaw¨’s “return” to life
after which there is no death, his being resurrected alive. The
root k-r-r also has meanings of a period of time and totality, and
thus may speci¥cally refer to the fact that this “return” to real

life took place as a consequence of the 40-day retreat.
Mahdaw¨ established himself in the area known today as La
Marsa (Marså ¡Ayd¬n, or Marså Laq¨t as Ibn ¡Arab¨ refers to it), a
coastal village close to the Bay of Tunis and a few miles outside
6. Quoted in Ibn ¡Arab¨’s al-Kawkab al-durr¨ f¨ manåqib Dh¬’l-N¬n al-

Mißr¨, translated as La vie merveilleuse de Dh¬’l-N¬n l’Égyptien by R. Deladrière
(Paris, 1988), p.|86. This eight-month stay took place in 597–98/1201–02,
as Ibn ¡Arab¨ was preparing to leave the Maghrib for the last time. See
S. Hirtenstein, The Unlimited Merci¥er (Oxford, 1999), pp.|87–90 and 144–
6 for details.
7. Fut.|II.|601, translated by W. C. Chittick, The Self-Disclosure of God
(Albany, NY, 1998), p.|108. Chittick reads the name as Ibn al-Karih, “son
of the ugly”, which seems less plausible. The passage is a clear example
of the genuine appreciation Ibn ¡Arab¨ had for Mahdaw¨’s knowledge
and comprehension, as well as his own ability to provide an even more
penetrating insight.
8. According to the Lisån al-¡arab, al-karra means both “a time” (marra)
and “the resurrection and recreation of a thing after annihilation”. It is in
this sense a “return” (ruj¬¡) to creation.

the city. Here there seems to have been a group of Madyanite

companions: these included Ab¬ ¡Al¨ al-Naf†¨, who is described
as one of the four Pillars (awtåd),9 and an older man called Ab¬
Mu¢ammad ¡Abdullåh Ibn Kham¨s al-Kinån¨, known as al-
Jarrå¢.10 Like others of Ab¬ Madyan’s circle who set up local
centres of spiritual practice in different parts of North Africa,
Mahdaw¨ surrounded himself with a group of students and dis-
ciples at the Carthage light-house or beacon station that used
to stand on top of the hill at Sidi Bou Said.11 One of the group
members was Ibn ¡Arab¨’s paternal cousin.
This hill would become a beacon of light in more ways than
one, as it had a particular association with the archetype of di-
rect Divine inspiration, Khi‰r. As Ibn ¡Arab¨ writes in the Fut¬¢åt,
Physical places produce an effect upon subtle hearts, and if the
heart is found in any particular place, it will be the most general
experience. So its experience in Mecca is most exalted and com-
plete. Just as there is a hierarchy amongst spiritual dwelling-places
(manåzil r¬¢ånÿa), there is also a hierarchy among physical dwell-
ing-places ... the experience of our hearts is more abundant in some
places than in others.12

In this context Ibn ¡Arab¨ goes on to mention an interesting
anecdote:
9. According to the testimony of K¬m¨, quoted by Ibn Qunfudh. Ab¬

¡Al¨ died in 610/1213.
10. Austin, Su¥s of Andalusia, p.|141. Kinån¨ was an elderly man when
Ibn ¡Arab¨ met him on his ¥rst visit to Tunis, and is spoken of with great
affection as one of his masters.
11. The old name of this village was Jabal al-Manåra (Light-house Hill).
The light-house was one of a whole series stretching along the coast as far
as Egypt, lookout posts against invasion or attack from the Christian north.
The village takes its modern name from Ab¬ Sa¡¨d Khalaf b. Ab¬ Ya¢yå
al-Tam¨m¨ al-Båj¨ (551/1156 to 628/1230), whose tomb and zåwiya can
be found in its centre; born in Båja al-Qad¨ma, a village situated on the
outskirts of Tunis, he became a disciple of Ab¬ Madyan, and had a close
relationship with Mahdaw¨. It was he who washed Mahdaw¨’s body when
he died, and said the funeral-prayer over him and laid him in his grave. He
later became one of Shådhil¨’s teachers in Tunis.
12. Fut.|I.|98–9.

He (Mahdaw¨), may God be pleased with him, used to leave his

retreat in the houses of the protected light-house, which lay on the
coast east of Tunis, and go off to the hermitage (råbi†a) which lay
amongst the tombs just opposite the light-house gate, and was a
place ascribed to Khi‰r. I asked him about it and he told me: “I ¥nd
my heart there more readily than in the light-house”, and I too
found the same as what the shaykh had said. That is because of
one who has lived or is living there, be it due to the state of a
blessed angel or a truthful jinn or due to the spiritual energy of a
person who used to live there. This is like the house of Ab¬ Yaz¨d
which was called the “house of the just (bayt al-abrår)” or the
zåwiya of Junayd in Shawn¨zÿa, or the cave of Ibn Adham in Ti¡n
or all the places of the righteous (ßåli¢¨n) who have passed away
from this life – traces of them remain in the places they have been
in, by which subtle hearts are affected.13
Aside from the close relationship with Ibn ¡Arab¨, Mahdaw¨

acted as a kind of Madyanite link between West and East, main-
taining contact with Y¬suf al-K¬m¨ in Andalusia and ¡Abd al-
Razzåq in Alexandria.14 In addition, Mahdaw¨ is said to have had
beautiful handwriting and written excellent poetry, but none

seems to have survived except the following verses:
O Shu¡ayb, the friend of God and secret of His servants,
Ab¬ Madyan, enricher of mankind in H/his glory;
O garden of refuge and sign of [salvi¥c] guidance, and
publisher of the knowledge of God by His command;
You are present and not present, absent and not absent;
and how you are in everyone, added to their “tower” (†¬r),
For your light shows the way unerring to the Light of God,
and who among humanity can extinguish His Light?15
13. Ibid.
14. See La Risåla de Íaf¨ al-D¨n Ibn Ab¨ l-Manß¬r Ibn Ûå¥r, edited and
translated by D. Gril (Cairo, 1986), p.|168.
15. Ibn Qunfudh, Uns, 98–9 (translated by G. Elmore in “Shaykh ¡Abd
al-¡Az¨z al-Mahdaw¨ ”), who also describes him as “illiterate” (umm¨ ). This
epithet almost certainly refers not to his inability to read and write but to
his interior condition, as someone able to receive inspiration directly with-
out the interference of the analytical mind.

The only major work that is attributed to him is this remarkable

prayer on the Prophet, al-Íalåt al-mubåraka, which shows him
to have been a true spiritual master.
He died in the year 621/1224, and was buried next to his own
master, Kinån¨, in what was to become a very well-known cem-
etery of shaykhs and place of pilgrimage. It lies in the middle of
the bay of La Marsa, a mere stone’s throw from the sea.
THE PRAYER UPON THE PROPHET

The tradition of calling down blessings upon Muhammad
(taßliya), which is such a characteristic of Islamic devotion, dates
back to the time of the Prophet, and is mentioned as a divine
order in the Quranic verse: “Indeed God and His angels call down
blessings upon the prophet. O you who have faith, call down
blessings upon him, and greet him with peace” (Q.|33.|56). As
many Quranic commentators have pointed out, the divine/
angelic prayer upon the Prophet is an already existing reality,
in which those who have faith are invited to participate. It
was usually considered to be a general obligation conditional

on belief, not restricted to a speci¥c time. Any ritual prayer
performed without blessing the Prophet was taken to be
incomplete.
To pray blessing and peace upon the Prophet was also to in-
voke God’s blessing upon oneself. The often-quoted tradition
“whoso calls down one blessing upon me, God shall call down
on him ten blessings” is corroborated in a Divine Saying (¢ad¨th
quds¨), reported by ¡Abd al-Ra¢mån ibn ¡Awf:
I entered the mosque and I saw the Messenger of God leaving. I

followed him, walking after him without him noticing me. Shortly
afterwards he went into a palm-grove, turned towards the qibla
and prostrated. His prostration lasted such a long time that from
behind I began to wonder if God had caused him to die. So I
approached him and bent down to look at his face. He raised his
head and said, “What is the matter, ¡Abd al-Ra¢mån?”
“O Messenger of God,” I replied, “when you made such a long
prostration, I feared that God, may He be glori¥ed and magni¥ed,
had taken your soul, and so I came to look.”

The Prophet declared, “When you saw me enter the palm-grove

I met Gabriel, upon him peace, who said to me,
‘I bring you good news. Indeed God, may He be exalted, says
to you: “He who greets you with peace, him shall I greet with
peace. He who blesses you, him shall I bless.”’”16
There are several traditions that state the requirement to pray

upon the Prophet as a formal part of any supplication, without
which the prayer was taken to be “suspended between heaven
and earth”, as ¡Umar ibn al-Kha††åb put it. When Muhammad
himself heard someone making a supplication in his prayer
without the blessing upon the Prophet, he explained to the man
and those present that “when one of you prays, he should
begin with praise of God, then pray upon the Prophet, and then
make whatever supplication he wishes.”17
The form of the blessing was also instituted by the Prophet
himself: “Say: O God, bless Muhammad and his family as You
blessed the family of Abraham, and grant blessing to Muham-
mad and his family as You granted blessing to the family of
Abraham. You are Praiseworthy, Glorious.”18

FORMS OF BLESSING IN WESTERN ISLAM
Over time the forms of this blessing upon the Prophet became
an ever more complex tapestry woven around one short basic
16. This is the full text of the thirty-eighth hadith cited in Ibn ¡Arab¨’s
collection entitled Mishkåt al-anwår (to be published as Divine Sayings, trans.
S. Hirtenstein and M. Notcutt, Oxford, forthcoming).
17. Reported by Fa‰ala ibn ¡Ubayd. See Muhammad, Messenger of
Allah, Ash-Shifa of Qadi ¡Iyad, by Qå‰¨ ¡Iyå‰ ibn M¬så al-Ya¢sub¨, trans.
A. Bewley (Granada, 1991), pp.|250–63. Qå‰¨ ¡Iyå‰ (d.544/1149), a judge
in Ceuta and Granada, composed this comprehensive book on the great-
ness of the Prophet, which became “perhaps the most frequently used and
commented-upon handbook in which the Prophet’s life, his qualities and
his miracles are described in every detail” (A. Schimmel, And Muhammad
is His Messenger: the Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety [Chapel Hill,
NC, 1985], p.|33).
18. As reported by ¡Al¨ ibn Ab¨ Êålib. There are several slight variations
on the blessing, depending upon the transmitter.

