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Persona #313

Ibn Arabi (Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Arabi)

1165–1240
Andalusian Sufi mystic, philosopher, theologian — al-Shaykh al-Akbar (the Greatest Sheikh)

Wahdat al-wujud — the Unity of Being: all existence is a theophany of the one divine Real

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where personas disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid (32 attributes) is shown.

Attribute Ibn Arabi (Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Arabi)
Time · Extent Both
Time · Ontological Status Emergent
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Non-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Emergent
Space · Curvature not engaged
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Non-local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Emergent
Matter · Conservation Variable
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Non-local
Observer · Time Instance Multiple
Observer · Space Instance Multiple
Observer · Knowledge Extent Total
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Both
Observer · Agency Passive
Observer · Number Singular
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Scripture
Observer · Theological Method Mystical
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Emergent
Energy · Conservation Variable
Energy · Dispersibility Reversible
Information · Ontological Status Emergent
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each persona's writings reveal about their stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Ibn Arabi (Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Arabi)

Both — the eternal divine self-knowledge and the temporal unfolding of creation. Time is emergent from the divine self-disclosure; at the deepest level, the "eternal now" of God's self-knowledge is non-directional. The cosmos is renewed at every instant (tajaddud al-khalq).

Space

Ibn Arabi (Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Arabi)

Infinite, emergent, non-local. Space is a theophany: the loci of manifestation (mazahir) are the sites where the divine names appear, but the underlying Reality is not spatially bounded.

Matter

Ibn Arabi (Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Arabi)

Emergent and variable: the material world is the densest level of divine self-disclosure, continuously renewed. "New creation at every breath" implies that matter is not independently conserved.

Observer

Ibn Arabi (Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Arabi)

The Perfect Human (al-insan al-kamil) is the supreme observer — the mirror in which God contemplates His own names. Passive in the sense that knowledge comes through unveiling (kashf) rather than discursive effort. Singular: the divine Real is the ultimate observer.

Energy

Ibn Arabi (Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Arabi)

Infinite, emergent, reversible. The divine creative energy (fayd) flows continuously; the cosmos is sustained by perpetual divine self-disclosure, not by conserved material forces.

Information

Ibn Arabi (Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Arabi)

Conserved in the divine knowledge ('ilm ilahi). The divine names constitute an infinite information-space whose self-disclosure is the cosmos. Personal identity is conserved in the divine knowing.

Internal Tensions

Where each persona's working synthesis strains against itself.

Ibn Arabi (Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Arabi)

Ibn Arabi's wahdat al-wujud was fiercely attacked by Ibn Taymiyya and the Hanbali tradition as tantamount to pantheism and the denial of the Creator-creature distinction. The Akbarian school responds that wahdat al-wujud is not pantheism but panentheism: God is not identical with the world but is the only true existent of which the world is a theophany. His claim to visionary authority sits uneasily with both rationalist philosophy and literalist jurisprudence. His enormous influence on Persian, Turkish, and South Asian Islam coexists with his contested status in Sunni orthodoxy.