This book is one of two unique versions of one of Ibn al-Arabi's masterworks: the Turjuman al-Ashwaq (The Discloser of Desires) and his own commentary on it: Dhakhair al-Aalaq (The Precious Repository). This great work by Ibn al-Arabi has always been characterized by its bilateral nature; on the outer form it is wonderful pure love poetry, yet it has a distinctive inner interpretation on the spiritual and divine planes. This book has been translated into English at least twice before, but the problem is how to illustrate its two completely different sides at the same time. Therefore, this innovative translation is executed in two different modes; for the poems themselves the rhythmic style was given the priority by concentrating on the sentiments the author desired to disclose, while giving more variations and minutiae when expounding them by translating Ibn al-Arabi's own commentaries and also extensively linking with related concepts from his other books. This first version is published under the title: "The Discloser of Desires," which contains the Turjuman al-Ashwaq alone, and the second takes the title: "The Precious Repository in Expounding the Discloser of Desires," which contains Dhakhair al-Aalaq fi sharh Turjuman al-Ashwaq, and both include an extensive introduction to the book and to the Greatest Master Muhyiddin Ibn al-Arabi. The abridged and illustrated version should be enough for someone who only wants to enjoy reading this inspiring chef-d'oeuvre, while the full version could be nominated to those who would like to explore Ibn al-Arabi's immense knowledge and prominent divine wisdom.
About the Author: The Greatest Sheikh Muhyiddin Ibn al-Arabi is Mohammed bin Ali bin Mohammed bin Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Hatimi al-Taiy. Ibn al-Arabi or Ibn Arabi, and he is designated as the Greatest Sheikh (Doctor Maximus), Muhyiddin (Reviver of Religion), Imam of the pious and other titles of veneration and honor that he really deserves. Ibn al-Arabi was born on Monday night, the 17th of Ramadan 560 AH corresponding to the 26th of July 1165 AD, in the city of Murcia in eastern Andalusia, then he moved with his family to Seville in the year 568 AH / 1172 AD, where he lived for the next twenty years during which he traveled to Morocco and Tunisia several times, and stayed there for intermittent periods. After that he traveled to the East for the Hajj in the year 598 AH / 1201 AD never to return to Andalusia again. In the East he stayed in Egypt briefly and then went to Palestine heading to Mecca where he devoted himself to worship and teaching at the Grand Mosque, the place where he received the mysteries and wisdom he deposited in his well-known magnum opus of the Meccan Revelations, and also met Nizam, the young lady to whom he wrote these disclosing poems. From Mecca, Ibn al-Arabi then went to Iraq and entered Baghdad and Mosul and met their Sheikhs, traveling north to Anatolia and Turkey where he dwelt for many years, but also taking numerous trips between Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Arabia, until he finally settled in Damascus in the year 620 AH / 1223 AD and he stayed there until he passed away in 638 AH corresponding to 1240 AD. He was buried on the foothill of Mount Qassioun, now the region where his mausoleum lies is called after his name (Sheikh Muhyiddin) where his tomb is located beside the mosque built in his honor by Sultan Selim two years after he conquered Damascus in 922 AH / 1516 AD. The Greatest Sheikh Muhyiddin Ibn al-Arabi excelled in mysticism and Sufi science in which he wrote many hundreds of books and treatises, that made scholars and philosophers sometimes astounded and sometimes pondering and often unable to dive into the seas of his words to extract the jewels and pearls therein. One of these is al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya (the Meccan Revelations), an encyclopedic discussion of Islamic wisdom, considered by many to be the most important book in Islamic history. He also wrote Fusus al-Hikam (the Bezels of Wisdom) which comprises chapters named after prophets who characterize different spiritual types.