phrase, seeking greater intensity of devotion, greater inclusive-

ness, greater duration. Many of these devotional recitations
became famous. As Annemarie Schimmel puts it,
It seems that the poets of Morocco, or rather of the entire

Spanish–North African area, were specially fertile in producing
poetic eulogies and prayers for the Prophet. Some of these soon
became classics in their own right, among them the blessing for-
mulas invented by Ibn Mash¨sh and somewhat later Jaz¬l¨’s Dalå¤il
al-khairåt; these poets excelled in elated, worshipful poems and
show some special features of na¡tÿa poetry [poems honouring the
virtues of the Prophet].19
Three of these great eulogies to the Prophet stand out in
terms of their power and popularity. The earliest, al-Íalåt al-
mash¨shÿa, is ascribed to the somewhat mysterious ¥gure of ¡Abd
al-Salåm ibn Mash¨sh (d.625/1227). Little is known of his life,
although he acted as a crucial link between Ab¬ Madyan and
Shådhil¨. An exact contemporary of Mahdaw¨, he seems to have
followed a very similar career: he also went on pilgrimage to the
East in search of knowledge, and settled for a while in Medina.

On his way back, he followed the teachings of Ab¬ Madyan in
Bejaia, and thereafter established himself in a hermitage (zåwiya)
at Jabal al-¡Alam, near Tetouan (Morocco). It seems to have been
only from the fifteenth century, through the ¦ourishing of the
Shådhil¨ movement in Morocco, that his name became better
known in a wider area and he came to be recognised as the Pole
of the Western lands of Islam. His prayer on the Prophet became
widely spread through the medium of the Shådhilÿa, amongst
whom it is often recited. It has been published many times and
translated into several languages. It is a very ¥ne example of
mature Su¥ praise on the Muhammadian Reality.20
The later but even more celebrated Dalå¤il al-khayråt wa-
shawåriq al-anwår f¨ dhikr al-ßalåt ¡alå’l-Nab¨ al-mukhtår (The Signs
19. Schimmel, And Muhammad, p.|188.

20. A version of it (Arabic text plus Spanish translation by P. Beneito and
English by C. Twinch) may be found on the CD entitled Dhikr y samå¡,
rendered by the group Cofradía al-Shushtarí, directed by Omar Metioui
(Pneuma, PN: 30, Madrid, 1999).

of Goodness and the Rays of Light in the remembrance of the

blessing upon the chosen Prophet) was composed by Ab¬ ¡Abd
Allåh Mu¢ammad b. Sulaymån al-Jaz¬l¨ (d.870/1465).21 It seems
that he wrote the Dalå¤il in Fez, after having been initiated into
the Shådhilÿa order. The prayer was so much revered that his
disciples are reported to have recited it constantly, night and
day, and there apparently remains even today a brotherhood
in Morocco dedicated to its recitation. Today it is widely known
and recited throughout the Islamic world, from Morocco to
Malaysia.
The third prayer of blessing worthy of mention is al-Burda
(the Mantle of the Prophet) of Sharafudd¨n Ab¬ ¡Abd Allåh
Mu¢ammad b. Sa¡¨d al-Bußayr¨ (or Buß¨r¨, d.694/1295 and bur-
ied opposite Q¬naw¨’s tomb in Konya). Bußayr¨, an Egyptian of
Berber origin, was also closely associated with the Shådhilÿa
order, being instructed by Ab¬’l-¡Abbås A¢mad al-Murs¨ (d.1287),
the disciple of Shådhil¨ and master of Ibn ¡A†å¤ Allåh of Alexan-
dria. It is reported that Bußayr¨ received the order to compose this
eulogy from the Prophet himself in a dream.
These three examples show how closely the tradition of

prayers upon the Prophet is associated with the Maghribi Su¥
tradition, especially within the Shådhilÿa order. It is from this
same background, steeped in the teachings of Ab¬ Madyan, that
the long-ignored Prayer of Blessing by Mahdaw¨ comes. The
majority of scholars accept that the most important initiator of
Su¥sm in the Islamic west was Ab¬ Madyan, since from him
would derive, through Ibn Mash¨sh and Shådhil¨, the vast move-
ment of the Shådhilÿa and of course its derivations such as
the Jaz¬lÿa, the Zarr¬qÿa or the Wafå¤ÿa in Egypt.22 However,
the Madyanite tree also gave rise to other branches, such as
al-Mahdaw¨, and also indirectly to Ibn ¡Arab¨.23 An interesting
21. His mausoleum is still a place of pilgrimage in Marrakesh, where he

is known as one of the seven saintly patrons of the town. See Encyclopaedia
of Islam, 2nd edn, for further details.
22. See É. Dermenghem, Le culte des saints dans l’Islam maghrébin (Paris,
1954), p.|72.
23. Indirectly, since they never met in the ¦esh, although Ibn ¡Arab¨
consistently refers to Ab¬ Madyan as “our shaykh” and accords him

example of this commonality of inheritance is the use, with

identical vowelling, of the enigmatic words adumma ¢amma in
both Mahdaw¨’s and Shådhil¨’s prayers.24
MAHDAWÔ’S PRAYER OF BLESSING

The Íalåt al-mubåraka of ¡Abd al-¡Az¨z al-Mahdaw¨ is an excep-
tional blending of heart-felt devotion and spiritual understand-
ing, love and knowledge. It forms not only a devotional prayer
of great power and beauty, but also a series of expositions that
draw the listener or reader into a vast universe of contemplation.
Each blessing becomes an invitation to contemplate the all-
embracing Reality in a particular mode. In this respect, it bears
a striking similarity to the work of Ibn ¡Arab¨ himself, especially
in its wide-ranging and comprehensive treatment of the Real-
ity of Muhammad as the Reality of Man,25 its cosmological and
metaphysical approach to the theme of the divine human form,
and its use of the language of symbolic allusion. One startling
expression in the fourteenth blessing is identical to that found
at the beginning of the famous “Theophany of Perfection”

(no:|81) in Ibn ¡Arab¨’s K. al-Tajalliyåt: “I am the centre of the
circle and its circumference; I am the compound of its elements
and its simple principle.”
It is perhaps no coincidence, given that Mahdaw¨ lived his life
in the rooms of the great Carthage light-house, that this Prayer
of Blessing should focus so much on the Light of Muhammad.
The identi¥cation of the Prophet with light begins primarily
with his great light-prayer:
enormous admiration and respect. Many of his Andalusian masters such

as K¬m¨ and Mawr¬r¨ were disciples of Ab¬ Madyan. For a good overview
of their relationship, see C. Addas, “Abu Madyan and Ibn ¡Arab¨ ”, in
Muhyidd¨n Ibn ¡Arab¨: a Commemorative Volume, ed. S. Hirtenstein and
M. Tiernan (Shaftesbury, 1993), pp.|163–80.
24. See n.|43 in the prayer. This correspondence shows the very close
similarity in treatment of letter symbolism between Mahdaw¨ and the later
Shådhil¨ (d.1258).
25. We may note the use of what is normally considered to be typically
akbarian terminology: ra¢am¬t (1), ma™åhir wuj¬dÿa (5), surådiq (9),

O God, place light in my heart and light in my soul, light upon

my tongue, light in my eyes and light in my ears; place light at my
right, light at my left, light behind me and light before me, light
above me and light beneath me. Place light in my nerves and light
in my ¦esh, light in my blood, light in my hair and light in my
skin. Give me light, increase my light, make me light!26
The idea of Muhammad as the light of the world is drawn

from Quranic imagery (Q.|33.|46), where he is described as “a
shining lamp” (siråjun mun¨r). According to Sahl al-Tustar¨
(d.896), “the light of the prophets is from his, Muhammad’s
light, and the light of the heavenly kingdom (malak¬t) is from
his light, and the light of this world and of the world to come
is from his light.”27 Both these aspects of the Light of Muham-
mad, microcosmic and macrocosmic, have a prominent place in
the Íalåt al-mubåraka.
Mahdaw¨’s prayer is structured according to 24 repetitions of
“O God” (allåhumma), corresponding to 24 different aspects of
the Reality of Muhammad, including the continued transmis-
sion of his message through the four caliphs and the commu-
nity. This number, with its obvious overtones of the 24 hours

of the day, appears to be deliberate and signi¥cant, implying that
the whole prayer conforms to the constant divine/angelic prayer
upon the Prophet. The blessings occur within three distinct
modes: Quranic quotation or allusion to Hadith, epithets of the
Prophet in the form of his names or descriptions, and metaphysi-
cal expositions of the Reality of Muhammad, both microcosmic
and macrocosmic. The strong emphasis in the ¥rst two blessings
on Mercy (ra¢ma) in all its forms indicates the overall tone of
the prayer. In addition, within the prayer there appear to be close
takhalluq, ta¡alluq and ta¢aqquq (13 and 14). This particularly demonstrates
the extent to which both Mahdaw¨ and Ibn ¡Arab¨ partook in a common
Maghribi Su¥ background, centred upon the ¥gure of Ab¬ Madyan, who
is reputed to have formulated the last three interrelated expressions (see
n.|49 of the translation).
26. Quoted in C. Padwick, Muslim Devotions (London, 1960), p.|212.
27. See Schimmel, And Muhammad, chapter 7 (pp.|123–43), which is
devoted to the Light of Muhammad and the mystical tradition.

correspondences between the theme or manner of each bless-

ing and the particular number it occupies in the sequence.
THE TWO HALVES OF PRAYER

There is a well-known ¢ad¨th quds¨ (Divine Saying) which refers
to the sharing of the prayer (ßalåt) between God and the one who
prays: “I have divided the Prayer into two halves between Me and
My servant, and My servant shall have that for which he asks.”28
This notion of a prayer with two halves is central to the under-
standing of the Fåti¢a, where the glori¥cation of God in the ¥rst
three verses is complemented by the servant’s request in the last
three. In a different way, this bipartite division also ¥nds expres-
sion in the 24 parts of the Prayer of Blessing.
The ¥rst 12 prayers form a distinct unity, emphasising the
interior Reality of Muhammad, whereas the second 12 re¦ect the
more outward aspects of qualities and descriptions, and in par-
ticular the imagery of light within the bodily niche. The ¥rst 12
can be taken as corresponding to the 12 hours of night, or the
world of the Unseen, where the origins of things are to be found.

