Imagination in Viewpoints of Ibn Arabi and Molavi

In Ibn Arabi’s works, including Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya (The Meccan Illuminations) and Fusus al-Ḥikam (Bezels of Wisdom) and in Molavi’s Masnavi the word “Khyal” or imagination has been used in various connotations. Ibn Arabi gives a clearer and more detailed meaning of imagination, both as one of the principal five senses and as one of the components of the existence; and finally he has paid more attention to divine imagination subjectively and objectively and also in relation with boosting one’s religious experiences. On the other hand, Molavi refers to the mundane and carnal aspects of imagination and says it is the principal path of wayfaring by constitution of pluralistic forms. Therefore, there is no discord in connotative meanings of imagination between the two great mystics, although either one of them has covered an aspect of the diversified aspects of the word. Ibn Arabi has kept imagination within scientific research field, while Molavi struggles with it in rational research field.