JILI, AL-

in full 'abd Al-karim Qutb Ad-din Ibn Ibrahim Al-jili born 1365 died c. 1424 mystic whose doctrines of the perfect man became popular throughout the Islamic world. Little is known about al-Jili's personal life. Possibly after a visit to India in 1387, he studied in Yemen during 13931403. Of his more than 30 works, the most famous is Al-Insan al-kamil fi ma'rifat al-awakhir wa al-awa 'il (partial Eng. trans., Studies in Islamic Mysticism), which contains his complex doctrine of the perfect man. The work shows clearly the influence of the pantheistic Spanish mystic Ibn al-'Arabi (d. 1240). Al-Jili maintained that the perfect man can achieve unity with the Divine Being. This unity is experienced not only by the prophets, from Adam to Muhammad, but also by others who reach the highest level of being (wujud) and become, as it were, the most select of the select. At this level, all contradictions, such as being with non-being, and vengeance with mercy, are resolved. Al-Jili also maintained that in every age the perfect man manifested the outward appearance and inner essences of the Prophet Muhammad. The perfect man was thereby a channel through which the community could enjoy contact with the Divine Being. Al-Jili claimed that, in the town of Zabid in Yemen in 1393, he had met the Prophet Muhammad, who then manifested himself through al-Jili as sheikh, or spiritual leader. Al-Jili's doctrine of the perfect man later degenerated into a belief that all holy men and mystics were able to achieve contact and unity with God.