Abstract
This thesis examines theoretical epistemology and the transmission of knowledge in Ibn ‘Arabī (d. 638 A.H./1240 C.E.) and Dāwūd al-Qayṣarī (d. 750 A.H./1350 C.E.). Ibn ‘Arabī has been categorized as a philosopher, despite his overall mystical style of expression, due to the manner in which his disciples streamlined his scattered tracts of thought into a system of metaphysics. In a similar way, his disciples are generally categorized as mystics despite their more philosophical style of expression due to their lineage to Ibn ‘Arabī. Through the discussion of epistemology, a prominent feature which has been overlooked in the scholarship of the Akbarian School emerges; these categorizations are largely inaccurate and must be examined in a more rigorous fashion.\r In addition to this observation, the thesis questions the reliance on a historical explanation for the shift from Ibn ‘Arabī’s more allusive style of expression into the systematic manner of expression favored by Qayṣarī, and contains a discussion of the theoretical implications of this shift. This is covered through an overview of the theoretical epistemology put forth by Ibn \r ‘Arabī and clarified and commented on by Qayṣarī, as well as a theoretical discussion. The thesis asserts that not only is some profundity of mystical knowledge lost when presented in a systematic way, but given the specific theoretical epistemology asserted by Ibn ‘Arabī and confirmed by Qayṣarī, it is quite problematic to use this method of expression.