An Interview with Abdel Baki Meftah,Algerian Master of Akbarian Teachings

Abstract: This interview seeks to introduce English-speaking audiences to the life and work of Abdel Baki Meftah, a major contemporary interpreter of Ibn ʿArabi and his school. To date, he has published nearly thirty books in Arabic on Ibn ʿArabi, which include expositions of his life, in-depth studies of particular themes and concepts in Ibn ʿArabi’s writings, com- mentaries upon some of Ibn ʿArabi’s key works, and a four-volume compilation and discussion of Ibn ʿArabi’s Sufi readings of verses from the Quran. In addition to writing more than ten other books on Sufi concepts, important Sufi orders and practices, and the thought of Amir ʿAbd al-Qadir al-Jazaʾiri, Meftah has also translated into Arabic ten of René Guénon’s writings and compiled two collections of his essays. The interview, which is presented here in condensed form, was conducted in Arabic by Hany Ibrahim and Mohammed Rustom in August 2021 and translated into English by Omar Edaibat.