Known as the esoteric genre of exegesis on the Qur’an, ta’wil has traditionally been distinguished from tafsir which is the exoteric and more widely accepted mode of Qur’anic interpretation. Ibn al-Arabi is one of the best known ta’wili interpreters for his controversial mystical exegesis on the Qur’anic text. The present paper, in order to see how his ta’wil differs from the other interpreters’ (such as al-Baydhawi’s) tafsirs methodologically, conceptually, and linguistically, examines how Ibn al-Arabi approaches interpretation of the Qur’anic verses in his ta’wil. The paper, by way of examining his ta’wils as well as the methodology and theosophical tenets in his two most renowned theosophical books, Fosus al-Hikam and Naqsh al-Fosus, tries to determine the kind of knowledge that he relies on as well as the conceptual and interpretational framework within which he engages in ta’wil. The paper argues that Ibn al-Arabi’s ta’wil as opposed to others’ tafsirs does not extract the meaning of the verses primarily from the text through its bottom-up analysis. Considering his assertion that the mystics (including him) receive their knowledge through reason and revelation from the same source as the prophets’, the paper also argues that his ta’wils’ noticeable independence from the text is due in part to the theosophical knowledge that he already brings to the task of interpretation. In fact, this partly "unveiled" knowledge enables him to interact with the text in the construction of its meaning, while at times he seems to be only realizing what corresponds with his knowledge among the verses. It is this very claim to having access to the original source through unveiling that renders his claim to ta’wil - which literally means referring to the original meaning - plausible. By implication, understanding the internal operations of ta’wil through the examination of the verses interpreted by this esoteric method as well as the theosophical context of their interpretation may offer insights into the manner in which ta’wili interpreters have approached the task of interpretation and distinguished themselves from those basing their interpretations on tafsir.