This interior dimension is expressed in the esoteric tradition in
terms of the letters of the alphabet, since letters are the constitu-
ent elements of words and hence the basis of expressing mean-
ings. All the prayers which make use of letter symbolism are to
be found in the ¥rst group of 12:
(4), which opens with an exposition of the enigmatic letters
found at the beginning of the Sura Maryam;
(6), (8) and (9), which depict the letters of the names Mu¢am-
mad, A¢mad and Ab¬’l-Qåsim, respectively;
(10), which charts the ontological progression of Being in
degrees through letters;
(12), which uses two groups of 14 separate letters, including
repetitions, thus 28 in total, all drawn from Quranic Suras and
names. Twelve different letters are used in total, which are in
order of appearance: alif, låm, m¨m, ¢å¤, dål, qåf, †å¤, s¨n, hå¤, wåw,
yå¤, n¬n. We also ¥nd 12 sets in each group if we do not count
28. See the thirty-¥rst ¢ad¨th cited in Ibn ¡Arab¨’s Mishkåt al-anwår.

the repetition of ¢å¤–m¨m (¥rst group) and wåw–dål (second

group). This may perhaps suggest that there is some kind of
intended connection or symbolical transition from the 24
(12||×||2) hours of the day to the 28 (14||×||2) lunar mansions.
Apart from this use of letter symbolism, is there any deeper
structure to the ¥rst set of prayers? Is the order in which the
blessings are presented signi¥cant in any way? When we con-
sider the prayers in terms of number symbolism,29 we can again
see certain correspondences throughout:
1 qåf (=|1), referring to the pen (qalam), whose vertical form
corresponds to the alif (the ¥rst letter of the alphabet, whose
numerical value is 1).
2 rå¤ (=| 2), referring to the Prophet as mercy (ra¢ma) to the
worlds and to the Lord (rabb), both terms that begin with the
letter rå¤.
3 j¨m (=| 3), referring to the integral union (jam¡), and to
three terms of unity brought together in the af¥rmation of
union (jam¡ jam¡ a¢adÿa).
4 the key term Path (ß-r-å-†), mentioned twice, is composed
of four letters.

5 the term essence (¡ayn) is mentioned ¥ve times, and is used
in reference to ¥ve realms or presences: Being, Unseen, Creation,
Uniting Power and Realisation; and to ¥ve Divine Names that
correspond to them: Knowledge, Generosity, Will, Power and
Compassion.
6 referring to the numerical value of the letters of the name
Muhammad (4|+|8|+|4|+|4|+|4|=|24|=|2|+|4|=|6) and to the value of
the letter wåw (=|6), symbol of the Perfect Human Being, thus
Muhammad.
7 referring to the Seven Repeated, usually associated with the
seven verses of the Fåti¢a, and to the value of the term al-thån¨
[the doubling: 1|+|3|+|5|+|1|+|5|+|1|=|16|=|1|+|6|=|7], which is used as
key term in this blessing.
29. That is to say, using the abjad numerical system according to the
Oriental minor system (which reduces all numbers to units). For details, see
our book The Seven Days of the Heart (Oxford, 2000), Appen. C, pp.|161–2.

8 referring to the value of the letters of the name A¢mad

(1|+|8|+|4|+|4|=|17|=|1|+|7|=|8).
9 referring to the nine letters of the name Ab¬’l-Qåsim30 and
also to the value of the term Ab¬ (father: 1|+|2|+|6|=|9), alluding
to Muhammad as the spiritual father of humankind.
10 referring to the cumulation of the three ontological
degrees of Being: Generosity (j¬d, 3|+|6|+|4|=|13|=|4), Being (wuj¬d,
6|+|3|+|6|+|4|=|19|=|10|=|1, i.e. the Unity of Being) and existence
(mawj¬d, 4|+|6|+|3|+|6|+|4|=|23|=|5): 4|+|1|+|5|=|10|.
11 just as the number 11 is a repeating of 1, so there is a
repetition or doubling alluded to in the following ¥ve terms
used in the prayer: imåm (alif–m¨m|+|alif–m¨m), qawsayn (the two
arcs), yadan (the two hands), mußall¨ (known as the second in a
one-to-one relation), a¢adÿa jam¡ (1–1).
12 referring to the 12 different letters used (in total) in the
two groups of 14 letters.31
Despite the clarity of these connections, whose ordered pre-
cision drawn from the same numerical system makes them
unlikely to be accidental, they have not been rendered explicit.
Rather, they were left, perhaps more properly, as a possible mode

of contemplation. If we bring attention to them here, it is
because number and letter symbolism, viewed as an important
mode of contemplation within the esoteric tradition, escapes
most modern readers and would inevitably be lost in translation.
The second half of the prayer, on the other hand, can be
seen to correspond to the 12 hours of the daytime. It opens with
blessings on the character of the Prophet and his various epithets
(13–18), and then proceeds to a detailed contemplation of
the Light of Muhammad (19–22). The prayer closes with two
requests (23–24), covering the four successors and the whole
community of those who follow the Prophet.
30. Only eight are mentioned in the text as we have it, indicating
either a lapsus calami in both manuscripts or possibly considering the third
and last alif as implicit as in the writing of the Names al-Ra¢mån or Allåh.
31. This collection of letters in the twelfth blessing forms a kind of coun-
terpoint to the gathering of the Prophet’s community in the twenty-fourth
prayer.

MANUSCRIPT SOURCES
We have used two manuscripts for the translation and edition

of the text: A¢madÿa Tunis 3832, fols. 212b–214a, and Berlin
427 (Petermann II.65), fols.122a–124a. These appear to be the
only extant copies of the text.32 Neither of them includes the
explicit numbering which we have put in for clarity in our trans-
lation and the edition.
The Tunis manuscript (T), which contains 33 lines per page,
provides the title (fol. 212b) we are using for our edition and
translation. As the copy is complete and very correct, it has been
chosen as the base manuscript for the Arabic edition. It is writ-
ten in a dif¥cult but clear Maghribi style, with occasional and
useful vocalisations. The expression Allåhumma at the beginning
of each prayer is written somewhat larger than the rest of the
text, helping the reader ¥nd the starting point of each part and
suggesting the copy itself has been made for recitation.
It is interesting to note that the copyist calls the author of the
Prayer S¨d¨ ¡Abd al-¡Az¨z al-Mahdaw¨, which is identical to the

name given in a hemistich of the poem that serves as an epitaph
on his tomb (see below).
In the same volume, there is the complete text (fols. 73a–116a)
of Ibn ¡Arab¨’s R¬¢ al-quds (RG 630) dated 28 Dh¬’l-±ijja 1242
[23 July 1827] (fol. 116a) by the copyist, presented as “a letter
(muråsala) from the Shaykh al-Akbar … to his friend S¨d¨ ¡Abd
al-¡Az¨z al-Mahdaw¨…”.
The Berlin copy (B) is part of a manuscript compilation called
K. Jawhar al-ghawåßß wa-tu¢fat ahl al-ikhtißåß, a collection of
writings by various scholars of Quranic exegesis and ¢ad¨th.33 The
32. It is not mentioned in the collections of prayers on the Prophet com-

piled by Y¬suf ibn Ismå¡¨l al-Nabhån¨ (d.1932), nor is there any manuscript
attributed to Mahdaw¨ in the great libraries whose catalogues we have
consulted, including the Suleymaniye in Istanbul.
33. It contains works by Ab¬’l-Faraj ibn al-Jawz¨ (d.597/1200) [fols. 1b–
20a]; Ibn Labån (d.749/1348) [résumé of his Radd ma¡ån¨ al-åyåt al-
mutashåbihåt (fols. 20a–50a)]; ¡Umar b. ¡Al¨ al-Siråj al-Anßår¨ (c.1401) [Na¢w

original compiler is named as Ab¬ ¡Abdallåh Mu¢ammad b. ¡Al¨

b. ¡Abd al-Ra¢mån al-Dimashq¨ Ibn ¡Arråq, who died in 933/
1526. Ibn ¡Arråq was one of the main followers of the celebrated
malåm¨ shaykh, ¡Al¨ b. Maym¬n al-Fås¨ (d.917/1511), who
did much to revive Ibn ¡Arab¨’s teachings in Damascus in the
early sixteenth century, prior to the arrival of the Ottomans. It
is reported that when Sultan Selim took Damascus in 1516, he
visited Ibn ¡Arråq to ask his authorisation to conquer Egypt.34
Ibn ¡Arråq himself, who was known as a Shådhil¨ shaykh, had
frequented most of the great Su¥ masters of the East at his time,
and had received the khirqa akbarÿa at the hands of a descend-
ant of Ab¬ Bakr al-Mawßil¨ (d.797/1394), who traced his lineage
to Qa‰¨b al-Bån and ¡Abd al-Qådir al-J¨lån¨. Ibn ¡Arråq is known
as the founder of the Khawå†irÿa, whose teachings particularly
emphasised the necessity for a disciple to con¥de his thoughts
to the shaykh without editing them in any way, as only a true
spiritual master could analyse them properly. It is possible that
Ibn ¡Arråq came to know of Mahdaw¨ and this Blessing-Prayer
from his own shaykh, Ibn Maym¬n, who had migrated to
Damascus from the Maghrib.35
al-qul¬b (fols. 50a–121b)]; ¡Abd al-¡Az¨z al-Mahdaw¨’s prayer [fols. 122a–

124a]; Ab¬’l-Êåhir A¢mad b. Mu¢ammad b. A¢mad b. Mu¢ammad al-Silaf¨
(d.576/1180) [collection of hadiths (fols. 124b–130b)]; Ab¬’l ¡Abbås al-B¬n¨
(d.622/1225) [fols. 131a–135a] and some other minor additions [fols.
135b–138a]. It is interesting to note that the catalogue speaks of a Shi’ite
connection to ¡Al¨ in two different places (see pp.|163 and 326) without
any foundation. We believe that this curious invention must have come
from a misreading of the expression li-¡Al¨ (in praise of or dedicated to ¡Al¨),
instead of la¡all¨ in the initial phrase of the copy: “so that I may (la¡all¨ ) walk
under his guidance…”.
34. Ibn Ayy¬b, Raw‰, quoted in É. Geoffroy, Le sou¥sme en Égypte et en
Syrie (Damascus, 1995), p.|77.
35. See Geoffroy, ibid., for further details on Ibn Maym¬n and Ibn
¡Arråq.

