PhD student in Philosophy at Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran.
Abstract
Although the question of art—not in its modern form—was not raised by Ibn ʿArabī, nor did it lie at the core of his thought, one can nevertheless derive coherent foundations in this regard from his ontological and anthropological discussions, and thereby view the issues of today's art world in a new light. Questions such as what art means or what benefit it entails, though not explicitly addressed in Ibn ʿArabī's works and not independently treated in the voluminous writings of the Shaykh al-Akbar, can still be approached by means of a reading of his theoretical principles that is oriented toward the present and the future, and through their logical extension, so as to grasp the main lines of his perspective on these matters. In this article, we intend to employ the theory of manifestation (tajallī) and the notion that the cosmos is a locus of manifestation (maẓhar) for the Divine Truth (al-Ḥaqq) in order to explain what art is and what benefit accrues from it, and thus to clarify, to some extent, the fundamental contours of Muḥyī al-Dīn's view of art. Accordingly, we shall first examine three different aspects of the human being in the theory of manifestation, and then, by elucidating key concepts of Ibn ʿArabī's anthropology—such as the station of the heart (maqām al-qalb) and the comprehensive nature of human existence (jawāmiʿiyyat al-wujūd)—we will demonstrate the imaginal status of art as a comprehensive locus of manifestation.
kiadar bandsari,A . (2016). An explanation of art in Ibn ʿArabī's thought, based on the theory of the heart and the comprehensive locus of manifestation of the human being.. Theology of Art, 1395(6), 37-52.
MLA
kiadar bandsari,A . "An explanation of art in Ibn ʿArabī's thought, based on the theory of the heart and the comprehensive locus of manifestation of the human being.", Theology of Art, 1395, 6, 2016, 37-52.
HARVARD
kiadar bandsari A. (2016). 'An explanation of art in Ibn ʿArabī's thought, based on the theory of the heart and the comprehensive locus of manifestation of the human being.', Theology of Art, 1395(6), pp. 37-52.
CHICAGO
A kiadar bandsari, "An explanation of art in Ibn ʿArabī's thought, based on the theory of the heart and the comprehensive locus of manifestation of the human being.," Theology of Art, 1395 6 (2016): 37-52,
VANCOUVER
kiadar bandsari A. An explanation of art in Ibn ʿArabī's thought, based on the theory of the heart and the comprehensive locus of manifestation of the human being.. Theology of Art. 2016;1395(6):37-52 (In Persian).
Theology of Art