Ibn
Sina and Mysticism: Remarks and Admonitions
By: Inati, Shams
Publication Date: 1995/12
Publisher: Kegan Paul International Ltd.
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 071030482X
Our Price $93.50 
Related Books: Prophets,
Saints, Sages and Teachers, Islam
and Sufism
Few figures have been of such enduring importance as Ibn Sina, also
known as Avicenna (980-1037 AD), the great Persian philosopher and
physician of the Abassid period. This work is a study of the fourth part
of Ibn Sina's late and most comprehensive book al-Isharat wat-Tanbihat,
Remarks and Admonitions, a book which Ibn Sine describes as 'the cream
of the truth', containing 'the best pieces of wisdom' expressed 'in
sensitive words'. The present volume includes an introduction,
discussing the nature of the fourth part of al-Isharat and the
procedures followed in analyzing and translating it; a lengthy analysis
of Ibn Sina's ideas on the three main topics in this part of al-Isharat
(the nature of happiness, the stations of the knowers, and the signs
manifested by the knowers); and a translation of this part. The work
shows that, to Ibn Sina, knowledge of the eternal aspects of the
universe, primarily of God, is the highest human objective and the only
thing that secures human happiness or heavenly existence. While no
permanent knowledge of this kind is possible for a human being on earth,
signs of its temporary acquisition are evidenced in many ways, one of
which is possession of powers that a person who does not know the
secrets of the universe may consider extraordinary. Although the focus
of this volume is on the fourth part of al-Isharat, many references are
made to some of Ibn Sina's other writings by way of clarifying certain
points and placing this part of al-Isharat in the context of Ibn Sina's
general philosophy.
