Secret and Its Extensions in Mysticism With emphasis on Ibn Arabi

Secret is one of the key notions in studying the content of Ibn ''Arabi''s mysticism. Secret is a divine bounty which conferred upon the creatures by God and indicates a path stretching byond the reason. As an extension of secret God can be experienced by the mystic. Of course undestanding God is a matter of faith and intuition and does not fit the medium of reason. The limits of language tiles the path for the mystic to engage in paradoxes، theopathetic exclamations and symbolic expressions. However، Ibn ''Arabi believes that secrets could be expressed in symbolic language but paradox is a sign of weakness of the soul and insufficiency of initiation. Then paradox is not a viable medium for the expression of secrets. The relation of secret and mystery with such notions as wonder and the extensions of secret are among the issues dealt with in this essay.