EPITAPH ON THE MASTER’S TOMBSTONE
The following unpublished poem – 14 verses in meter ramal

rhyming in -¨ – can be found on the tomb of Mahdaw¨ in La
Marsa, written after the construction of the dome-shaped build-
ing that now shelters it.
[Here lies] S¨d¨ ¡Abd al-¡Az¨z al-Mahdaw¨, who had the

station of the Pole, that most eminent rank,
uniter of the two sciences, son of Ab¬ Bakr al-±åw¨, the
noble Qurashite,
His excellence more radiant even than the sun at full
noon – both al-Båjï and al-±åtimïi have testi¥ed to that!
He guarantees true happiness to whoever visits him, for
he said that “no-one who visits my tomb can be
unhappy”.
What virtue, o companion! Such a virtue that it is passed
on by everyone, whether they understand or not,

through what they themselves have seen. Thus one
who was astray is guided, becoming obedient after
having been disobedient.
So seize this time to visit him and rejoice in it. Seek the
help that is extended to you by a muni¥cent hand!
For him ask God’s [blessing]; for him ask Mercy every
morning and evening,
[a Mercy] that includes al-Kawwåsh,iii who built his tomb
for mankind after a powerful realisation;
i. Ab¬ Sa¡¨d al-Båj¨ – see n.|11.

ii. Mu¢yidd¨n Ibn ¡Arab¨, known as al-Êå¤¨ al-±åtim¨ al-Andalus¨.
iii. It would be interesting to know more about this person, who built
the tomb and may have written this epitaph, and when he lived. However,
so far we have found no further details.

and likewise al-Jarrå¢iv whose tomb this [also] is, and for
whoever is close by, alive or dead,
especially al-Båj¨, who bore witness [at his funeral] to his
faith in God the High,
and in what A¢mad, the chosen one, of an ancient
lineage, brought from Him.
May peace and blessings embrace him and his relations,
and all the saints,
and the one whose name declares his date, S¨d¨ ¡Abd
al-¡Az¨z al-Mahdaw¨.v
iv. Ibn Kham¨s al-Kinån¨ al-Jarrå¢ – see n.|10.

v. According to the Western system, the numerical value of al-
Mahdaw¨’s name is as follows: S¨d¨|=|300|+|10|+|4|+|10|=|324; ¡Abd|=|70|+|2
|+|4|=|76; al-¡Az¨z|=|1|+|30|+|70+|7|+|10|+|7|=|125; al-Mahdaw¨| =|1|+|30|+|40|+|5|
+|4|+|6|+|10|=|96. The total of 621 is the Hijra date of Mahdaw¨ ’s death
(1224).

The Prayer of Blessing
[upon the Light of Muhammad]
by Shaykh ¡Abd al-¡Az¨z al-Mahdaw¨
In the Name of God, the All-Compassionate and Most Merciful

May God bless our master and lord Muhammad, his family and
his companions, and greet them with peace.
May God grant us bene¥t through this [prayer] and through
the shaykh’s knowledge, amen; may He be satis¥ed with him and
grant us bene¥t through the blessing of his spiritual grace,
amen.1
1) O God, bless the tablet of Your all-embracing Compassion
(ra¢månÿa), upon which You have written with the pen of Your
sheer Mercifulness (ra¢¨mÿa), and the ink-supply of Your super-
lative Compassion (ra¢am¬tÿa) for [You have said]: “God would
not chastise them, with you amongst them.”2

2) O God, bless the Throne upon which Your Unity is mounted,3
by virtue of being encompassed by4 Your Divinity, Your inclu-
sive Mercy and your Perfect Blessing, through Your saying:
“I have only sent you as Mercy to all beings”.5 O Lord of all
beings, bless the [one who is] Mercy to all beings!
1. In B this opening reads: “Let us seal these biographical notices with

the prayer upon the Master of masters, with which Shaykh ¡Abd al-¡Az¨z
al-Mahdaw¨ used to pray, so that I [the copyist] may (la¡all¨) walk (ahtad¨)
under his guidance, and from his well I may drink (artaw¨).”
2. Q.||8.|33. This could also be translated as “while you are within them”,
which could be understood as alluding to the Presence of the
Muhammadian grace within the human being.
3. Traditionally it is the All-Compassionate (Ra¢mån) who is seated upon
the Throne (see Q.|20.|5), but here the emphasis appears to be upon the
unifying Essence of God, whether that be in terms of Divinity or Mercy. B
reads “Your Names” (asmå¤ika) instead of “Your Unity” (wa¢dånÿatika).
4. B adds “the Uniqueness of [Your Divinity]” (a¢adÿatu ul¬hÿatika).
5. Q.|21.|107.

3) O God, bless the eye-pupil of the whole6 in the presence of

Your Oneness (wa¢dånÿa) and the integral union of Your
Uniqueness (a¢adÿa), by virtue of the encompassing of Your
saying: “O Prophet! I have sent you as a witness and a bringer
of glad tidings and a warner, a summoner unto God by His per-
mission and a light-giving lamp. Announce to the people of faith
the glad tidings that they have great bounty from God.”7
[As] he who announced the glad tidings is the same as what
he indicated by them, so let us attain [the degree of] his mouth-
piece.8 Open up, O God, the padlocks on our hearts with the key
of his love, anoint the eyes of our insight with the antimony of
his light, and purify the mysteries of our innermost hearts with
his contemplation and closeness. Thus may we see naught in
existence except You through it, and thus may we awaken from
the sleep of our forgetfulness.
4) O God, bless the kåf 9 of Your Satisfying Suf¥ciency (kifåya),
upon the hå¤ of Your Infallible Guidance (hidåya), upon the yå¤
of Your Benevolent Bestowal (yumn), upon the ¡ayn of Your

6. Literally, “the man of the eye of the whole” (insån ¡ayn al-kull). In
Arabic the term for the eye-pupil is literally “man of the eye”. The expres-
sion here could also be translated as “the man of the Essence of Totality”.
See P. Beneito, “The Servant of the Loving One”, JMIAS, XXXII, 2002, a
translation of Ibn ¡Arab¨ ’s commentary on the Divine Name al-Wad¬d,
where he speaks of how the lovers of God are the eye-pupils of the
cosmos (pp.|10–11): “The cosmos as a whole is a single Man: this one man
is the beloved.”
7. Q.|33.|45–7.
8. In other words, “let us attain the station of the Divine Address”. In
correspondence with the previous image of the “eye” through which wit-
nessing happens, we are maintaining here the literal mention of the
“mouth” through which announcement takes place. The mouth or mouth-
piece (fåh) has some similarity to the principle of the “oracle”, in the sense
of being the voice or medium of Divine Communication. Fåh comes from
the same lexical root as the term speci¥c to Ibn ¡Arab¨’s teaching, fahwånÿa,
which might be translated as “oracularity”. See Fut.|II.|128 for his de¥nition
of this term as “the Address of God, by way of direct encounter, in the world
of imagination”.
9. Here begins an allusive explanation of the ¥ve letters at the begin-
ning of the nineteenth Sura, entitled Maryam. The roots of the terms used

Protective Safeguarding (¡ißma) and upon the ßåd of Your Path

(ßirå†), “the Path of God to Whom belongs whatever is in the
heavens and upon the earth. Is it not to God that everything
returns?”;10 indeed it is “the Path of those to whom You have
granted Your Favour, not of those who have incurred anger or
those who have gone astray”.11
5) O God, bless Your most sublime12 light, who is asked by the
Names to intercede13 in the Presence of the Named. For he is the
essence of their places of appearance in the realm of Being
(wuj¬d), as comprehended by Your Knowledge; and the essence
of their hidden reality in the plenitude (j¬d) [of the Unseen], as
contained in Your Generosity; and the source of their universal
origination in the realm of creation (kawn), as encompassed by
Your Will; and the essential potency of their particular capabili-
ties in the realm of Uniting Power (jabar¬t),14 as grasped by Your
Ordaining Power and Might; and the essence of their produc-
tions15 in the realm of perfect realisation (i¢sån), as embraced by
the [all-inclusive] extent of Your Compassion.16

here all relate to Quranic expressions; for example, suf¥ciency refers to “Is
not God suf¥cient for His servant?” (39.|36); guidance to “He will guide you
to a straight path” (48.|2); safeguarding to “God will safeguard you from
the people” (5.|67). In the ±izb al-ba¢r of Shådhil¨ (see Al-Mafåkhir al-¡Alÿa
f¨ l-ma¤å†ir al-shådhilÿa, by A¢mad b. Mu¢ammad b. ¡Ayyåd al-Shå¥¡¨,
Cairo, n.d. [1st edn Cairo, AH 1323], p.|173) we ¥nd the same letters with
the kåf explained also as the kåf of “our suf¥ciency” (kifåyatinå).
10.|Q.|42.|53.
11.|Q.|1.7. B reads these two Quranic extracts in reverse order.
12. B reads “the most resplendent” (al-asnå).
13. B reads “who intercedes for the Names in the Presence of the
Named”.
14. This term refers to the place where Divine Power or Omnipotence
is demonstrated, in which form and meaning unite. See our translation of
Ibn ¡Arab¨ ’s Awråd entitled The Seven Days of the Heart (Oxford, 2000),
pp.|119–20, where the root of the Divine Name al-Jabbår is discussed.
15. T reads “their indications” (ishåråtihå).
16. Allusion to Q.|7.|156: “My Compassion embraces all things.” See also
Q.|40.|7: “You embrace everything in compassion and knowledge”.

