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William Chittick

American philosopher, writer and translator · United States · On the map · Writers · Born 1943 · age 83

William Clark Chittick is an American philosopher, writer, translator, and interpreter of classical Islamic philosophical and mystical texts. He is best known for his work on Rumi and Ibn 'Arabi, and has written extensively on the school of Ibn 'Arabi, Islamic philosophy, and Islamic cosmology.

William Chittick is read about 50 times a day, in 16 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 21 June 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 60 days, one point a day.

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A life in dates

2020“Like the philosophers, Sufis aimed explicitly at overcoming the forgetfulness endemic to the human “soul” or “self” (the same word nafs is used in both senses).”In their wordsReligious Experience in Traditional Islam in The Cambridge Companion To Religious Experience, (2020) p. 135-137Read the whole statement

2014Guggenheim FellowshipAward2007“To the extent that people fail to actualize their fitra, they remain ignorant of who they are and what the cosmos is.”In their wordsScience of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul, (2007) p. 29-30.Read the whole statement

2002“The first function of the prophets is to “remind” people of their own divinely given reality.”In their wordsOn the Cosmology of Dhikr in Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East (2002), p. 49.Read the whole statement

2000“The Koran commonly refers to the knowledge brought by the prophets as “remembrance” (dhikr) and “reminder” (dhikra, tadhkir), terms that derive from the root dh-k-r.”In their wordsSufism: A Beginner's Guide, (2000) p. 63.Read the whole statement

1994“To be human is to be born with the fitra, which is an innate recognition of tawhid that is represented mythically by the Covenant of Alast and the Trust.”In their wordsThe Vision of Islam, (1994) p. 136.Read the whole statement

1989“Few concerns are as central to Islam as the search for knowledge (‘ilm).”In their wordsThe Sufi Path of Knowledge, (1989) p. 147.Read the whole statement

1943Born29 June 1943

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In their own words 4

William Chittick

4 statements, newest first

The key to the Islamic intellectual tradition is precisely the intellect, which is nothing but the soul that has come to know and realize its full potential.
2007 · Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul, (2007) p. 29., Own words
To lose the ability to see with the eye of tawhid means to fall into seeing with the eye of shirk, or associating other gods with God.
2007 · Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul, (2007) p. 47., Own words
Every attribute of God is found in the innate disposition (fitra) of the human being.
1998 · The Self-Disclosure of God, (1998) p. xxiii., Own words