Ibn Arabi was born in Murcia on July 28, 1165, and therefore the year of 2015 marks the 850th anniversary of his birth. On this occasion, Casa Árabe is joining the series of events which the Ibn Arabi studies association (MIAS Latina - Muyiddin Iban Arabi Society Latina) has organized throughout the year to commemorate the 850th anniversary of the birth of this Sufi mystic and poet, who was one of history’s greatest spiritual leaders.  As is well known, Ibn Arabi’s works have held enormous influence throughout the entire Islamic world, having been spread around the world during all of the last century.

Professor Pablo Beneito, President of the MIAS-Latina Society, is offering this opening conference at Casa Árabe, marking the beginning of a year in which Ibn Arabi will play a very special role. The conference will be presented by Eduardo López Busquets, General Director of Casa Árabe.

 

A doctor of Arabic Philology who earned his degree at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, he was a professor in the Department of Arab and Islamic Studies at the School of Philology at the University of Seville from 1999 to 2008. He is currently a professor in the Department of Translation and Interpreting at the University of Murcia School of Letters. He has been a guest professor at the École Pratique des Hautes Études of La Sorbonne, at the University of Kyoto (ASAFAS), at the Universidad Federal de Juiz de Fora (Brazil) and at the School of Translators in Toledo (2000-2003). As an Islamologist who specializes in studying Islamic thought and Sufism, he has given many conferences and courses in many different countries. He is the author of numerous books on Ibn Arabi and his school, having been one of the main experts on this poet and mystic from Al-Andalus. Since 1999, he has directed the Alquitara collection of Eastern literature (Ediciones Mandala, Madrid), and since 2014, the Barzaj collection (Editorial Manuscritos, Madrid) and Dragomán collection (MIAS, Murcia), as well as the journal for studies on Ibn Arabi, El Azufre Rojo. He is currently the president of the MIAS-Latina Society for studies on Ibn Arabi.