The Resources of the Human Spirit - Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society

22 Souad Al-Hakimthe potential achievements that every human being can attainthrough a deep understanding of his or her spirit.Based on Ibn ¡Arabi’s writings, this paper contributes to theestablishment of a culture, which aims to explore the world of thehuman spirit as part of the real world and not as science fiction.The study is divided into nine sections which I believe offer acomplete image of the practical side of the human spirit accordingto Ibn ¡Arabi. These nine sections, which also demonstratethe strength, the diversity of powers and the extraordinary effectsof the human spirit, are as follows:I. The nature of the human spirit.II. The location of the human spirit in the kingdom of man.III. The relation between the body and the spirit.IV. The relation between the spirit and the soul.V. The origin of the spirit and the source of its powers andcapacities.VI. The acquisition of spiritual powers.VII. A first stage of spiritual experience which gives humanspleasure and allows human reasoning to leave asidethe “logic of the real” and to accept a higher and moredeveloped reasoning: the logic of the Real.VIII. A second stage of spiritual experience capable of showingthat the human spirit is able to increase the strength andthe senses of human beings, making it possible to see whatothers cannot see and hear what others cannot hear.IX. A third stage of spiritual experience that shows the abilityof the spirit to leave the body and pass through the dimensionsof space and time in order to broaden the field ofhuman knowledge and establish the vicegerency 1 of man:night-journeys, ascensions, spiritual gatherings, etc.1. Vicegerency is a synonym of the Caliphate according to the Quranicverses.