Product Description

One of the great mystics of all time, Muhyiddin Ibn al-'Arabi was a prolific author who wrote on every aspect of medieval Islamic thought. Among the most widely read of his works, and certainly his most famous collection of poems, was his volume of odes, The Translator of Desires (Turjuman al-Ashwaq), which is regarded as a masterpiece of Arabic and Sufi love poetry. Michael Sells's Stations of Desire contains the first translations of Ibn 'Arabi's Turjuman into modern poetic English. Sells, the translator of a highly praised volume of pre-Islamic qasidas, Desert Tracings, carries into his translations the supple, resonant quality of the original Arabic, so that the poems come to robust life in English. In addition to a substantial selection of the odes themselves, Sells provides an insightful introduction that makes this work accessible to contemporary readers, as it locates the poems within the history of Arabic poetics and the tradition of Sufi mysticism. The book also includes a section of Sells's original poems, which are modeled on the Turjuman and serve as further commentary to the medieval odes and their extension into the present climate of poetry.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #454798 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 136 pages

From Booklist
Islamic poetry is enjoying an influx of readers in English, but poems by such Sufi saints as Rumi and Ibn 'Arabi have suffered from terrible translations. Sells, who has proven his talents in the highly regarded anthology Early Islamic Mysticism (1996), is confident enough to include some of his own poems, inspired by Ibn 'Arabi's love elegies, alongside his versions of the master's work, and his deftly wrought, spare verses are quite good in their own right. But Ibn 'Arabi is the star here, and these translations show the twelfth-century Muslim mystic at his very best. This is truly beautiful love poetry, and the oft-posed question of whether the beloved in it is God or a human quickly becomes irrelevant. Furthermore, by invoking the Beloved in both genders, Ibn 'Arabi invokes love that transcends gender and identity, and flies in the face of the stereotype of Islam as inherently sexist. Love for God and romantic love each is, as Ibn 'Arabi writes, "a garden among the flames." Truly a collection to be treasured. John Green
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Customer Reviews

Making a great poetry accessible to modern readers
People might have different views of Sells' own poetry, but no one can disagree that he is a great translator. I have read many translations of Arabic poetry, and I must say that Sells' translations are the best. They perfectly convey the rhythm, the poignancy, the beauty of the original language.
Ibn Arabi's poems are great in Arabic, but it's a challenge to render them into modern English and still retain their status of great poetry. Sells has done a wonderful job. I think he deserves a national award for his excellent translations that bring a beautiful literature to the modern reader.

good translator
1.Cannot say that the language he uses when talking about the prophets is respectful.
2.His own poems are rubbish.
3.He is a good translator.

Gorgeous
This is a collection of incredibly beautiful Sufi poetry, plus some poetry of Professor Sells own creation in the style of the Sufis. He also gives extensive explanations in the introduction of Arabic poetry traditions and explains what the poets were trying to do, to accomplish. Sells himself is a lyrical, polished writer. If you're at all a lover of poetry, do get this volume with poems from an ancient culture where poetry was the very highest form of art.