A masterpiece of Arabic love poetry in a new and complete English translationThe Translator of Desires a collection of sixty one love poems is the lyric masterwork of Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi 1165 1240 CE one of the most influential writers of classical Arabic and Islamic civilization In this authoritative volume Michael Sells presents the first complete English translation of this work in more than a century complete with an introduction commentary and a new facing page critical text of the original Arabic While grounded in an expert command of the Arabic this verse translation renders the poems into a natural contemporary English that captures the stunning beauty and power of Ibn Arabi s poems in such lines as A veiled gazelle s an amazing sight her henna hinting eyelids squinting A pasture between breastbone and spine Marvel a garden among the flames The introduction puts the poems in the context of the Arabic love poetry tradition Ibn Arabi s life and times his mystical thought and his romance with Nizam the young woman whom he presents as the inspiration for the volume a relationship that has long fascinated readers Other features following the main text include detailed notes and commentaries on each poem translations of Ibn Arabi s important prefaces to the poems a discussion of the sources used for the Arabic text and a glossary Bringing The Translator of Desires to life for contemporary English readers as never before this promises to be the definitive volume of these fascinating and compelling poems for years to come