The Hermetic method of gnostic intellection cannot be practised in isolation. Proceeding correctly requires an inspired teacher – Ibn Sab’in calls him a ‘Speaker’ (mukhatib) – who can translate the discourse of the Intellect/Nous to the disciple. This disciple or ‘Pupil’ (muta’allim) will in turn become a Speaker for another generation of Hermetic devotees. In this…

Ibn Sab’in is often called a Neoplatonic philosopher. Although he himself would have denied that. Hermeticism is also often called a Neoplatonic philosophy. But although Hermeticism borrows a lot of terminology from Neoplatonism its view of God, the Cosmos and reality is more in line with the Qurʾān than with Neoplatonism. (Allah,) The Originator of the heavens…

Ibn Sab’in can be seen as a Hermetist who used formal logic and mystical discourse to transcend the limits of philosophy and Sufism alike. To make such an assertion, however, it is first necessary to re-examine the issue of Hermetism and its relationship to both philosophy and mysticism in Islam. The very name of Hermes…

In Christian Spain, Hermeticism diffused outward from the city of Toledo after its reconquest in 1085. It was especially influential in the region of Saragossa, which fell to Christian forces in 1118. Important translators of Hermetic works included Bishop Michael of Tarazona (present-day Tudela, d. 1151) and Hugh of Santalla, who discovered several Arabic works…

What exposure might Ibn Sab’in have had to the so-called Corpus Hermeticum, or collection of revelatory and philosophical texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus? In the Fihrist of al-Nadim (d. 380/ 991) several tractates of the Corpus Hermeticum are noted as having been translated into Arabic. Among these are Hirmis ila ibnihi (Hermes to His Son) and Hirmis ila Tat (Hermes to…

The Sufi Dhul Nun al-Misri is a very interesting figure. His full name was Abu’l Faiz Thauban ibn Ibrahim al-Misri (c.791/796-c.860 CE). He was born at Akhmim (Ikhmim) in Upper Egypt. He was also described as an Alchemist and a Hermetist. Akhmim came later to be known as Panopolis. The same city another famous hermetist…