The Immense Ocean
Al-Bahr al-Madid
A Thirteenth/Eighteenth Century
Quranic Commentary on the Chapters:
'The All-Merciful', 'The Event', and 'Iron'
by Ahmad ibn 'Ajiba
Translated by: Mohamed
Fouad Aresmouk and
Michael Abdurrahman Fitzgerald
Introduction: Kenneth Honerkamp
Forweword: Kristin Zahra Sands
“I have
been requested by Shaykh, Sidi Muhammad al-Buzidi al-Hasani, as well has his
Shaykh, the Qutb, Mulay al-‘Arabi al-Darqawi al-Hasani, to set
down in writing a commentary that would combine both exoteric explanation and
esoteric allusion, and I have responded to their request…in hopes that this
work will benefit many and be a joy to the heart as well as to the ear.”
Ahmad ibn ‘Ajiba
The 18th
century Moroccan mystic and scholar, Ahmad ibn ‘Ajiba, virtually unknown in the
west before the 1967 publication of Jean-Louis Michon’s Le Soufi
Marocain Ibn ‘Ajiba et son Mi’raj, spent six year towards the end of his
life working intermittently on his single greatest work, The Immense Ocean
(al-Bahr al-Madid), a complete commentary on the Holy Quran. The finished work
would differ from all other previous Quranic commentaries (tafasir) by the fact
that in addition to presenting the exoteric explanation for every verse, it
also included esoteric commentary (ishara) which related each verse to the
mystic path of Islam, Sufism.
The
present translation is of one section--- the fifty-fourth hizb (or part)
containing the Chapters of The All-Merciful, The Event, and Iron---from this
unique and monumental work. Its intention is to provide the Anglophone reader
with access not only to how the generality of educated Muslims have understood
the dominant themes of these Chapters since the earliest days of Islam, but
also how traditional Sufic sources have viewed these same themes in respect to
the microcosm of the soul and the journey towards God. To this latter
dimension, Ibn ‘Ajiba adds insights arising from his own spiritual quest, that
of a man who, in his early 40s, having lived the life of a scholar from a noble
Tetouani family, turned away from all the rank and respect he had previously
enjoyed in order to become the disciple of two of the greatest Sufic teachers
of his day, Mulay al-‘Arabi al-Darqawi and Muhammad al-Buzidi, and immerse
himself in the rigorous spiritual training and practice that characterized
their way, al-Tariqa al-Shadhiliyya al-Darqawiyya. This translation, then
presents both an example of Islamic scholarship based on traditional formal
sources as well as insight into Ibn ‘Ajiba’s own personal journey of discovery.
In the
course of this work, the reader will find commentary, both exoteric and
esoteric, on verses concerning the interrelation between Divine benevolence and
human gratitude; the blessings of Heaven and the place of faithful men and
women there; the relationship between practice, grace, and salvation; the role
and meaning of the invocation and remembrance of God (dhikr Allah); the
ephemeral nature of this world; the essential traits of Christians; the meaning
of earthy tribulations; and the benefits of charity.
In
addition the reader will discover the depths at which Quranic discourse has
been understood by the mystics of Islam over the centuries (and up to the
present day), a depth at which formal differences between traditions become
less and less distinct and the similarities in the human quest for knowledge of
the Divine ever more inspiring.
Excerpt:
“As for
God’s words Full of spreading branches, these allude to the
many types of knowledge, tastes, mysteries, and lights to be found in those two
gardens, as well as to the differing spiritual insights which arise from the
ocean of mysteries. Therein, for each one, are two
springs flowing forth, one with the teachings of the Revealed Law,
ethics, and comportment befitting servanthood, and the other with the teachings
of the esoteric truth, the Way, and the monotheism of the elect (al-tawhid
al-khass). Therein of every fruit of spiritual experience (adhwaq) there
is a pair, that is, two kinds: one which is constant and unchanging
and the other which is renewed at each instant. We might also say there is a
kind which pertains to the world of Divine Wisdom and another which pertains to
the world of Divine Power, or one which pertains to the Essence and one which
pertains to the Attributes; or one which arises from the sweetness of direct
perception and one which arises from correct comportment.”
What makes this book special?
Al-Bahr al-Madid, from which this translation is an excerpt, is
the only traditional Quranic commentary in existence which gives both exoteric
exegesis and mystical “spiritual allusion” for each verse of the Sacred Book.
Only one other work by the prolific 13th/18th century Moroccan mystic and
scholar, Ahmad ibn ‘Ajiba, has so far been translated into English.
