The Tarjuman al-Ashwaq

One of the most prolific of the medieval Sufi writers, al-Arabi wrote over 150 books. Unfortunately, very little of this output was translated, up to the early 20th century. This is Reynold Nicholson's translation of the Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, or the 'Interpreter of Desires,' the first edition of which was completed in 611 A.H. (1215 A.D.).

This text is of great interest, aside from its literary merits as delightful (but highly encoded) Sufi love poetry, because the author supplied extensive commentary for each poem. This is key to disentangling the Sufi narrative from the exterior form of the work. At this level, rather than a series of love poems to a young woman, this book is actually a philosophical treatise with profound insights.

PRODUCTION NOTE: The original book contains the original Arabic text following the introduction. That part of the book has been omitted for technical reasons, so there are a number of skipped pages in the etext. Short passages in Arabic in the body of the have been substituted with ###. All other text was transcribed--John Bruno Hare, 3/31/2010.

Title Page
Contents
Preface
Introduction

Translation and Commentary

I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
XIII
XIV
XV
XVI
XVII
XVIII
XIX
XX
XXI
XXII
XXIII
XXIV
XXV
XXVI
XXVII
XXVIII
XXIX
XXX
XXXI
XXXII
XXXIII
XXIV
XXXV
XXXVI
XXXVII
XXXVIII
XXXIX
XL
XLI
XLII
XLIII
XLIV
XLV
XLVI
XLVII
XLVIII
XLIX
L
LI
LII
LIII
LIV
LV
LVI
LVII
LVIII
LIX
LX
LXI