“The Grove of Imagination”

This paper re-examines Ibn ʿArabī’s concept of the barzakh through the lens of spiritual ecology, arguing that it functions not only as an eschatological or metaphysical intermediary but as a dynamic, growth-oriented realm integral to the soul’s development. Moving beyond previous structural and ontological readings, the paper highlights the barzakh as an active, vegetal-like ecosystem where the human being—understood as a “plant-like” entity (nabātī)—matures through embodied, experiential engagement with the natural world. Drawing on Ibn ʿArabī’s descriptions of the “Vast Earth” (ard al-ḥaqīqa) and the “Pledge of the Plants,” the analysis reveals how the barzakh serves as a spiritual geography that integrates mineral, vegetal, and animal dimensions into the path of human perfection. By synthesizing insights from contemporary Islamic scholarship and vegetal philosophy, the paper presents the barzakh as a foundational, indigenous framework for an Islamic ecological spirituality—one that decenters anthropocentrism and affirms the sacred interconnectivity of all beings in the journey toward divine proximity.