The Classical Institute is pleased to present an inaugural seminar by Dr Ali Hussain, Senior Lecturer in Islamic Mysticism, offered as a precursor to his forthcoming programme, The Interpreter of Ardent Desires: Ibn ʿArabī’s Tarjumān al-Ashwāq and the Foundations of Akbarian Metaphysics, which commences on 6 August 2026.

Few figures in the history of Islamic thought have exercised so profound and enduring an influence as the Andalusian mystic Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn ʿArabī (d. 1240), known to posterity as al-Shaykh al-Akbar, the Greatest Master. This seminar offers a synoptic introduction to his vision and method, tracing the architecture of his monumental al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya and his threefold sources of knowledge: transmitted revelation (naql), rational inquiry (ʿaql) and unveiling (kashf).

From these foundations, the seminar surveys the principal themes of the Akbarian tradition: the Oneness of Being (waḥdat al-wujūd); the levels of being (marātib al-wujūd) and the realm of imagination (khayāl); knowledge as the deciphering of divine signs; the Muhammadan Reality and the prophets as perfect human beings; sainthood, with its inheritances and seals; Akbarian psychology and the human being as microcosm; divine mercy and salvation in the hereafter; and the sacredness of language and the crafts.

The seminar thus prepares the ground for the sustained close reading of the Tarjumān al-Ashwāq that will follow, in which Ibn ʿArabī’s metaphysics of love finds its most celebrated poetic expression.

The seminar will take place on Sunday 26 July 2026, from 7:00-8:30 pm (BST), and will be held live online via Zoom. The event is open to all. Registration is required and closes at 2:00pm (BST) on Sunday 26 July.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/So_0W9jFSVO_zsGaL_1lCA