Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Muslim / Sufi

13th Century

Spain
(Europe)

Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi

Timeline (1165 - 1240)

Poems by Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi
Books - Links

Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi, Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi poetry, Muslim / Sufi, Muslim / Sufi poetry, poetry, poetry, poetry

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Ibn 'Arabi is considered by many to be the greatest Sufi philosopher. His was more of a structured approach to Sufi mysticism directed toward gnosis, in contrast to Rumi's mysticism which was more directed toward ecstatic annihilation in Love. Ibn 'Arabi was one of the most prolific of Sufi writers, having composed an immense volume of work in his lifetime in both prose and verse, influencing philosophical and mystical thought, not only in the Muslim world, but also in Christian Europe.

Born in Murcia, in Moorish Spain, Ibn 'Arabi could trace his ancestry back to ancient Arabia. When he was a boy, his family moved to Sevilla (Seville) where he began his studies. During a childhood illness, he had a transformative vision that set him firmly on the mystical path.

Ibn 'Arabi traveled throughout the Islamic world -- Spain, North Africa, the Middle East. He spent the last ten years of his life in Damascus.

Among his many writings, perhaps his most influential philosophical works are Spiritual Victories (al Futuhat al Makkiya) and Facets of Wisdom (al Fusus al Hikam). Many of the poetry selections here are excerpts from his long poem The Interpreter of Desires. The Interpreter of Desires is a multi-layered love poem that, like the Song of Songs in the Bible and many of the courtly love songs of the Troubadours, reveals itself to ultimately be an exploration of the soul's yearning for God. It is a tale of a holy pilgrimage to Mecca, in which the hero meets a young Persian woman of pure beauty named Nizham (Harmony). This encounter with such a perfect embodiment of harmony inspires an ardent quest that becomes a quest for the True Beloved, for God.

Poems by Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi

	As Night Let its Curtains Down in Folds
	In Memory of Those Who Melt the Soul Forever
	In the Mirror of a Man
	When my Beloved appears,
	While the sun's eye rules my sight,
	I believe in the religion
	If what she says is true
	My heart has become capable of every form
	Oh, her beauty--the tender maid!
	When we came together

Recommended Books

	Alone with the Alone: Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn 'Arabi, by Henry Corbin Amazon.com
	Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Quran, Miraj, Poetic and Theological Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality), by Michael A. Sells Amazon.com
	Ibn al-Arabi: Bezels of Wisdom (Classics of Western Spirituality), by Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi / Edited by R. W. J. Austin Amazon.com
	Ibn Arabi, by William Chittick Amazon.com
	Ibn Arabi and the Voyage of No Return, by Claude Addas Amazon.com
	Ibn Arabi in the Later Islamic Tradition: The Making of a Polemical Image in Medieval Islam, by Alexander D. Knysh Amazon.com
	Ibn Arabi: The Tree of Being: An Ode to the Perfect Man, Translated by Tosun Bayrak Amazon.com
	Journey to the Lord of Power: A Sufi Manual on Retreat , by Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi / Translated by Rabia T. Harris Amazon.com
	Music of a Distant Drum: Classical Arabic, Persian, Turkish & Hebrew Poems, Translated by Bernard Lewis Amazon.com
	The Mystics of Islam, by Reynold A. Nicholson Amazon.com
	Perfect Harmony: (Calligrapher's Notebooks) , by Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Amazon.com
	Self-Disclosure of God: Principles of Ibn Al-'Arabi's Cosmology, by William C Chittick Amazon.com
	Stations of Desire: Love Elegies from Ibn 'Arabi and New Poems, by Michael A. Sells Amazon.com
	Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn Al-Arabi's Metaphysics of Imagination, by William C. Chittick Amazon.com
	The Unlimited Mercifier: The Spiritual Life and Thought of Ibn Arabi, by Stephen Hirtenstein Amazon.com

Related Links:

	The Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society http://www.ibnarabisociety.org/ Biography, some of Ibn 'Arabi's texts on-line, several articles.

Please support the Poetry Chaikhana, as well as the authors and publishers of sacred poetry, by purchasing some of the recommended books through the links on this site. Thank you!

Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi

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Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World