Martin Lings - SUFI POEMS, A Medieval Anthology - Compiled and Translated by Martin Lings (Islamic Texts Society) Fons Vitae Sufi Books

Sufi Poems is a selection of poems from the golden period of Sufism especially chosen and translated from the Arabic by the distinguished scholar Dr Martin Lings. Dr Lings is the author of numerous best-selling works on Sufism and is a published poet in his own right. Inlcuding poems here translated for the first time, Sufi Poems brings together selections from the giants of Sufism; for example, Rabia, Hallaj, Ibn al-Farid and Ibn Arabi. Sufi Poems is published as bi-lingual Arabic-English edition which will be of interest to all those wishing to read the original Arabic and will also be helpful for university students of Arabic.

Martin Lings, formerly Keeper of Oriental Manuscript in the British Museum and the British Library, is the author of three works on Islamic mysticism, A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century, What is Sufism? and The Book of Certainty, all published by The Islamic Texts Society. His Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, has been internationally acclaimed as a masterpiece.

Table of Contents

1.Preface
2.Rabiah al-Adawiyyah
3.Dhu’n-Nun Thawban al-Misri
4.Sahl ibn Abd Allah al-Tustari
5.Abu Husayn Ahmad ibn Muhammad an-Nuri
6.Abu’l-Hasan Summun ibn Hamzah al-Basri
7.Al-Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj
8.Abu Bakr Dulaf ibn Jahdar ash-Shibli
9.Abu’l-Abbas al-Qasim al-Sayyari
10.Muhyi’l-Din Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Arabi
11.Sharafu’d-Din Umar ibn al-Farid
12.Abu’l-Hasan Ali ibn Abd Allah ash-Shushtari
13.Conclusion
14.Bibliography

For the first time in English we have an anthology of translations of classical Sufi poems written in Arabic. There could not have been a better scholar for this task than the late Martin Lings, also known as Shaykh Abu Bakr Siraj al-Din (1909-2005 C.E). Many of the available English translations of Sufi poetry (commonly dealing with the rich literature of Sufi poetry in Persian), have been rendered in prose (or semi-prose style), with an eye to remaining as faithful to the original text as possible. Other translations have attempted to capture the poetic flavour of the verses, often resulting in a doggerel version of the very profound originals, and, as is evidenced by some of the more recent translations of Sufi poetry, sometimes these renditions are embarrassingly inaccurate. But Martin Lings' poetic and mystical sensitivity, along with his deep understanding of sacred art and symbolism, allowed him to see beyond the poem, as it were, into the very depths of the mystic's heart. Poems from familiar names such as Rabia, Dhu'l- Nun, Hallaj, Ghazali, Ibn 'Arabi and Ibn al-Farid are included alongside less well-known Sufis such as al-Tunisi, al-Sayyari and al-Shushtari. Lings provides brief but useful introductions to each poet, contextualizing their work historically and occasionally discussing some of their major ideas and uses of imagery which readers should expect to encounter in their poems, both in this anthology and elsewhere. The translations of these poems are anything but literal. This is because of Lings' superior ability to convey each mystic's ideas into beautiful, semi-archaic (but highly idiomatic) English. Readers of Arabic will greatly benefit from the parallel Arabic text, for they will be exposed to the poetic beauty and rhythm of the originals.

The work's greatest merit is that the poems presented therein provide an excellent overview of the main aspects of Sufi doctrine and practice, such as selfless love for God (mahabbah), the journey to God (al-sayr ila Allah) and the journey in God (al-sayr fi Allah), the passing away of one's own qualities (fana') and subsistence in God (baqa'), gnosis (ma'rifa), and, most importantly, the Oneness of Being (wahdat al-wujud). With respect to the Oneness of Being- which refers to the fact that there is nothing in existence but God's existence- it can be said that the poems compiled by Lings brilliantly deal with the implications of this doctrine, which, in the Sufi tradition, expresses this Reality in multifarious ways. Take, for example, the famous lines of Hallaj writing in the late ninth/early tenth century:

He am I whom I love,
He whom I love is I,
Two Spirits in one single body dwelling.
So seest thou me,
then seest thou Him,
And seest thou Him,
then seest thou Us. (Lings, 38)

