he Symbolism of the Journey in Sufi Discourses: Al-Isrā’ ilā Maqām al-Asrā or Ibn ʿArabī’s Kitāb al-Miʿrāj as a Model

Abstract

The Sufi journey toward the Absolute constitutes the foundation of the Sufi experience, serving as its symbolic counterpart. Historically and in contemporary times, Sufis have used various terms to describe this imagined journey, which is conveyed through elements of narrative and suspense. It closely resembles a narrative text with its own stages and states, and it varies from one Sufi to another. For Sufis, the journey begins with spiritual conduct, detachment from all that binds the seeker to worldly life and its pleasures, the self and its desires, and its inner whispers. Sufis were traditionally called "strangers" because of this journey toward the Absolute Self. A Sufi attains knowledge only to the extent of their estrangement from their own ego. The purpose of this estrangement is to minimize the self’s share in worldly matters and to sever ties with the carnal self, allowing the spirit to ascend toward the higher realms, purified and detached from its attributes.