6) O God, bless the m¨m17 of Your Kingdom (mulk), the ¢å¤ of

Your Ruling Wisdom (¢ikma), the m¨m of Your Kingship (malak¬t)
and the dål of Your Everlasting Permanence (daym¬mÿa), in a
blessing that submerges [all] enumeration, and that encompasses
[every] limitation.
7) O God, bless the “second One” (al-wå¢id al-thån¨),18 who
has been distinguished with the gift of the Seven Repeated,19 the
17. The letters M-¢-m-d spell the name Mu¢ammad, which means both
“the one who is highly praised” and “the place of praise”. In the ±izb al-
ba¢r (Mafåkhir, p.|174) we ¥nd a similar explanation for the letters m¨m and
dål (m¨m al-mulk wa-dål al-dawåm).
18. This daring formulation, apparently the very antithesis of the Divine
Unity, can be understood as alluding to the identity of the Divine Form with
the Origin. Man is created “according to His Form”, which is identi¥ed with
the Muhammadian Reality. Compare this with Ibn ¡Arab¨’s later formula-
tion of Man as “the second Actor” (al-få¡il al-thån¨ ), where God, the ¥rst
Actor, ¥nds His place of manifestation and activity (Fuß¬ß al-±ikam, chap-
ter on Muhammad, ed. A. ¡Af¨f¨ [Beirut, 1946], p.|219). It could also be trans-
lated as “the One who is second” or “the One who doubles”. We may note

a numerical progression in this blessing, from One to the numbers 2, 7 and
14 (and 28 as implied in the “mansions” or divisions of the lunar cycle).
The root th-n-y carries meanings of folding (thiny), doubling, being second
or doubling up (thany), repetition (thinå) and praise (thanå¤). This suggests
that the physical act of doubling up one’s body is associated with the act
of bowing in praise, so that praise itself is a “doubling”. The doubling of
praise may also be understood as the essence of the relationship between
Lord and servant. Ibn ¡Arab¨ cites the ¢ad¨th quds¨, “Repeat My praises, o
My servant” (athni ¡alayya ¡abd¨ ), which contains the same root th-n-y, to
show the primacy of the Lord and the lastness of the servant (Fut.|III.|567).
In a similar way, he sometimes explains the meaning of the term mußall¨
(the second one) as one who prays by following the Divine order to pray,
and is hence “second”, as well as the horse that comes second in a race
(another meaning of mußall¨) – for example, see Fuß¬ß, chapter on Muham-
mad, ed. ¡Af¨f¨, p.|225; The Wisdom of the Prophets (some chapters of the
Fuß¬ß, trans. from French of T. Burckhardt by A. Culme-Seymour [Aldsworth,
Glos., 1975]), pp.|131–2.
19. A reference to Q.|15.|87: “We have given you seven of the Repeated
and the mighty Quran”. The Seven Repeated (al-sab¡ al-mathån¨) is often,
though not exclusively, taken to refer to the Fåti¢a, opening chapter of the
Quran, whose seven verses are repeated as part of the ritual prayer. In his

secret pervading the [cosmic] mansions (manåzil) of the All-

Compassionate’s [global] horizon,20 the pen ¦owing with the ink
of lordly support over Mount Mind of humankind,21 in a bless-
ing that is renewed through the renewal of Your Mercy upon
him, and through the culmination of Your Light and Mystery
in him, O Lord of all beings!
8) O God, bless the alif 22 of Your Uniqueness (a¢adÿa), the ¢å¤
of Your Oneness (wa¢dånÿa), the m¨m of Your Kingdom (mulk)
Tanazzulåt al-Mawßilÿa (quoted in M. Chodkiewicz, An Ocean Without

Shore [Albany, NY, 1993], p.|111), Ibn ¡Arab¨ writes: “[The Fåti¢a] is the
Doubled One (muthannå) for it contains the meanings of Lordship and
servitude at the same time… It is the Seven Doubled Ones, for it includes
the [seven] attributes [of the Essence].” The word mathån¨ comes from the
same root as thån¨ (second), and may also be understood as “praisings”
or “places of praise or doubling”. As Ibn ¡Arab¨ declares in the Awråd
(Beneito and Hirtenstein, Seven Days, p.|41), “Deserving of all praise (thanå)
and glori¥cation, He is such that He extols (athnå) Himself, for He is both
Praiser (¢åmid) and Praised (ma¢m¬d).” The Seven Repeated can also be
understood here in a temporal sense, as the whole cycle of the seven days

of the week: these days, according to Ibn ¡Arab¨, all belong to Muhammad
as “his subtleties permeate every day” (Ayyåm al-sha¤n, p.|1, discussed in
Seven Days, p.|20). We may also note that, during his ¥rst stay with
Mahdaw¨, Ibn ¡Arab¨ composed his famous poem which begins: “I am the
Quran and the Seven Repeated…” (see Hirtenstein, Unlimited Merci¥er,
p.|88).
20. The “horizon” is the furthest extent to which God’s creative Com-
passion extends, and therefore it denotes the entire circle of existence
(då¤irat al-wuj¬d), which can be divided into 28 lunar mansions (manåzil),
corresponding to the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet as explained by Ibn
¡Arab¨. For a symbolic representation of this circle, see the diagram in
T. Burckhardt, Mystical Astrology according to Ibn ¡Arab¨ (trans. from French
by B. Rauf [Aldsworth, Glos., 1977]), pp.|32–3.
21. For the relationship between the Mount (†¬r) and scripture, see
Q.|52.|1: “By the Mount and the Book inscribed…”. The expression here,
literally Mount Intellect (¡Aql ) or Apex Mentis, parallels Mount Sinai (†¬r
Saynå¤), where Moses was spoken to by God in the Burning Bush. It also
recalls the famous hadith: “The ¥rst thing God created was the Intellect.”
Ibn ¡Arab¨ himself uses a very similar expression in the Fut¬¢åt – for exam-
ple, “it is said that the sciences of the prophets and the friends of God
are beyond ‘the stage of reason’ (warå¤ †awr al-¡aql).” (Fut.|I.|261, trans.

and the dål of Your Religion (d¨n). “Does not pure religion
belong to God?”23 For You have singled out the pure for the
one who performs the pure religion and You have ascribed it to
Yourself. So, O my Lord, bless the one who truly performs what
You have ascribed to Yourself, in every source and every path,
performing Your Religion, proclaiming Your Message, clarifying
Your Way, discharging Your Trust, bringing proofs of Your Unity
and establishing Your Uniqueness in the hearts – for he is Your
Secret, safeguarded by Your Awesomeness and Majesty, crowned
with the light of Your Names and Beauty.
O my Lord, bless him in accord with his glorious station with
You and with his cherished rank with You.
9) O God, bless the depository of Your Sight,24 the place of Your
Seeing, the discloser of the treasures of Your Generosity, the
jewelled necklace of Your Might, the key of Your Power, the place
where Your Mercy is released, and the bearer of Your Supreme
Magni¥cence,25 the one whom You have singled out from the

W. Chittick, The Su¥ Path of Knowledge [Albany, NY, 1989], p.|169.) There
is an implicit play on words, with the use of †¬r (mount) also referring to
the word †awr (stage). The use of the word insån¨ (of humankind) here may
also be taken as a subtle allusion to the Mountain of Moses: it is written
with the same letters (alif-hamza-n¬n-s¨n-yå¤) as the word Saynå¤ (Sinai).
22. The letters A-¢-m-d spell the name A¢mad, understood by tradition
to refer to Muhammad, whose coming is announced by Jesus in Q.|61.|6:
“And when Jesus son of Mary said: ‘Children of Israel, I am indeed the
messenger of God to you, con¥rming the Torah that is before me, and
giving good tidings of a messenger who shall come after me, whose name
shall be A¢mad.’” A¢mad literally means “the one who is most praising
or praiseworthy”. There is also a famous ¢ad¨th quds¨ where God says:
“I am A¢mad without the ‘m’ [i.e. A¢ad = One]” – see Schimmel, And
Muhammad, pp.|116–17.
23. Q.|39.|3.
24. This expression, maw‰i¡ na™arika, appears in Ibn ¡Arab¨’s work, writ-
ten after his ¥rst visit to Tunis and Mahdaw¨; see P. Beneito and C. Twinch,
Contemplation of the Holy Mysteries (Mashåhid al-asrår), Oxford, 2001, p.|56
(“you are the place of My Seeing”); see also Beneito and Hirtenstein, Seven
Days, p.|42, line 75.
25. Literally, “the litter of Your Magni¥cence” (ma¢mal ¡a™amatika). The

very core of Your creation, the one whom You have selected
from among those whom You have graciously chosen, the
unlettered prophet and the Arab messenger, from the noblest
quarter of Mecca26 and the Sacred Precinct, of the tribe of Håshim
and Quraysh, the most praising (a¢mad) of the praisers within
the high pavilions27 of Your Majesty, and the most praised
(mu¢ammad) of the praised in the wide expanses28 of Your Beauty,
the alif 29 of Your wondrous conceiving (ibdå¡), the bå¤ of the
ma¢mal is a richly decorated litter, sent by rulers to Mecca at the time of

the hajj.
26. Literally “from al-Ba†¢å” (ab†a¢¨ ). Al-Ba†¢å was the name of the
aristocratic area in the ¦at part of Mecca, in whose hollow lies the Sacred
Precinct and the Ka¡ba, and all the important Meccan families lived there.
It was surrounded by sloping streets where the common people lived, with
foreigners and refugees living out on the outskirts.
27. The term pavilion (surådiq) is Quranic: “We have prepared for the
evildoers a ¥re, whose pavilion encompasses them” (Q.|18.|29). The image
is often used in Ibn ¡Arab¨’s writings: “I saw a pavilion pitched there, whose
[central] support was of ¥re… He said to me: ‘Enter the pavilion and its ¥re

