Islam and the Divine comedy

"Islam and the Divine comedy" by Miguel Asín Palacios is a scholarly study written in the early 20th century. It argues that Dante’s Divine Comedy drew extensively on Islamic eschatological narratives and mystic theology—especially the Prophet’s Night Journey and Ascension (Isra and Mi‘raj) and the writings of Ibn Arabi—shaping the poem’s structure, imagery, and themes. The opening of the work presents an introduction praising the study’s impact and recounting the fierce international debate it provoked, followed by a preface where the author states his thesis and research path: from noticing parallels between Dante and Ibn Arabi to tracing deeper, earlier models in the Islamic Mi‘raj legend. It explains the translation’s abridgment and then lays out an expansive table of contents mapping the argument across hell, purgatory, paradise, and channels of transmission. The text then begins its analysis of the legend’s origins, summarizing early “Isra” versions (simple night journeys with punishments and rewards) and “Mi‘raj” versions (ascents through the heavens), and steadily comparing their motifs to Dante’s poem. Key parallels highlighted include the night-time start, the guiding figure, the mountain ascent, the moral “architecture” of hell with tiers and tailored punishments, gatekeepers who initially refuse passage, and the ascent through multiple heavens culminating at the divine throne. The opening also stresses shared imagery—light and song as the language of paradise, the blinding brilliance that requires special vision, rapid flight likened to wind or an arrow, and the guide’s role (Gabriel/Beatrice) in explanation and consolation—setting the pattern for the book’s broader comparative case.