Muslim Spain gave rise to two unusual figures in the mystical tradition of Islam: Ibn Masarra (269/883-319/931) and Ibn al-ʿArabī (560/1165-638/1240). Representing, respectively, the beginning and the pinnacle of Islamic mysticism in al-Andalus, Ibn Masarra and Ibn al-ʿArabī embody in their writings a type of mystical discourse which is quite different from the Sufi discourse that evolved in the Islamic east during the 9th-12th centuries. In Mysticism and Philosophy in al-Andalus, Michael Ebstein points to the Ismāʿīlī tradition as one possible source which helped shape the distinct intellectual world from which both Ibn Masarra and Ibn al-ʿArabī derived. By analyzing their writings and the works of various Ismāʿīlī authors, Michael Ebstein unearths the many links that connect the thought of Ibn Masarra and Ibn al-ʿArabī to the Ismāʿīlī tradition.

A study of the writings of Ibn Barrajān, an influential pioneer of intellectual mysticism in the Muslim West.

The first full-length treatment of Ibn Gabirol's philosophy in English, this study completely reinvents the medieval author of the Fountain of Life or Fons Vitae (known to many in the history of philosophy by his Latinized name, Avicebron). Developing Ibn Gabirol's vision in terms of a "Theology of Desire," the book rescues the voice of the eleventh-century Jewish poet-philosopher from centuries of misreadings as it sets out to examine the role of love, desire, and ethical self-transformation in medieval Jewish Neoplatonism.

Ibn al-'Arabi and the Sufis is a fascinating and groundbreaking analysis of the extent to which various major Sufi figures contributed to the mystical philosophy of Ibn al-'Arabi. While recent scholarship has tended to concentrate on his teachings and life, little attention has been paid to the influences on his thought. Each chapter is dedicated to one of Ibn al-'Arabi's predecessors, from both the early and later periods, such as al-Bistami, al-Hallaj, and al-Jilani, showing how he is discussed in the works of the “Greatest Master” and Ibn al-'Arabi's attitude towards him. This book brings into sharp relief the highly original nature of Ibn al-'Arabi's mystical theory, unprecedented in Islamic mysticism, and the unique way in which he interwove the ideas of others into his own thought.