Sufism and deconstruction : a comparative study of Derrida and Ibn ʻArabi / Ian Almond.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [155]-160) and index.

"This book provides a fascinating exploration of these questions by discussing a variety of common features in the vocabularies of two thinkers, Jacques Derrida and Ibn Arabi, situated almost eight centuries apart. These features include the opposition to systematizing representations of God/reality/the text; a re-emphasis on the radical unthinkability of God and the text; a common conception of rational thought as restrictive, commodifying and ultimately illusory - and a subsequent appraisal of confusion as leading to a higher state of knowledge; a positive belief in the infinite interpretability of the text; a suspicion of representation - and an awareness of its semantic futility, along with a common, 'welcoming' affirmation of openness and errancy towards God and the text." "This book will be essential reading for advanced students and academics of Religious Studies, Arabic and Islamic Studies and those interested in the work of Jacques Derrida and Ibn Arabi."--BOOK JACKET.

1. The shackles of reason : Sufi/deconstructive opposition to rational thought -- 2. The honesty of the perplexed : Derrida and Ibn Arabi on 'confusion' -- 3. Sages of the book : the meaning of infinity in Sufi and deconstructive hermeneutics -- 4. Mystery-tasting and abyssality : the secret in Ibn Arabi and Derrida -- Conclusion : the post-structuralist dissolution of the subject : three Neoplatonic moments in the Derridean canon.