"Dr. Lings points out that the answer to the question, 'What is symbolism?', if deeply understood, 'has been known to change altogether a man's life; and it could indeed be said that most of the problems of the world result from ignorance of that answer'. The whole conduct of a human life depends upon the way its meaning is understood...there is no traditional doctrine that 'does not teach that this world is the world of symbols inasmuch as it contains nothing that is not a symbol.'...The objects of this world necessarily reflect a higher reality, and it can truly be said that they glorify that which transcends them...For those already interested in symbolism, particularly in relation to the Qur'an, Lings book will be immensely rewarding; for others who may not previously have grasped the importance of this subject, it cannot fail to be profoundly enlightening."

-Hasan Gai Eaton

"One of the most important books to have appeared in the English language on symbolism considered from the traditional and esoteric point of view...In this eloquently written work it is shown that through the symbol man gains access to the archetypes of things and is brought back to his own Archetype thanks to the inner nexus between the symbol, the symbolic and the symbolized."

-Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Were one to truly understand the levels of significance provided by such symbols as are presented in this work, one would indeed be well on the way to grasping the nature and purpose of human life and the meaning of existence as understood by the great esoteric systems of spirituality. We are shown in this volume certain aspects of symbolism as they relate to the Divine, the hierarchy of this universe, the function of man, his faculties and qualities.

Needless to say, this book does not claim to be exhaustive. Its purpose is to enable the reader to dwell on certain basic aspects of symbolism in relation to the Divinity, the hierarchy of the universe, the function of man, his faculties and his qualities, the conditions to which he is subject, the natural objects which surround him, his works of art, and his final ends, all with reference to the great living religions of the world, and in particular to Christianity and Islam.

With references to all the world’s great faith traditions, both ancient and current (with special attention devoted to Christianity and Islam) Lings demonstrates how the science of symbols is inextricably linked with the path of Return. For example, regarding human nature, we see how the “seven deadly sins” are, as it were inversions of spiritual possibilities. A glutton seeks infinite pleasure in nourishment which is finite, but in actuality, this human tendency has as its true goal the seeking of infinite pleasure in the Divine. Lings explains human virtues and also the function of saints and bodhisattvas, and the inner meaning of the Heart and Eye. In the world of Nature we see the significance of …the planets, clouds, the hawk, eagle and swan, the lion, the spider and the bee. In the chapter “The Quranic Symbolism of Water” are the Fount, the Rivers of Paradise, the gushing spring, rain, the Flood, waves, ice and the Throne – as they relate to gnosis. “The Symbolism of Pairs” takes up symbols such as Ying-Yang and alchemical marriage followed by the meaning of the triad of primary colors and the trinity. Symbols related to religion include the Tree of Life (axis mundi/the Cross), sacred rites and sacraments such as the Eucharist. The Fall, Divine Mercy and sacred architecture are explained at their deepest levels.

"What we have often called the 'spiritual journey' is described by Martin Lings as the return of the symbol to its Archetype. He explains how the submission and purification is practiced through the stations of spiritual learning...what becomes clear to the reader is the gripping fact that not only is everything around us a symbol, but that we ourselves are the symbols of our own reality."

-Patricia Ellis Church

"The quality of Lings' writing lies in his ability to express metaphysical concepts in precise and sometimes poetic language. Symbol & Archetype challenges the discerning reader to perceive the signs of God wherever they appear, both in the world and in ourselves...Revelation which is literally the articulation of the connectedness between man and God consititutes a real presence of the infinite in the finite, although it is nonetheless limited in form."

-Julian Johansen

"[Symbol & Archetype] hints at a way of change that gives to religion a function that the kind of polarity which has grown out of cartesian paranoia cannot perceive. It is a division that is a hallmark of living in a world constructed on narrow, imageless, symbol-less assumptions. It functions and survives through parody, creating a plastic skin that is taken for reality. Martin Lings attempts to make this mimicry of the real visible by counterpointing it with symbols that have a much older, more universal significance. I say this because I am left with the desire to reread it, and to search out other texts to supplement it."

-Karl Birjukov

[Return to Catalog] - [Fons Vitae titles] - [Sufism] - [Order books] - [Other books by Martin Lings]

With reference to the great religions of the world, particularly to Islam and Christianity, symbolism is defined in a renewed consciousness that everything—numbers, elements, senses, and colors—has a vertical dimension that gives it a divine significance.

What is Symbolism? The answer to this question has been known to challenge altogether man's life; and ignorance of it can reasonably be said to have produced all the gravest problems of our time. With reference to the great religions of the world, and in particular to Christianity and Islam, Martin Lings here gives us the answer in the clarest terms, with an unusually wide scope of illustration, a versatility to which the list of the chapters headings bear some witness.

At one point we are gripped by the universal message of our old Lithuanian songs which speak to us, in the language of symbols, from a remote antiquity; at another we are with the Queen of Sheba at her deeply symbolic meeting with Solomon, as recounted in the Qur'an. The central theme is man, stripped of his sub-human excrescences and re-endowed with his infinitely precious primordial heritage, and the reader is quickly impelled to identify himself with that centre. Nor is it only his intelligence that impels him, for the further we read, the more we renew our deeply ingrained consciousness that everything - numbers, elements, senses, colours, etc. - has a vertical dimension that gives it a divine significance; and this awareness brings with it an existential sense of that dimension in ourselves.

The author himself, in the Preface to the volume, writes of the importance of the subject: "The answer to the question ‘What is Symbolism?’, if deeply understood, has been known to change altogether a man’s life; and it could indeed be said that most of the problems of the modern world result from ignorance of that answer. As to the past however, there is no traditional doctrine which does not teach that this world is the world of symbols, inasmuch as it contains nothing which is not a symbol. A man should therefore understand at least what that means, not only because he has to live in the herebelow but also and above all because without such understanding he would fail to understand himself, he being the supreme and central symbol in the terrestrial state. Needless to say, this little book does not claim to be exhaustive. Its purpose is to enable the reader to dwell on certain basic aspects of symbolism in relation to the Divinity, the hierarchy of the universe, the function of man, his faculties and his qualities, the conditions to which he is subject, the natural objects which surround him, his works of art, and his final ends, all with reference to the great living religions of the world, and in particular to Christianity and Islam."

Table of contents of 'Symbol and Archetype'

Preface

What is Symbolism?

The Decisive Boundary

The Symbolism of the Pairs

The Symbolism of the Triad of Primary Colours

The Archetypes of Devotional Homage

The Language of the Gods

The Quranic Symbolism of Water

The Symbolism of the Luminaries in Old Lithuanian Songs

The Seven Deadly Sins in the Light of the Symbolism of Number

The Symbolism of the Mosque and the Cathedral in the Light of the Stations of Wisdom

The Symbolism of the Sense of Taste

Index

About the Author:
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, A Return to The Spirit- Answers to Questions, 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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See Martin Lings book list- All titles by Martin Lings published and distributed by Fons Vitae - Read more

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 

Sufi Poems 2004
A Return to The Spirit- Answers to Questions. 2005
Splendours of Quran Calligraphy and Illumination, 2005

The Essential Martin Lings, 2006

[Return to Catalog] - [Fons Vitae titles] - [Sufism] - [Order books] - [Other books by Martin Lings]