About The Book

This is the first full introduction written for a general audience to the life and teachings of Ibn 'Arabi (1165-1240), regarded as the greatest mystical thinker in the history of Islam and known in the Islamic world as al-Shaykh al-Akbar (the Greatest Master).

White Cloud Press, in a joint publishing effort with Anqa Publishing in the United Kingdom, presents the first in a series of books on the life and teachings of Ibn 'Arabi. Relatively unknown in the West until the 20th century, he has been revered by Sufi mystics ever since he first burst upon the Islamic world at the turn of the 13th century. He wrote over 350 books and treatises that are recognized as classics of world spirituality.

About The Author

Stephen Hirtenstein has been editor of the Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society since its inception in 1982, and is a co-founder of Anqa Publishing.

He read History at King's College, Cambridge, and then studied at the Beshara School of Intensive Esoteric Education in Gloucestershire and Scotland. After a teaching career, he began writing and giving talks on Ibn ʿArabi's thought at conferences across the world.

In addition to lecturing and writing, he organizes and leads tours in the footsteps of Ibn ʿArabi.

He currently works as a Senior Editor for the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, and lives in Oxford.