Cosmological aspects of divine love in the works of Dionysius the Areopagite and Ibn Arabi

In this paper are presented the results of studying the works of Dionysius the Areopagite and Ibn Arabi in order to identify the cosmological aspects of Divine Love. As a result of our hermeneutic analysis of their works, we managed to describe the concept of Divine Love and its cosmological aspects. In particular, we developed a new terminology for the different types of love: returning, communicating and providential. According to both authors, Divine Love is a divine name, the cause for both the creation and preservation of the cosmos. There are three types of love: divine (descending), human (ascending) and horizontal. We have tried to show the cosmological aspect of all these kinds of love. In the Areopagitics, the world appears as the fruit of uncreated Divine Love and it contains symbols of this Love. In the works of Ibn Arabi, human love is divided into three types: physical, spiritual and divine. In our paper we depict the characteristics of each of them. Two different classifications of love and their criteria are discussed. Also, we outline the doctrine according to which the Deity is the only one, absolute and ultimate object of every kind of love. At the same time the Deity is the only one, absolute and ultimate subject of every kind of love. In the light of the results of our research, we argue that the philosophy of Dionysius the Areopagite and Ibn Arabi are playing a key role not only for our understanding of these authors themselves, but also for a wider and fuller understanding of Christian and Islamic philosophy.