Studying the history of the notion of the ''Perfect Human'' (al-insan al-kamil), this book investigates a key idea in the history of Sufism. First discussed by Ibn ''Arabi and later treated in greater depth by al-Jili, the idea left its mark on later Islamic mystical, metaphysical, and political thought, from North Africa to Southeast Asia, up until modern times.
The research tells the story of the development of that idea from Ibn ''Arabi to al-Jili and beyond. It does so through a thematic study, based on close reading of primary sources in Arabic and Persian, of the key elements of the idea, including the idea that the Perfect Human is a locus of divine manifestation (ma?har), the concept of the ''Pole'' (qu?b) and the ''Muhammadan Reality'' (al-?aqiqah al-Muhammadiyyah), and the identity of the Perfect Human. By setting the work of al-Jili against the background of earlier Ibn ''Arabian treatments of the idea, it demonstrates that al-Jili took th
