The Wisdom of Animals – William C. Chittick

Abstract:

“More than any other Muslim thinker, Ibn ¡Arabi dedicated his teachings to clarifying the presence of the divine wisdom in all things and the human necessity of conforming to that wisdom. The arguments he offers are at once metaphysical and scrip- tural, cosmological and psychological, scientific and ethical. He addresses every dimension of human and cosmic existence and speaks constantly of the inherent goodness of all of creation and the human duty to respect the rights (huq¬q) of all creatures – not simply the rights of God and the rights of our fellow beings. If there is a single scriptural theme to his writings, after tawh¨d, it is certainly the prophetic saying: “Give to each that has a right”