The Interpreter of Desires by Ibn ʿArabī and the Vita Nova by Dante Alighieri. The common concepts of Absence, Memory and the Indefinite

This article aims to compare and bring into dialogue The Interpreter of Desires by Ibn ʿArabī and Vita Nova by Dante Alighieri through three key concepts deeply embedded in both works: Absence, Memory, and the Undefined. According to this analysis, the Lover’s search for the Beloved in both texts presupposes Absence and values Presence as the ultimate goal; secondly, the void left in Memory by the absence of Niẓām and Beatrice is filled with evocations and recollections; finally, it is the Undefined nature of space and time that grants both works their universality, with no concrete references beyond the Beloved—or even more profoundly, the spiritual quest itself.