- Lived:
- 1165–1240 · born in Murcia, al-Andalus; died in Damascus
- Tradition:
- Islamic mysticism (Sufism) — called al-Shaykh al-Akbar, "the Greatest Master"
- The Big Idea:
- All existence is one Being disclosing itself: the universe is God's mirror, and every creature — including you — is one face of a single, infinite self-revelation.
- In their words:
- "My heart has become capable of every form... I follow the religion of Love: whatever way Love's camels take, that is my religion and my faith."
- If you remember one thing:
- The most influential mystic in Islamic history taught that God and the world are mirrors of each other — and eight centuries of Muslims have been arguing ever since about whether that is the deepest truth or the gravest heresy.