Ibn al-Arabi dies in Damascus

1240

The Andalusian Sufi philosopher whose mystical system shaped centuries of Islamic thought died in the city that had sheltered his old age. His masterwork, the Meccan Revelations, remained controversial; his concept of the unity of being would influence everyone from Rumi to modern Sufis. His tomb in Damascus became a pilgrimage site, and Suleiman the Magnificent would later build a mosque above it.