will revert to light.’” (Beneito and Twinch, Contemplations, pp.|101 and
104). “Know that this [Cloud] is the pavilion of the Divine Person (ul¬hÿa),
which is an immense obstacle preventing beings from rejoining Absolute
Divinity (ul¬ha)” (K. al-Isfår, p.|12, ed. D. Gril [Combas, 1994], translated
into French as Le Dévoilement des Effets du Voyage).
28. The word mubåsa†åt (expanses) here suggests the imagery of car-
pets (biså†) within a tent, as well as the meaning of open communication.
The active name A¢mad is thus connected to transcendence (tanz¨h), while
the passive name Mu¢ammad is connected to immanence (tashb¨h).
29. Allusion to the Prophet’s name or agnomen (kunya), Ab¬’l-Qåsim.
We note that there is a missing alif after the qåf in the text as we have it.
According to a hadith (Ibn ±anbal 2.|510), the Prophet forbade the use of
his kunya. His kunya literally means “father of the distributor”, in other
words, the one who apportions, divides up or allots. In another hadith
(Bukhår¨ 5.|8), the Prophet said: “God is the One who gives, while I am the
one who distributes (al-qåsim)”. This is the ninth blessing and the word Ab¬
(father) has a numerical value of 9. According to Ibn ¡Arab¨, “Adam is the
father of human bodies, while Muhammad is the father of the inheritors,
from Adam to the one who seals the matter among the inheritors [i.e. Jesus
in his Second Coming], for every law that manifests and every knowledge
is inherited from Muhammad, in every time, for every envoy and prophet

beginning (bidåya) of Your originating, the wåw of Your con-

stant Love (wadd) for Your productions, the alif of Your display
(ibråz) within what You have created,30 the låm of Your Benevo-
lence (lu†f) towards what You govern, the qåf of Your Power
(qudra) which encompasses the creation of Your earth and
heavens, the s¨n of Your Mystery (sirr) which lies between the
coming-together of the opposites of what You have created, and
the m¨m of Your Sovereignty (mamlaka) which extends over all
the objects of Your knowledge.
10) O God, bless the secret of Your Generosity (j¬d), the place
of manifestation of Your Being (wuj¬d) and the treasury of Your
Existence (mawj¬d).31
11) O God, bless the imam of the Presence of Uniting Power,32
the one who follows the prayer33 in the mi¢råb of “two bows’
length or nearer”34 through the uniqueness of his reunion. For
from Adam to the Day of Resurrection. This is why he was given the all-
embracing words (jawåmi¡ al-kalim)” (Fut.|III.|457).

30. B reads “the alif of Your Lights (anwår) that shine on what You have
created”.
31. This line is a beautiful example of Su¥ word-play in Arabic, as the
three terms have the same root letters, and the ¥rst word is contained within
the second, and the second within the third. The ¥rst is the primordial
Divine Generosity (j¬d); with the addition of the letter wåw, it becomes
Being (w-j¬d), in all its fullness; with the further addition of the letter m¨m,
it becomes that which is Existent (m-w-j¬d), which denotes the place of
manifestation. Corresponding to these three ontological degrees are three
aspects of the Muhammadian Reality: innermost meaning (sirr), revelation
(ma™har) and concealment (khizåna).
32. In this blessing (number 11) the word imåm, spelt alif-m¨m|+|alif-m¨m,
perfectly mirrors the uniting of 1|+|1 to make 11. In addition, the imam who
leads the prayer is the equal to the community who pray behind him, all
of whom are united in the prayer.
33. The one who prays (al-mußall¨ ) is the second, following the Divine
order to pray, and also the horse which comes second in a race – see n.|18.
The mi¢råb is both a niche in the mosque-wall, which determines the
direction of prayer, and also a technical term in horse-racing, meaning the
lance which is set up to determine the racing circuit – racing, like prayer,
follows this setting-up.

he was reunited with You in his prayer, so that You gathered him
to Yourself, specially favoured him with contemplating You,
puri¥ed him through prostration before You,35 and granted him
freshness of the eye36 in the prayer devoted to You. For he is the
one who ravishes the virginal secrets of Your witnessing, the one
who catches the sparkling fragrances of Your company.
12) O God, bless Your “supreme Word”,37 in respect of the heav-
enly food (manna)38 of wondrous invention and creation, and
Your “¥rmest tie”,39 in respect of continuous adherence,40 and
Your “rope”41 which is clung to in times of constriction and in
times of expansion, and Your “straight Path”42 leading to true
guidance and following.
Alif-Låm-M¨m ±å¤-M¨m Adumma ±amma Qåf Êå¤-S¨n-M¨m43
34. The summit of the Prophet’s night-journey and ascension (mi¡råj)
to the Divine Proximity – see Q.|53.|9.
35. Literally, “between Your Two Hands”.
36. As the Prophet is reported to have told ¡Å¤isha: “The freshness of
my eye is given to me in prayer”.
37. See Q.|9.|40: “…God sent upon him His Peace (sak¨na) and con-

¥rmed him with legions you did not see; and He made the word of the
unbelievers the lowest, and God’s word is supreme; God is the Mighty, the
Wise.”
38. See Q.|2.|57.
39. Q.|2.|256.
40. Literally, “the succession of successors (tatåbu¡ al-atbå¡)”, a phrase
which has echoes in the detailed tradition of hadith scholarship, where the
“successors of the successors” (atbå¡ al-tåbi¡¨n) referred to pupils of the
students of the Prophet’s Companions.
41. Q.|3.|103.
42. Q.|1.|6.
43. All these enigmatic letters can be found at the beginning of the
following Suras: (a-l-m) 2/3/29/30/31/32; (¢-m) 40/46; (q) 50; (†-s-m) 26/
28. We read here Adumma as in the Tunis copy, instead of the equally poss-
ible Alif-dål-m¨m, which forms the name Adam, as given in the Berlin text.
We may note that this group of letters also includes the letters M-±-M-D,
making up the name Mu¢ammad. We are also reading ¢amma here, in-
stead of a repeated ¢å¤-m¨m, following the indications given in the Mafåkhir,
where the letters alif-dål-m¨m ¢å¤-m¨m appear as adumma ¢amma: this
latter vowelling is discussed in the commentary on the Khatm al-Shådhil¨
(Mafåkhir, pp.|233–4), where these names are also associated with the last

“Muhammad is the messenger of God, and those who are with

him are hard upon the unbelievers, merciful to one another. You
see them bowing, prostrating, seeking bounty from God and
good-pleasure. Their mark is on their faces, the trace of prostra-
tion. That is their likeness in the Torah, and their likeness in the
Gospel: as a seed that puts forth its shoot, and strengthens it,
and it grows stout and rises straight upon its stalk, pleasing the
sowers, that through them He may enrage the unbelievers. God
has promised those of them who believe and act righteously
forgiveness and a mighty wage.”44
Alif-Hå¤-Wåw-M¨m45 Wåw-Dål-Wåw-Dål46 Êå¤-±å¤ Yå¤ S¨n Qåf47
verse of Surat al-Fat¢, which follows the letters here. On pp.|174, 207, 225
(where this formula, including the words adumma ¢amma, is said to be the
Supreme Name and should be repeated 70 times), 227, 230 and 233–6,
there appears the following sequence of letters: a¢¬n(un) qåf(un) adumma
¢amma hå¤(un) åm¨n. The author calls these names asmå¤ jabar¬tÿa, in
other words, names which are part of the language of the Jabar¬t and in
which secret tongue God may be praised. This language is said to be only
known to the Qu†b. The Mafåkhir’s ¥fth chapter is a collection of Shådhil¨’s

prayers with commentaries by later writers such as Ibn al-Íabbågh
(Mu¢ammad b. Ab¨’l-Qåsim al-±imyar¨, the author of Durrat al-asrår in
c.1320) or ¡Abd al-Ra¢mån al-Bis†åm¨ (d.858/1454). See also E. Pajares
Vinardell, Las enseñanzas de Ab¬ l-±asan al-Sådhil¨ según la Durrat al-asrår
de Ibn al-Íabbåg, Doctoral Thesis, Facultad de Filología, Universidad de
Sevilla, 2003, containing a full critical edition and translation into Spanish
of this early treatise on the life and teachings of Shådhil¨. In the Durrat al-
asrår (pp.|198–9), we ¥nd the letters ¢å¤-m¨m with the recommendation
that its recitation should be repeated eight times. On these two letters see
Pajares Vinardell, pp.|173 and 223, n.1, and also A. Jones, “The Mystical
Letters of the Qur¤ån”, Studia Islamica, XVI (1961–62), pp.|5–11.
44. Q.|48.|29.
45. This could also be read as: alif huwa m¨m (alif is m¨m). In Ibn ¡Arab¨’s
K. al-Wåw wa’l-m¨m wa’l-n¬n (Raså¤il [Beirut, 1997], pp.|114–15), the
letter m¨m denotes Muhammad as well as Adam. We may also note that
alif is the ¥rst letter of Adam.
46. These letters spell the Divine Name wad¬d, which is mentioned
with the article (al-) in Q.|85.|14 and without the article in Q.|11.|90. This
doubling of the letters w-d (which form the word wadd, meaning love) sug-
gests the mutual loving relationship of God and man, Lord and servant.
See Beneito, “The Servant of the Loving One”, p.|3, n.7.