Now consider the last few lines of a poem by the thirteenth century sage, Ibn al-Farid:

No difference,
but it was Myself that loved Myself,
And there is nothing with Me in the world but I,
No thoughts of with-ness trespass mine intelligence. (Lings, 82)

As is well known in contemporary scholarship on Sufism, the expression wahdat al-wujud belongs to the school of Ibn 'Arabi (although he did not use this expression himself). At the same time, however, the Oneness of Being is a doctrine which has its roots in the Qur'an. In fact, Lings explicitly states this in a note to his introduction to Hallaj's poems, which occurs in the context of his critique of Louis Massignon's erroneous position concerning the origin of the Oneness of Being (p. 94, n26). From this perspective then, it is not surprising to find this idea expressed in the writings and sayings of the early Sufis as well, as has been shown above in the case of Hallaj. This is why Lings goes on to remark that ". the doctrine of Wahdat al-Wujud comes from the Qur'an itself and that Hallaj's spiritual life was based on it as were the lives of his great Sufi contemporaries and predecessors." (ibid). That the doctrine of the Oneness of Being pervades Islamic mystical thought is important to keep in mind, lest the mystical symbols and images employed by the Sufis be mistaken for expressions of a profane nature, and, worse than this, that their statements of union and identity with the Beloved be understood as some form of pantheism or monism.

This tiny anthology affords readers a glimpse into the profound esoteric universe of some of Islam's most eminent mystics who wrote between the ninth and the thirteenth centuries C.E. It will prove to be of great value for students of spirituality, religious thought and Arabic and English poetry. This is one of Martin Lings' last books to be published during his lifetime, and is undoubtedly a testament to both his scholarly erudition and a life well- spent in service of the Divine.

An earlier version of this review appeared in Islamica 16 (2005): 114-115.

Review by: Mohammed Rustom

Source: Deenport.com

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Umar Ibn al-Farid - The Wine-Song

Rememb'ring the belovèd, wine we drink
Which drunk had made us ere the vine's creation.
A sun it is; the full moon is its cup;
A crescent hands it round; how many stars
Shine forth from it the moment it be mixed!
But for its fragrance ne'er had I been guided
Unto its tavern; but for its resplendence
Imagining could no image make of it.
Time its mere gasp hath left; hidden it is.
Like secrets pent in the intelligence,
Yet if it be remembered in the tribe,
All become drunk--no shame on them nor sin.
Up hath it fumed from out the vessel's dregs.
Nothing is left of it, only a name;
Yet if that name but enter a man's mind,
Gladness shall dwell with him and grief depart.
Had the boon revellers gazed upon its seal,
That seal, without the wine, had made them drunk.
Sprinkle a dead man's grave with drops of it,
His spirit would return, his body quicken.
If in the shadow of the wall where spreads
Its vine they laid a man, mortally sick,
Gone were his sickness; and one paralysed,
Brought near its tavern, would walk; the dumb would speak,
Did he its savour recollect. Its fragrance,
If wafted through the East, even in the West,
Would free, for one berheumed, his sense of smell;
And he who stained his palm, clasping its cup,
Could never, star in hand, be lost by night.
Unveil it like a bride in secrecy
Before one blind from birth: his sight would dawn.
Decant it, and the deaf would hearing have.
If riders rode out for its native earth,
And one of them were bit by snake, unharmed
By poison he. If the enchanter traced
The letters of its name on madman's brow,
That script would cure him of his lunacy;
And blazoned on the standard of a host,
Its name would make all men beneath it drunk.
In virtue the boon revellers it amends,
Makes perfect. Thus by it the irresolute
Is guided to the path of firm resolve.
Bountiful he, whose hand no bounty knew;
And he that never yet forbore forbeareth,
Despite the goad of anger. The tribe's dunce,
Could he but kiss its filter, by that kiss
Would win the sense of all its attributes.
'Describe it, well thou knowest how it is',
They bid me. Yea, its qualities I know:
Not water and not air nor fire nor earth,
But purity for water, and for air
Subtlety, light for fire, spirit for earth--
Excellencies that guide to extol its good
All who would tell of it, and excellent
Their prose in praise of it, excellent their verse.
So he that knew not of it can rejoice
To hear it mentioned, as Nu,m's lover doth
To hear her name, whenever Nu,m is named.
Before all beings, in Eternity
It is, ere yet was any shape or trace.
Through it things were, then it by them was veiled,
Wisely, from him who understandeth not.
My spirit loved it, was made one with it,
But not as bodies each in other merge.
Wine without vine: Adam my father is.
Vine without wine, vine mothereth it and me.
Vessels are purer for the purity
Of truths which are their content, and those truths
Are heightened by the vessels being pure.
Things have been diff'renced, and yet all is One:
Our spirits wine are, and our bodies vine.
Before it no before is, after it
No after is; absolute its privilege
To be before all afters. Ere time's span
Its pressing was, and our first father's age
Came afterwards--parentless orphan it!
They tell me: 'Thou hast drunk iniquity'.
Not so, I have but drunk what not to drink
Would be for me iniquitous indeed.
Good for the monastery folk, that oft
They drunken were with it, yet drank it not,
Though fain would drink. But ecstasy from it
Was mine ere I existed, shall be mine
Beyond my bones' decaying. Drink it pure!
But if thou needs must have it mixed, 'twere sin
To shun mouth-water from the Loved One's lips.
Go seek it in the tavern; bid it unveil
To strains of music. They offset its worth,
For wine and care dwelt never in one place,
Even as woe with music cannot dwell.
Be drunk one hour with it, and thou shalt see
Time's whole age as thy slave, at thy command.
He hath not lived here, who hath sober lived,
And he that dieth not drunk hath missed the mark.
With tears then let him mourn himself, whose life
Hath passed, and he no share of it hath had.

