Shaykh [ABD.sup.[subset]] al-[AZIZ.sup.[subset]] al-Mahdawi, Ibn al-[Arabi's.sup.[subset]] Mentor.

• Author: Elmore, Gerald T.
• Position: Tunisian sufism

The Tunisian Sufi master, [Abd.sup.[subset]] al-[Aziz.sup.[subset]] al-Mahdawi, played a timely role in the coming-of-age of the great mystical theoretician, Muhyi l-Din Ibn al-[Arabi.sup.[subset]] (known to later ages as al-Shaykh al-Akbar, "the Greatest Master"). The latter's monumental Futuhat al-makkiyah was dedicated to al-Mahdawi, but, more significantly, the passages that were addressed directly to him often seem to evince more personal susceptibility than was customary in pre-modern literature. In this article we examine all of the available information on al-Mahdawi--from Ibn al-[Arabi's.sup.[subset]] writings and from later sources, as well as a written work that has been ascribed to him--with a view to understanding the nature of the relationship between the two men and the sense in which Shaykh al-Mahdawi can, indeed, be described as Ibn al-[Arabi's.sup.[subset]] mentor.

INTRODUCTION

ONE OF THE TRULY pivotal figures in the career of the great Sufi theorist, Muhyi l-Din Ibn al-[Arabi.sup.[subset]] (d. 638/1240), was the Tunisian shaykh, Abu Muhammad [Abd.sup.[subset]] al-[Aziz.sup.[subset]] b. Abi Bakr al-Qurashi al-Mahdawi (d. 621/1224), but we know surprisingly little about him beyond what is related in a few of the Shaykh al-Akbar's books. This is frustrating because [Abd.sup.[subset]] al-[Aziz.sup.[subset]] al-Mahdawi was crucially involved as the mentor of Ibn al-[Arabi.sup.[subset]] final development in the Maghrib into an accredited "professional" Sufi and mature, "published" writer. Moreover, it is obvious that the encounter between the two men was at times galvanized by the kind of emotional energy and friction that would serve to delineate sharply the contours of both characters in juxtaposition. To help gauge some of the motivational affect underlying Ibn al-[Arabi's.sup.[subset]] extraordinary creative achievement, it will be revealing to gather together all that we know or can surmise about Shaykh al-Mahdawi in order to try to understand what attracted the younger man to him so powerfully in the first place, and, secondly, why their relationship was fraught with disappointment that eventually derailed it. In this paper we begin by reviewing three extended texts in which Ibn al-[Arabi.sup.[subset]] directly addresses his teacher and friend, taking particular note of any hint of personal animus or ambivalence. Then we will see what other information may be gleaned about Shaykh al-Mahdawi as a way of rounding out an impression of him. Finally, I will present excerpts from a stylized prayer of benediction that has been ascribed to him and which, apart from some fragments of correspondence, is his only known literary work still extant.

Ibn al-[Arabi.sup.[subset]] (who was born and raised in Andalusia, where he spent most of the first half of his life) stayed for a time with Shaykh al-Mahdawi in Tunis, the Maghrib's "window on the East," on two different occasions--in 590/1194 and 597-98/1201-2. During the first visit, when he was thirty years old, he participated for a while as a student in al-Mahdawi's center for Sufi instruction (dar tadrisi-hi) (1) where he seems to have lived at close quarters with the other disciples--one of whom happened to be his paternal cousin, Abu l-Hasan [Ali.sup.[subset]] b. [Abd.sup.[subset]] Allah b. Muhammad Ibn al-[Arabi.sup.[subset]]. (2) He also kept company at that time with another, older shaykh who lived at nearby Marsa [Aydun.sup.[subset]], named Abu Muhammad [Abd.sup.[subset]] Allah b. Khamis al-Kinani, who was best known as al-Jarrah (the wound-dresser) al-Murabit (the templar, or "dweller in a fortress-convent"). Shaykh Jarrah al-Kinani was the master of al-Mahdawi, but both paid homage to the gre at Shaykh al-shuyukh of the West, Abu Madyan Shu [ayb.sup.[subset]] (d. circa 594/1197-98) It would appear that that initial sojourn in 590 H. could not have much exceeded six or seven months. (4) The second stay, eight years later, was somewhat longer--nine months from the end of 597 H. (5)--and constituted the terminus of the first leg of Ibn al-[Arabi's.sup.[subset]] fateful pilgrimage-trek to Mecca, from which he was never to return to his homeland. He was now accompanied by his faithful new servant and disciple, [Abd.sup.[subset]] Allah Badr al-Habashi (and another man whom he had just met in Fez),6 and there is no indication that he actually studied under al-Mahdawi on this occasion (meanwhile, Shaykh Jarrah had died shortly after the first visit). Rather, it is likely that Ibn al-[Arabi.sup.[subset]] was largely preoccupied with writing--for example, he was then redacting his [Insha.sup.[contains]] al-jadawil wa-I-[dawa.sup.[contains]]ir a concise but abstruse metaphysical treatise, which was (perhaps somewhat quixotically) intended for al-Haba shi's higher education. (7) It is possible that the stopover in Tunis was prolonged beyond its intended length because of the severe famine that had gripped Egypt for the past year. (8)

Incidents from the first Tunisian sojourn are recounted by Ibn al-[Arabi.sup.[subset]] primarily in three main texts, all of them the prologues of major works--namely, the Mashahid al-asrar al-qudsiyah, the Risalat Ruh alquds, and Al-Futuhat al-makkiyah. (The second visit is also touched upon in the Futuhat passage, but not in any real detail.) As I have edited and translated the first of these texts in a study that will be published in the near future, (9) here I shall simply give a brief description of that text as it relates to our present concerns.