“N¬n. By the Pen and what they inscribe, you are not, by the
bounty of your Lord, a man possessed. Surely you shall have a
wage unfailing. Surely you are according to a mighty nature.”48
13) O God, bless the one who took on Your Qualities,49 who was
utterly immersed in contemplating Your Essence, the truth who
was created by Truth,50 inner reality of truth.51
“Is it true? Say: Yes, by my Lord, it is true.”52 “God and His
angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who believe, do
you also send blessings upon him, and greet him with saluta-
tions of peace.”53
14) O God, because of the bounds of our intellect, the limita-
tion of our understanding, the exhaustion of our desire, and the
forestalling of our aspirations, we have been rendered incapable
of blessing him according to what he really is. How could we
do that when You Yourself have made Your own Speech his
character 54 and Your own Names his appearance? The genesis of
47. These three letter-groups give the opening letters of Suras 20, 36

and 50, the ¥rst two of which are given as names of the Prophet by Ibn
¡Arab¨ in his Ikhtißår s¨rat ras¬l Allåh (see P. Beneito, “A Summary of the Life
of the Prophet by Ibn ¡Arab¨ and the Miracle of the Palm Tree of Seville”,
JMIAS, XXX [2001], p.|81).
48. Q.|68.|1–4.
49. The taking on of Divine qualities (takhalluq) is here contrasted with
the following blessing, which mentions the related terms of connection
(ta¡alluq) and realisation (ta¢aqquq). It appears that these terms were ¥rst
expounded by Mahdaw¨’s teacher, Ab¬ Madyan, in his Uns al-wa¢¨d. See
Ibn ¡Arab¨’s Kashf al-ma¡nå where the Divine Names are explained in terms
of these three principles (for further details, see El Secreto de los Nombres
de Dios, trans. P. Beneito, 2nd edn [Murcia, 1997], especially p.|xiv).
50. Allusion to Q.|10. 5: “God did not create (khalaqa) that except by
the Truth (bi-l-¢aqq)”. This idea is reminiscent of the technical term coined
by Ibn Barrajån, “the truth by which [reality] is created” (al-¢aqq al-makhl¬q
bihi) – see, for example, Fut| I.|297; II.|60, 104, 577; III.|77.
51. Allusion to the hadith: “For every immediate truth there is an ulti-
mate reality” (li-kulli ¢aqq ¢aq¨qa). See Gril’s edition of K. al-Isfår, p.|23, n.65.
52. Q.|10.|53.
53. Q.|33.|56.
54. “God says: ‘Surely thou art upon a tremendous character (khuluq

Your creation is from him, and You are his shelter and support,
and Your Highest Assembly is for his companionship and his
assistance. Thus bless him, o God, by the connection of Your
Power to Your works, and the realisation of Your Names through
Your Will. From him You have created all that is known; through
him You provide the proof against all that is created; and in him
You have placed the end of all endings.55 For he is the keeper of
Your Trust (am¨n),56 the treasurer of Your Knowledge, bearer of
the banner of Your Praise,57 true source of Your Mystery, mani-
festation of Your Ineffable Might, the central point of the
circle of Your Kingdom and its circumference,58 the compound
of its elements and its simple principle.
15) O God, bless the one who stands alone59 in the highest con-
templation, the sweetest watering-place and the brightest light,
who was distinguished in the Presence of the Names with the
most eminent station and the most protective luminance.60
¡a™¨m).’ (Q.|68.|4)… When ¡Å¤isha was asked about the character of the

Messenger of God, she answered: ‘his character was the Quran.’ She said
that because he was unique in character, and that unique character had
to bring together all noble character traits (makårim al-akhlåq)” (Fut.|IV.|60,
trans. Chittick, SPK, p.|241).
55. B adds “and through him rests the Argument against all created
beings”. This alludes to the Day of Judgment when the Divine Argument
is pronounced against each person.
56. This well-known epithet of the Prophet is also an allusion to the
sacred trust spoken of in Q.|33.|72: “We offered the trust (amåna) to the
heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to carry it and
were afraid of it; Man carried it, and he was in darkness, unknowing.”
57. Allusion to hadith, see Tirmidh¨, Manåqib 1; Bukhår¨, Taw¢¨d 19 and
3; see also M. Chodkiewicz’s article, “The Banner of Praise”, in Praise (ed.
S. Hirtenstein, Oxford, 1997), pp.|45–58.
58. This phrase is exactly the same as that found at the beginning of
the famous Theophany of Perfection (tajall¨’l-kamål, no:|81) in Ibn ¡Arab¨’s
K. al-Tajalliyåt: “I am the centre of the circle and its circumference; I am the
compound of its elements and its simple principle (or its complexity and
its simplicity).”
59. Or: “the one who was singled out alone (al-munfarid)”. In one sense,
this standing alone may refer to the ¥nal stages of the Prophet’s ascension.

16) O God, bless the original formation of Love.61

17) O God, bless “the goodly tree”62 of the highest, “whose
root” is established deep in the ground of Your Awesomeness,
and “whose branches” rise high in the pavilions of Your
Magni¥cence.
18) O God, bless the enwrapped,63 the enshrouded,64 the
warner,65 the bringer of glad tidings,66 the praise-magni¥er,67 the
victorious revealer,68 one most affectionate and gentle.
“Now there has come to you a messenger from amongst your-
selves: grievous to him is your suffering, anxious is he for you,
gentle to the believers, extremely merciful. So if they turn their
backs, say: God suf¥ces me. There is no God but He. In Him have
I put my trust. He is the Lord of the Great Throne.”69
60. This could also be read, following a variant of B, as: “the best-
protected secret”.
61. This, the most succinct of the blessings, alludes to the creation of
all things out of Divine Love, as stated in the hadith: “I was a Hidden Treas-
ure and I loved to be known, so I created the world that I might be known”.

The word “formation” (nash¤a) carries the sense of coming into being,
emergence and growth.
62. See Q.|14.|24: “Have you not seen how God has struck a similitude?
A good word is as a goodly tree – its roots are ¥rm and its branches are in
heaven; it gives its produce every season by permission of its Lord.”
63. Q.|73.|1: “O thou enwrapped in thy robes (muzammal), keep vigil
the night…”
64. Q.|74.|1: “O thou shrouded in thy mantle (muddaththir), arise and
warn (andhir)! Thy Lord magnify (kabbir), thy robes purify (†ahhir) and
de¥lement ¦ee!”
65. Apart from the above verse, see also, for example, Q.|38.|65: “Say:
I am only a warner. There is no god but God, the One, the Vanquisher, Lord
of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, the All-mighty,
the All-forgiving.”
66. Q.|17.|105: “…We have not sent you except as a bringer of glad
tidings and a warner.”
67. See n.|63.
68. See Q.|9.|33 (and 48.|28 and 61.|9): “It is He who has sent His
messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, that he may render it
victorious over every religion.” B reads “the puri¥er” (al-mu†ahhir), allud-
ing to Q.|74.|4 (see n.|64).

19) “God is the Light of the heavens and the earth: the likeness
of His Light is as a niche, wherein is a lamp, the lamp in a glass,
the glass as it were a glittering star, kindled from a blessed tree,
an olive that is neither of the East nor the West, whose oil would
shine, even if no ¥re touched it, Light upon Light; God guides
to His Light whoever He wishes, and God strikes similitudes for
men, and God knows all things.”70
O God, bless the “niche” of his body, the “lamp” of his heart,
the “glass” of his mind, the “star” of his secret heart, “kindled
from a tree” whose origin is light, which pours upon him from
the light of his Lord, “light upon light; God guides to His Light
whoever He wishes”. Verily blessings be upon the outstanding
pronoun,71 concealed within that second Light, and the last to
be struck as similitude in the world of images.72
69. Q.|9.|128–9.
70. Q.|24.|35. The next three blessings are all connected to this Light
verse. The following interpretations by Mahdaw¨ of this famous verse
can be compared with the traditional exegesis reported by Êabar¨, on the
authority of ¡Ubayy ibn Ka¡b:

“Ibn ¡Abbås [the Prophet’s cousin] came to see Ka¡b al-A¢bår and asked
him: ‘Tell me about God’s words “the symbol of His Light is as a niche”’,
to which Ka¡b replied: ‘The niche is a hole in the wall which God has given
as a symbol of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him; “wherein
is a lamp”, the lamp designates his heart; “the lamp in a glass”, the glass
is his chest…’.” (Jåmi¡ al-bayån, XVIII, 104–11).
71. In other words, the personal pronoun speci¥ed in the words “God
guides to His Light”, which is identi¥ed with Muhammad. The word ‰am¨r
(pronoun) also has the meaning of the hidden, the innermost conscious-
ness, which is therefore concealed within the original Light, while the word
båriz (outstanding) also means that which emerges or stands out, referring
to the appearance and eminence of Muhammad in the world.
72. It is interesting to compare this with Ibn ¡Arab¨’s treatment, which
as here allows for multiple points of view. At the level of the individual,
the niche can be taken as an image of the external covering of the heart,
protecting from the passions (ahwå¤), while the glass symbolises the heart
which has attained the station of purity (ßafå¤) – its transparency allows
the light of the heart’s lamp to shine forth, ¥nding its fullest degree in the
person of the Prophet (see Fut.|I.|434). The tree can be taken as a symbol
of the Ipseity (huwÿa), within which all oppositions are implicitly contained,
though Itself “neither of the East nor the West” (see, for example, Fut.|III.|198).