Dr. Martin Lings is the author of the authoritative biography of the Prophet, Muhammed, His Life Based on the Earliest Sources. He has also written What is Sufism?, Ancient Beliefs and Modern Superstitions, Shakespeare in Light of Sacred Art, The Book of Certainty, A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century, The Quranic Art of Calligraphy and Illumination and two volumes of poems, The Element and The Heralds. He is also the author of the article on Sufism in the latest edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, the chapter on Sufism in the Cambridge University Publication Religion in the Middle East, and numerous articles for the quarterly journal Studies in Comparative Religion.

Martin Lings was born in Burnage, Lancashire, 1909. After taking an English degree at Oxford in 1932, he was appointed Lecturer in Anglo-Saxon at the University of Kaunas. His interest in Islam and in Arabic took him to Egypt in 1939, and in the following year he was given a lectureship in Cairo University. In 1952 he returned to England and took a degree in Arabic at London University. From 1970-74 he was Keeper of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books at the British Museum (in 1973 his Department became part of the British Library) where he had been in special charge of the Qur’an manuscripts, amongst other treasures, since 1955. Dr. Lings passed from this world on May 12th 2005 and is survived by his wife.
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Selected Bibliography of Major Works:

The Book of Certainty: The Sufi Doctrine of Faith, Wisdom and Gnosis. Abu Bakr Siraj al Din 1952, 1970, 1992
A Muslim [Sufi] Saint of the Twentieth Century. 1961, 1971,1973,1981,1982,1993
Ancient Beliefs and Modern Superstitions. 1964, 1980, 1991
Shakespeare in the Light of Sacred Art. 1966
The Elements, and other Poems. 1967
The Heralds, and other Poems. 1970
Islamic Calligraphy and Illumination. 1971
What is Sufism?. 1975,1977, 1981, 1993
The Quranic Art of Calligraphy and Illumination. 1976, 1978, 1987
Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources. 1983,1985,1991
The Secret of Shakespeare. 1984
Collected Poems, 1987
The Eleventh Hour: The Spiritual Crisis of the Modern World in the Light of Tradition and Prophecy. 1989
Symbol and Archetype: A Study of the Meaning of Existence. 1991, 2006
Mecca, 2004
Splendours of Quran Calligraphy and Illumination, 2005