Inscriptions of Wisdom

<p><b>Two important texts in the Sufi tradition made available together in English for the first time.</b></p><p><i>Inscriptions of Wisdom</i> brings together for the first time in English two pivotal Sufi texts that illuminate Ibn al-ʿArabī's (d. 1240) celebrated work <i>Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam</i>. The first <i>Naqsh al-Fuṣūṣ</i> (the Inscription of the Fuṣūṣ) is Ibn al-ʿArabī's own distillation of <i>Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam</i> presenting a concise yet profound articulation of its core teachings. The second <i>Naqd al-nuṣūṣ fī sharḥ Naqsh al-Fuṣūṣ</i> (texts commenting on <i>Naqsh al-Fuṣūṣ</i>) by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Jāmī is an anthology of carefully selected passages from the earliest and most authoritative interpreters of <i>Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam</i> enriched with Jāmī's own insights. Together these works explore the quintessential knowledge and divine principles embodied by each of the twenty-seven major prophetic figures of the Islamic tradition from Adam to Muhammad. If <i>Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam</i> represents the culmination of Ibn al-ʿArabī's thought then <i>Naqsh al-Fuṣūṣ</i> distills its very essence and inner mystery. Mukhtar H. Ali's meticulous presentation of the <i>Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam</i> commentarial tradition-featuring the first complete English translation of Jāmī's <i>Naqd al-nuṣūṣ</i> chapter-by-chapter analysis and extensive notes on key Sufi terms and concepts-establishes this volume as a landmark study in Islamic metaphysics and Sufi thought.</p>