He is the author of al-Fuṣūṣ and other works. His real name is Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. ʿArabī Abū ʿAbdillāh al-Ṭāʾī. He is Andalusian. He traveled to various cities and resided for a while in Mecca. There he compiled his twenty-volume work al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya. In this work, there are matters that are rational, irrational, acceptable, unacceptable, approved, and disapproved. In his book Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam, there are many matters that are outwardly kufr (disbelief). He also has Kitāb al-ʿAbādila and a dīwān containing poetry of a high level. This dīwān includes poetry of a high standard. Besides these, he has many other compilations. Before his death, he resided for a long time in Damascus. The Banū Zaqī tribe gathered around him, cared for him, and said that all his sayings were within the realm of possibility.
Abū Shāma said: “He has many compilations. It is easy to write works about him. He has beautiful poetry and lengthy discourses on tasawwuf (Sufism) notes. When he died, his funeral ceremony was truly very beautiful. He was buried in the cemetery of Qāḍī Muḥyiddīn b. Zaqī on Qasyūn. He died in the year on the 22nd of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir.”
Ibn Sibṭ said about him: “Muḥyiddīn b. ʿArabī had memorized the Ism al-Aʿẓam (the Greatest Name [of God]) and said that he learned the science of alchemy not by study but as a gift (wahbī). He held a high rank in the knowledge of tasawwuf. He had many compilations.”