FUTMAK · Primary-text excerpts
The heart as the cup of love
All annotated passages · Arabic source record · Open in the parallel reader
al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya · Cairo / Maymaniyya · volume 2, page 113 · chapter 73
Site passage ID: fm-p0015
Arabic source excerpt
الجواب القلب من المحب لا عقله ولا حسه فإن القلب يتقلب من حال إلى حال كما إن الله الذي هو المحبوب كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ في شَأْنٍ فيتنوع المحب في تعلق حبه بتنوع المحبوب في أفعاله كالكأس الزجاجي الأبيض الصافي يتنوع بحسب تنوع المائع الحال فيه فلون المحب لون محبوبه وليس هذا إلا للقلبEnglish translation draft
The answer: the lover’s heart, not his reason or his sense. For the heart turns from state to state, just as God, who is the Beloved, “is each day upon a task.” The lover varies in the attachment of his love with the variation of the Beloved in His acts, like a clear, colourless glass cup that varies according to the liquid within it. Thus the lover’s colour is the colour of his beloved. This belongs to the heart alone.
Terminology and context
- The excerpt starts with “the answer”; consult the preceding question in chapter 73. The title supplies orientation without replacing that question.
- The cup illustrates receptivity and variation. It should not be converted into a claim of physical mixture between God and the human being.
- The embedded citation is Qur’an 55:29. “Colourless” renders the clear white glass of the image; the liquid’s changing appearance carries the analogy.
Cite this draft
Ibn al-Arabi, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, Cairo / Maymaniyya, 2:113, chapter 73. Futmak, “The heart as the cup of love”, editorial translation draft (AI-assisted), 2026-10-25, fm-p0015.
https://www.futmak.com/english/passages/?id=fm-p0015
The source reference belongs to the printed edition; the passage ID belongs to this website.