Abstract
In this article, I consider the positive manner in which both Ibn 'Arabi and Derrida approach the idea of perplexity (in Arabic, hayrah) - for Ibn 'Arabi, it is a prelude towards an encounter with the Real. If rational constructs are an obstacle toward our understanding of Allah - and if bewilderment means the disabling of our rational faculties - then bewilderment is no longer a sign of spiritual failure and disarray, but rather a possibility of truer knowledge about God. In this respect, I consider for comparison what Derrida already has written about the tout autre - how we only truly glimpse the Other when we are confused. For both deconstructive and Sufi alterities, the basic point remains the same: When we are confused, we see things that we miss when we think we know what we are doing. We see the difference of difference.
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