The Sufi Doctrine of Man: Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi’s Metaphysical Anthropology

In The Sufi Doctrine of Man, Richard Todd examines the life and thought of Ibn ‘Arabi’s chief disciple, Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi (13th century C.E.). Making use of manuscript sources, he analyzes and contextualizes Qunawi’s esoteric vision of the nature and purpose of human existence, a doctrine which incorporates core elements of Qunawi’s metaphysics, cosmology, psychology, and eschatology. Qunawi’s thought is placed in relation to Ibn 'Arabi’s and that of the Ikhwan al-Safa’, and his interaction with the Avicennian tradition is explored by focusing on his dialogue with the philosopher al-Tusi. Although not as famous as his master, Qunawi is shown to have been a sophisticated metaphysician in his own right, who had a major impact on Sufi thought.