Biographie ibn ajiba autobiography

Ibn 'Ajiba wrote his.
This autobiography is of the life of ibn Ajiba written by his own hand.
By tracing the events of his life between the extremes of the mundane and the spiritual, Ibn `Ajiba paints a detailed and engaging picture of what a person eager for spiritual fulfillment had to learn, practice, and endure along the path of Sufism.

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Autobiography of a Moroccan Sufi: Ahmad Ibn 'Ajiba [1747 - 1809] (Paperback)

By Ibn Ajiba, David Streight (Translated by), Jean-Louis Michon (Translated by)

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Description

Ibn 'Ajiba wrote his "fahrasa," or autobiography, not for the pleasure of talking about himself but "to celebrate God's kindness." It details his travels in search of both secular and spiritual knowledge, his entrance on a Sufi path strongly based within the Islamic tradition, and the social, intellectual, and spiritual struggles he encountered. This new English translation by David Streight is based on a contemporary French translation from the Arabic by the Swiss scholar Jean-Louis Michon.

About the Author

Ibn 'Ajiba was an 18th century Moroccan saint of the Darqawi Sufi lineage; he wrote to lead disciples in their search for both secular and spiritual knowledge.

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Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad b. Muhammad b. al-Mahdi Ibn ‘Ajibah al-Hasani, known simply as Ibn ‘Ajibah, was born in 1160 AH (1746 CE) in Khamis, a coastal Moroccan town located between Tangier and Tetouan. He was a Sharif, a noble descendant of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace).

From his infancy, he felt an attraction to the faith and the religious sciences. He first studied in his town, then in Tetouan and finally in Fez. In Fez, he was granted various licenses to teach from different teachers. When he was around thirty years old, he returned to Tetouan, where he began to study the Sacred Law and composed works on jurisprudence [fiqh] and Hadiz.

Some time after that, he read the Hikam and, as he said in his autobiography, he dedicated himself completely to the spiritual path. In 1208 AH (1794 CE), he became a disciple of Shaykh Muhammad al-Buizidi, the direct inheritor of Shaykh Mawlay al-‘Arabi al-Darqawi, the founder of the Darqawi branch of the Shadhili path. At that time,

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The Autobiography of a Moroccan Soufi: Ahmad Ibn’Ajiba

Ibn Ajiba, an 18th-century Moroccan saint in the Darqawi Sufi lineage, wrote his fahrasa or autobiography not for the pleasure of talking about himself but “to celebrate God’s kindness” by informing others of the graces bestowed on him. This account details Ibn Ajiba’s travels in search of both secular and spiritual knowledge; his entrance on a Sufi path strongly based within the Islamic tradition; and the social, intellectual, and spiritual struggles that such a search entailed. He spent time in prison, and time in ecstasy.

He tells his tale with humility and a sense of humor, and the story manages to be at the same time practical (details of how much he paid to workmen to build a house or advice to his followers on how to consummate their marriages) and spiritual (explaining the subtleties of mystical experience and how the esoteric way is superior to the exoteric). His zeal for both intellectual learning and the devotional path are apparent on every page. Long unavailable to Western reade