The intersection of Emanuel Swedenborg’s visionary theology and Esoteric Islam—particularly the concepts found in Sufism and Isma’ili theosophy—represents one of the most compelling cross-cultural resonances in the history of mysticism. While Swedenborg was an 18th-century Swedish scientist-turned-seer and the masters of Islamic esotericism (such as Ibn ‘Arabi or Mulla Sadra) operated in a vastly different linguistic and cultural milieu, their structural understanding of reality is strikingly congruent. The Mundus Imaginalis and the World of Spirits
Swedenborg’s "Grand Man" ( Maximus Homo )—the idea that the entire heaven is organized in the form of a human being—finds a deep parallel in the Sufi concept of (the Perfect Man). Swedenborg & Esoteric Islam (Swedenborg Studies)
Central to Swedenborg’s work is the , the idea that every natural thing has a spiritual cause and meaning. This mirrors the Islamic practice of ta’wil (spiritual hermeneutics). Central to Swedenborg’s work is the , the
To engage in ta’wil is to lead the symbol back to its origin ( awwal ). Central to Swedenborg’s work is the