Shams al-Dīn Ismāʿīl ibn Sawdakīn: An Introduction

Life

Shams al-Dīn Abū Ṭāhir Ismāʿīl ibn Sawdakīn al-Nūrī al-Ḥanafī was born in 579 AH (1183 CE) in Cairo. His father, Sawdakīn, was among the Mamluks of Sultan Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Zangī, who later manumitted him. Raised in an environment steeped in piety, Ismāʿīl was nurtured by his father in the pursuit of religious knowledge and the study of Prophetic ḥadīth. His intellectual journey culminated in a pivotal encounter with the eminent mystic Shaykh al-Akbar Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī in 602 AH (1205 CE) in Cairo. From this moment until his death, Ismāʿīl remained a devoted companion of Ibn al-ʿArabī. He passed away in Aleppo in 646 AH (1248 CE).

Dedication to Ibn al-Arabi

Ismāʿīl ibn Sawdakīn distinguished himself through his unwavering dedication to Ibn al-ʿArabī, earning the Shaykh’s profound esteem. Ibn al-ʿArabī formally introduced him to his inner circle of disciples, including ʿAbd Allāh Badr al-Ḥabashī and others. Following the death of ʿAbd Allāh Badr al-Ḥabashī, Ibn al-ʿArabī accorded Ismāʿīl an exclusive intellectual intimacy, unveiling to him the esoteric dimensions of his teachings. A dedicated assembly was convened for Ismāʿīl, wherein he engaged in the systematic study and exposition of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s works. Reflecting on this privilege in his book *Al-Najāt min al-Ḥujub al-Ishtibāh* (*Deliverance from the Veils of Ambiguity*), Ismāʿīl writes:

“When God instructed me in what He willed, guided me, and granted me the capacity to petition Shaykh al-Akbar for elucidations of these mysteries—and when the Shaykh, apprised of the sincerity of my resolve and the unveiled state of my inner self—accepted my request, he arranged a private session in his home. There, he graciously unlocked the gates of his generosity, expounded the intricate passages of his works, lifted the veils of obscurity, resolved ambiguities, and rendered subtle allusions into explicit discourse.”

Commentries upon Ibn al-Arabi Works

This mentorship endowed Ismāʿīl with profound insight, enabling him to compose commentaries on numerous works of Ibn al-ʿArabī, including

1. Tajalliyāt Ilāhiyya (Divine Theophanies)
2. Kitāb al-Isrāʾ (The Book of the Night Journey)
3. Mashāhid al-Asrār al-Qudsiyya (Contemplations of Sacred Mysteries)
4. Lawāqiḥ al-Anwār (Flashes of Illumination)
5. Wasāʾil al-Sāʾil (Means of the Seeker) and others.

Notably, at Ismāʿīl’s request, Ibn al-ʿArabī also authored a commentary on his own work Dhakhāʾir al-Aʿlāq (Treasures of Precious Things).

In the introduction to his commentary on *Tajalliyāt Ilāhiyya*, Ismāʿīl ibn Sawdakīn recounts a critical incident:

“An individual I regarded as a companion, upon reading Shaykh al-Akbar’s *Tajalliyāt Ilāhiyya*—particularly the assertion that many earlier saints (awliyāʾ), though temporally preceding Ibn al-ʿArabī, had acknowledged his spiritual preeminence in celestial realms and pledged allegiance to him in recognition of this divinely bestowed grace—exclaimed: ‘By God, these claims are sheer injustice, falsehood, and slander! They constitute baseless assertions!’”

This episode underscores the contentious reception of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s doctrines among contemporaries, even as Ismāʿīl ardently defended his master’s legacy through scholarly exegesis. His works remain pivotal in the hermeneutic tradition of Akbarian thought, bridging esoteric philosophy and accessible interpretation.

Ismāʿīl ibn Sawdakīn recounts:

“Subsequently, I saw this individual in a dream, hurling vile invectives against the Prophet (peace be upon him), uttering words so blasphemous that even their repetition risked the loss of faith. Thus, I realized this person had succumbed to grave error and met his demise due to sin. This occurred in 610 AH (1213 CE) in Aleppo, during a period when the Shaykh [Ibn al-ʿArabī] was absent from the city. Upon his return, I relayed the incident to him and sought his insight—though I already possessed certain knowledge (ʿilm al-yaqīn) of its truth. The Shaykh then elucidated the matter with profound clarity.”

Regarding the contentious statements in Tajalliyāt Ilāhiyya (Divine Theophanies), Ibn Sawdakīn records the Shaykh’s response:

“The states (aḥwāl) and mysteries (asrār) we described in this book were unveiled within the Divine Presence (ḥāḍirat al-ḥaqq) and through sacred contemplation (mushāhadat qudsiyya), where my soul communed with the spirit of that sanctified being. This is pure verification (taḥqīq) and absolute truth (ṣidq). Should our physical bodies ever meet in the material world (ʿālam al-ḥiss), the reality will align precisely with what I have articulated—neither diminished nor exaggerated.”

Manuscript Evidence of Ismāʿīl ibn Sawdakīn

Most details about Ismāʿīl ibn Sawdakīn derive from the works of Shaykh al-Akbar. Key manuscript colophons and audition (samāʿāt) records further attest to his activities:

1. A manuscript of Kitāb Rūḥ al-Quds (The Spirit of Holiness) includes a samāʿ note confirming that two disciples of Shaykh al-Akbar—ʿAbd al-Muʿnim ibn Muḥammad al-Anṣārī and Ismāʿīl ibn Sawdakīn al-Nūrī—copied the treatise in Cairo in 603 AH (1206 CE).
2. A manuscript of Tadbīrāt Ilāhiyya (Divine Administrations) documents Ibn Sawdakīn’s participation in its recitation sessions, with explicit mention of his responsibility for transmitting the text.
3. Similarly, a manuscript of Mīm Wāw Nūn contains a samāʿ record from Aleppo in 609 AH (1212 CE), noting Ibn Sawdakīn’s role as the primary reader (qāriʾ) during its audition.
4. A manuscript of Kitāb al-Hawā (The Book of Ecstasy) jointly attributes its transmission (riwāya) to Ibn Sawdakīn and ʿAbd al-Muʿnim ibn Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Anṣārī.

The aforementioned sources provide extensive details about Shams al-Dīn Ismāʿīl ibn Sawdakīn al-Nūrī, rendering further repetition here superfluous. His contributions as a scribe, commentator, and intimate disciple of Ibn al-ʿArabī underscore his pivotal role in disseminating Akbarian teachings, bridging esoteric revelation and scholarly rigor in the 7th/13th-century Islamic intellectual tradition.