THE THEORY OF THE PERFECT MAN IN IBN 'ARABI'S FUSUS AL-HIKAM

Abstract

It is well known that the concept of the Perfect Man (al-insan al-kamil) and the metaphysical anthropology based on it occupy important places in Ibn 'Arabi's philosophy together with the theory of the unity of existence (wahdat al-wujud). Due partly to the lack of a coherent system and the loose, fluid character of his terminology, it is extremely difficult to define many technical terms peculiar to his metaphysics. The phrase "the Perfect Man" is not an exception. Although this concept was often discussed in a general way by many previous scholars,(1) nobody has yet made a careful semantical analysis of his writings. Many scholars who treated this concept were influenced by interpretations of various followers of Ibn 'Arabi, such as Jili(2) and Jami,(3) who tried to systematize his "enigmatic" metaphysics, sometimes at the risk of oversimplification. Very often the concept s identified with the Logos which has in the metaphysics of Ibn 'Arabi many different names:(4) the Muhammadan Reality (al-haqiqa al-Muhammadiya), the Pen (qalam), the Intellect ('aql), the Reality of Realities (haqiqat al-haqa'iq), etc.(5) Furthermore it is sometimes identified with Muhammad.(6) To my knowlege, however, Ibn 'Arabi does not apply the phrase "the Perfect Man" either to Muhammad or to any term signifying the pre-existent Logos. Therefore it is necessary to distinguish his philosophy from those of his later followers and systematizers, and treat each of them separately. Although such people as Jill and Jami were profoundly influenced by Ibn 'Arabi, they are still individual thinkers who did not simply repeat the philosophy of their master, but developed and elaborated it with their own ideas. The objective of this paper is to analyze all the uses of the phrase "the Perfect Man" in the Fusus al-Hikam, and to elucidate its meanings and special