20) O God, bless the one with whose light You have illuminated
the dominion of Your heavens and earth73 – “the likeness of his
light is as the niche” of Your Throne,74 “wherein is a lamp” of
his light, “the lamp in the glass” of the bodies of Your proph-
ets, angels and envoys “as it were a glittering star”, whose secret
is “kindled from the tree” of his luminous origin, which shines
upon him out of the effusion of Your Names. “God guides to the
Light” of Muhammad75 “whoever He wishes” of His creatures,
“and God strikes similitudes for men and God knows all things”.
21) O God, You are the One who knows76 this light, emerging
yet concealed, dazzling yet diffused, by which You beautify
everything in the two worlds, and embroider the two weighty
ones [mankind and jinn], and adorn the pillars of Your Throne
and the angels of Your Holiness. You brought him even closer77
to the Presence of Your Uniting Power and Grandeur. You made
him the one who intercedes with You, amongst Your angels,
prophets and envoys, for he is the door to [Your] Satisfaction,
and the envoy with whom You are satis¥ed; the essential reality

The olive may symbolise the gnostic (¡årif ) who has reached the supreme
station, which is in fact the station of no-station (Fut.|II.|646). For further
details, see the excellent article by D. Gril, “Le commentaire du verset de
la lumière d’après Ibn ¡Arab¨ ”, Bulletin d’Études Orientales, XXIX (1977),
pp.|179–87, Damascus.
73. Q.|7.|185: “Or have they not considered the dominion of the heav-
ens and the earth and what things God has created, and that it may be
their term is already nigh?” See also Q.|6.|75.
74. The Throne is represented as the circumference encompassing the
whole of existence, within which the heavenly spheres and their corre-
sponding prophetic spirits revolve. The Throne is also the seat of the
All-Compassionate (ra¢mån) (Q.|20.|5), whose Breath effuses upon all the
Divine Names.
75. This is the ¥rst explicit mention of the term, Light of Muhammad.
76. This blessing is speci¥cally connected to the Name al-¡al¨m, the
All-Knowing, which appears in the ¥nal phrase of the Light verse.
77. Allusion to Q.|53.|9: “This is naught but a revelation revealed, taught
him by one terrible in power, very strong; he stood poised, being on the
highest horizon, then drew near and came down, suspended, two bows’
length away or even closer (aw adnå).”

of Your Truth and the purest quintessence of Your Creation. By

his light have the bearers of Your Throne been beauti¥ed; by his
secret have Your heavens been raised and Your earth spread
out.78 He is the ¥rmament of Your Names, the model of your
Perfect Benefaction, and the manifestation of Your Ineffable
Might and Authority. You are the One who knows him [as he
is] in truth and reality – so, O my Lord, bless him according to
the reality of Your Knowledge of all this, and through his real
connection79 with that.
22) O God, bless the lamp of Your Religion, the star of Your
Certainty, the moon of Your Unity, the sun of the contempla-
tion of Your Bene¥cence in Your bringing Your human being
into existence.80
O my Lord, bless him, in a blessing-prayer that ascends
through You from You to him, so that it is known in the High-
est Assembly that it is purely devoted to him – a blessing-prayer
(ßalåt) whose extent is the knowledge that embraces everything,
the reality of the whole, and which is renewed by the wholeness
of that whole, and is reiterated so that it includes the illustrious

companions, his wives, stars of the time, and his family, spiritual
masters and poles. May salutations of peace be upon him and
upon them from his special station, with a salutation (salåm) of
equal extent.81
78. See Q.|88.|18: “Do they not consider how the camel was created,
how the heaven was raised up, how the mountains were hoisted, how the
earth was outstretched?”
79. B reads “his realization” (ta¢aqquqahu).
80. This blessing makes allusion to two Quranic verses that mention
illumination, the ¥rst microcosmically among humankind, and the second
macrocosmically within the universe: “O Prophet, We have sent thee as a
witness, and a bearer of glad tidings and warnings, calling to God by His
permission, and an illuminating lamp (siråj mun¨r)” (Q.|33.|46), and “Blessed
be He who has set in heaven constellations, and has set among them a lamp
and an illuminating moon (qamar mun¨r)” (Q.|25.|61). In addition, the
mention of the three heavenly bodies, the star, moon and sun, recalls the
story of Abraham’s illumination (see Q.|6.|75–9).
81. This marks the ¥nal blessing and salutation on the Prophet, since
the next two prayers concern the four successors and the salvation and unity
of the community, including the one who recites the prayer.

All praise be to God for this! And praise be to God for the
illumination by which He has opened the vision of our insight,
and which was opened up with the prayer upon the most no-
ble in existence, through whom existence has been completed.
Through God, glory to Him, success is granted, and through Him
we seek the completion of our perfection according to reality.
23) O God, by his illustrious companion, the Con¥rmer of
Truth,82 and by the Discriminator,83 who was revered for truth-
fulness, and by the Master of the two lights,84 and by the Seal
of succession,85 his paternal cousin ¡Al¨, as has been veri¥ed: O
God, reunite us through You with You; bring us back from You
to You! Let us witness You in the Presence of integral Union
(jam¡ al-jam¡), where there is no separateness or withholding.
Indeed You are the Giver, the Opener, who bestows whatever
gifts of your Lordliness You wish upon whomsoever You wish,
of those whom You have specialised for Your devoted service
(rahbånÿa).86
82. Al-Íidd¨q, i.e. Ab¬ Bakr, the ¥rst caliph.

83. Al-Får¬q, i.e. ¡Umar ibn al-Kha††åb, the second caliph. The mention
of Ab¬ Bakr and ¡Umar clearly indicates the Sunni character of the prayer.
84. Dh¬’l-n¬rayn, i.e. ¡Uthmån ibn ¡Affån, the third caliph.
85. Literally, “the seal of khilåfa” – in other words, the caliphate of the
four rightly guided (råshid¬n) comes to an end with ¡Al¨. According to a
hadith (Ibn ±anbal 5.|221), “the khilåfa lasts 30 years. After that, there will
be rulership (mulk)”. See also Ibn ±anbal 5.|44: “Succession to the prophet
(khilåfa al-nub¬wa) lasts 30 years.”
86. See Q.|57.|27: “We sent Jesus, son of Mary, and gave unto him the
Gospel, and We set in the hearts of those who followed him tenderness,
compassion and devoted service (rahbånÿa). They instituted that – We did
not prescribe it for them – only out of desire to satisfy God, but they did
not observe it as it should be observed.” In Ibn ¡Arab¨’s commentary on
this verse in his Kashf al-ma¡nå, this practice of rahbånÿa, usually under-
stood to mean the monastic life, is understood as a good invention, in the
light of the hadith “One who establishes a good tradition (sunna) will
receive his corresponding reward as well as the equivalent of the reward
of those who put it into practice” (Kashf 95.|3, pp.|302–3). We should note
that Mahdaw¨ himself lived in a light-house just outside Tunis, taking care
of it and acting as head of a spiritual community of men, whose way
of life can readily be compared to the monastic life among the medieval

24) O God, we ask of You that You gather us in his group, that
You include us among the followers of his tradition, and never
let us stray from his creed or his way. You are the Hearer of
prayer, responding to whoever calls [upon You] “or gives ear [to
You] and is a witness”.87 There is no power or strength save
through God, the High, the Magni¥cent.88
Christian orders. The term rahbånÿa has the same lexical root as rahba
(reverent awe).
87. Q.|50.|37.
88. The Tunis copyist ends with the following: “And may the blessings
of God be upon our master Muhammad, and upon his family and com-
panions, forever and ever. O God, through the blessing-prayer upon him,
let us reach the degrees of the righteous and Your Good-Pleasure. O Lord
of all beings. ‘Indeed You are capable of all things’ (Q.|3.|26). Here ends
the prayer in praise of God and through the best of His help and His grant-
ing of success. May God bless our lord and master, Muhammad, and his
family and companions. Salutations of peace be upon them all. And all
praise be to God, Lord of all beings.”

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What is the relationship between Ibn Arabi and Abd al-Aziz al-Mahdawi?

What is the relationship between Ibn Arabi and Abd al-Aziz al-Mahdawi?

What spiritual practices is Abd al-Aziz al-Mahdawi known for?

What spiritual practices is Abd al-Aziz al-Mahdawi known for?

The Prayer of Blessing

[upon the Light of Muhammad]

Pablo Beneito and Stephen Hirtenstein

It is not often that a genuine masterpiece of spiritual writing

Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society, Vol. 34, 2003

1. See R. W. J. Austin, Su¥s of Andalusia (partial trans. of Ibn ¡Arab¨ ’s

Beneito-Hirtenstein.p65 1 02/12/03, 11:46

him on his ¥nal departure from the Maghrib. He went on to

¡ABD AL-¡AZÔZ AL-MAHDAWÔ (c.1150–1221)

Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society, Vol. 34, 2003

Beneito-Hirtenstein.p65 2 02/12/03, 11:46

the coast from Tunis. This kind of rigorous spiritual practice

Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society, Vol. 34, 2003

One of our companions told us regarding our shaykh, the master

4. See Ibn Qunfudh’s Uns al-faq¨r, edited by M. al-Fås¨ and A. Fauré

Beneito-Hirtenstein.p65 3 02/12/03, 11:46

This austerity, and in particular the 40-day fast which

Literally “the son of return”, the unusual epithet, Ibn al-

Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society, Vol. 34, 2003

6. Quoted in Ibn ¡Arab¨’s al-Kawkab al-durr¨ f¨ manåqib Dh¬’l-N¬n al-

Beneito-Hirtenstein.p65 4 02/12/03, 11:46

the city. Here there seems to have been a group of Madyanite

Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society, Vol. 34, 2003

9. According to the testimony of K¬m¨, quoted by Ibn Qunfudh. Ab¬

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He (Mahdaw¨), may God be pleased with him, used to leave his

Aside from the close relationship with Ibn ¡Arab¨, Mahdaw¨

Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society, Vol. 34, 2003

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The only major work that is attributed to him is this remarkable

THE PRAYER UPON THE PROPHET

Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society, Vol. 34, 2003

I entered the mosque and I saw the Messenger of God leaving. I

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The Prophet declared, “When you saw me enter the palm-grove

There are several traditions that state the requirement to pray

Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society, Vol. 34, 2003

Beneito-Hirtenstein.p65 8 02/12/03, 11:46

phrase, seeking greater intensity of devotion, greater inclusive-

It seems that the poets of Morocco, or rather of the entire

Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society, Vol. 34, 2003

19. Schimmel, And Muhammad, p.|188.

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of Goodness and the Rays of Light in the remembrance of the

Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society, Vol. 34, 2003

21. His mausoleum is still a place of pilgrimage in Marrakesh, where he

Beneito-Hirtenstein.p65 10 02/12/03, 11:46

example of this commonality of inheritance is the use, with

MAHDAWÔ’S PRAYER OF BLESSING

Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society, Vol. 34, 2003

enormous admiration and respect. Many of his Andalusian masters such

Beneito-Hirtenstein.p65 11 02/12/03, 11:46

O God, place light in my heart and light in my soul, light upon

The idea of Muhammad as the light of the world is drawn

Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society, Vol. 34, 2003