SHAYKH AL-MAHDAWI IN IBN AL-[ARABI'S.sup.[subset]] WRITINGS

The "prologue" of the Mashahid al-asrar is presented in the form of an open letter to the disciples of Shaykh al-Mahdawi--or specifically, to one of them, the author's cousin. Composed sometime after Ibn al-[Arabi's.sup.[subset]] return to Andalusia late in the year, 590/1194,10 it deals generally with such subjects as knowledge, sainthood and prophecy, the Divine Speech, etc., but a good portion of the risalah is devoted to enumerating some of the excellent qualities (mandqib) of al-Mahdawi (and his disciples) as they were observed first-hand by Ibn al [Arabi.sup.[subset]] during his initial visit. Thus, the Shaykh's little community is commended for honoring such "righteous-ancestral (salihi) attitudes" as regarding prayer as a positive benefit rather than an obligation, and for observing traditional customs (cleaning the teeth before prayer, fasting and ascetic practices during the month of Rajab, etc.) and avoiding contemporary abuses (youths were segregated from the communal gatherings and the participation of women wa s eschewed altogether). Shaykh al-Mahdawi's achievement of rare mystical states (ahwal) and the telepathic efficacy of his himmah (psychospiritual energy) are attested by Ibn al-[Arabi's.sup.[subset]] personal experience, and the Shaykh is praised, above all, for his magisterial discretion in translating the more indigestible esoteric knowledge of the Secrets of Unveiling into a pedagogical pabulum suitable to the capacities of the uninitiated (al-jumhur. (11)

For the most part, there is nothing very revealing of the actual relationship between the two men in the Mashahid prologue. This is not to say that Ibn al.[Arabi.sup.[subset]] shies away from sharing his personal feelings, but these are directed primarily towards his cousin, the addressee, who, in the second half of the letter, is berated rather soundly for his spiritual incapacity and unworthiness. The impression given of al-Mahdawi in this early risalah is effusively complimentary--he is the perfect Sufi shaykh, "a great and weighty master"--but the picture of him therein remains unduly antiseptic, (12) too ideal for our purposes here, to explore the factual nature of the role that he played in Ibn al-[Arabi's.sup.[subset]] coming-of-age. For that we will need to avail ourselves of the other two texts mentioned above, from the Ruh al-quds and the Futuhat. There is one observation of possible relevance that we can derive from the Mashahid, however. At the beginning of the Manaqib portion of the epistle, Ibn al [Arabi.sup.[subset]] states that he has felt it necessary to bear witness to Shaykh al-Mahdawi's virtues because, he writes, "in our time there is one who has enviously defamed him--although he had never seen him before--and another who had seen him but whose soul disdained to be fair." (13) We do not know who either of these critics of al-Mahdawi were, but it is at least possible that the first one was none other than Ibn al-[Arabi's.sup.[subset]] own father, who once censured Shaykh al-Mahdawi's occasional practice of enjoying the public baths with his disciples. (14)

Our next passage, the prologue to the R. Ruh al-quds, is addressed directly to Shaykh al-Mahdawi. It was written in Mecca in 600/1203, about a year and a half after the second sojourn in Tunis. The letter begins: (15)

In the Name of God, the Compassionate Compassionator!

And May God bless Muijammad and his family.

From [this] insignificant servant, the solicitous, sincere counselor, commanded to give sincere counsel to his brethrea (16) and pressed to that service more than anyone else of his time--Muhammad b. [Ali.sup.[subset]] b. Muhammad Ibn al-[Arabi.sup.[subset]] al-[Ta.sup.[contains]]i al-Hatimi (May God grant him success!)--to his friend in God (Exalted be He!) and his brother, the strong support, Abu Muhammad [Abd.sup.[subset]] al-[Aziz.sup.[subset]] b. Abi Bakr al-Qurashi al-Mahdawi, resident of Tunis (May God grant him continuance, safe-guarded; and, by the Eye of divine preservation and protection, well-regarded!)--Peace be upon you, and the mercy of God and His blessings!

Verily to you do I praise God, Who--"There is no God but He!" (17) And I bless our Lord, Muhammad, and his family, and wish [them] all peace!

Now, then, my brother, verily, sincere counsel is best for two associates to trade in, or for two friends to spend the evening...