'Ibn Arabi: The Voyage of No Return' is a concise introduction to the life and thought of Ibn 'Arabi, who is considered as the 'Greatest of Sufi Masters'. Written by the author of a best-selling biography of Ibn 'Arabi, 'Ibn Arabi: The Voyage of No Return' traces the major events of Ibn 'Arabi's life: his conversion to Sufism; his travels around Andalusia and the Maghreb; his meetings with the saints of his time; his journey to Mecca; his travels in Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and Syria; his most important books. The events of Ibn 'Arabi's 'inner voyage', however, are far more spectacular than those of his outer life and are here presented directly from the many auto-biographical sections found in his writings. Through her detailed analysis of Ibn Arabi's works and her profound understanding of his ideas, Claude Addas gives us a comprehensive insight into the major doctrines of this most influential of Sufi masters: the doctrine of prophethood and sainthood, of inheritance from the prophets, of the 'imaginal world', of the 'unicity of Being', of the 'Seal of the Saints', and many others.Addas also introduces the main disciples of Ibn 'Arabi down to the nineteenth century and traces both his unequalled influence on the course of Sufism and the controversies that still surround him till today. 'Ibn 'Arabi: The Voyage of No Return' is essential reading for anyone interested in Islamic mysticism and is a genuine contribution to scholarship in this field. This second edition includes a new preface and an updated and expanded bibliography.

Claude Addas' "Quest for the Red Sulphur: The Life of Ibn Arabi" is the first work of its kind: a comprehensive overview of the life and works of Ibn Arabi, known to some as "Shaykh al-Akbar", the `Greatest of Sufi Masters'. Until recently, anyone who wanted to learn about the life of Ibn Arabi has had little choice of material to work from. "Quest for the Red Sulphur" by Claude Addas has helped to fill in this gap by basing itself on a detailed analysis of a whole range of Ibn Arabi's own writings, as well as a vast amount of secondary literature in both Arabic and Persian. The result is the first-ever attempt to reconstruct what proves to have been a double itinerary: on the one hand, the journey that took Ibn Arabi from his native Andalusia to Damascus-and on the other hand, the `Night Journey' which carried him along the paths of asceticism and prayer to the ultimate stage of revelation of his mystic quest. "Quest for the Red Sulphur" is undoubtedly a landmark in Ibn Arabi studies, and its author's gift of narrative allied to a consummate understanding of the subject make this volume compulsory reading for anyone interested in Islamic mysticism.