The Universal Tree and the Four Birds by Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi

Author:Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi ['Arabī, Muhyiddīn Ibn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-9534513-9-5
Publisher: Anqa Publishing
Published: 2006-11-22T05:00:00+00:00

Secrets of the Name Abū al–Fawāris Ṣakhr [= Khālid] ibn Sinān55

The first kunya, or agnomen — Abū al–Fawāris — means “father of the knights”. The fawāris were “a class of Arab chivalrous heroes distinguished by eloquence (bayān) as well as courage and generosity (jūd)”.56 The appellation suggests pre–Islamic values and may have a connection with the fatā, or chivalrous knight, of the Futūḥāt’s first chapter. Ibn ‘Arabī makes reference to these values in his dedication and again at the end of the Risāla when he praises Sakhr ibn Sinān for his generosity and steadfastness in combat.57

Gril points out that the word jūd (generosity) calls to mind the word wujūd (existence) and vice versa; as an Arabic proverb states, “Al–wujūd fī al–jūd” (Existence is — or consists — in generosity). Bayān (eloquence) brings to mind the Qur’an, since this is one of its appellations. Hence not only are generosity and eloquence evoked in this passage but existence and revelation as well.58

The root F–R-S is also connected with the quasi–occult science of firāsa, or physiognomy. A fāris discerns the unseen nature of things, and especially human beings, from visible signs. To b efāris of something, says Ibn Manzūr in Lisān al-’Arab, is to know it.

The dedicatee’s second kunya - Ibn Sinān — means “son of a spearhead”. This again suggests the notion of pre–Islamic warrior values.

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The name Khālid has two main meanings, one concerned with rocks (ṣakhr/ḥajar) and the other with everlastingness (ṣamādiyya). But let us begin with the name Khālid itself and the Arabic root KH–L-D from which it is derived.

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