Passion Before Me, My Fate Behind: Ibn al-Farid and the Poetry of Recollection

Emil Homerin

Paperback, 300 pages

9781438439006

Umar Ibn al-Farid (1181–1235), author of two classic works, the Wine Ode and the Poem of the Sufi Way, is considered the greatest Sufi poet to write in Arabic. In this study, these and other poems by Umar Ibn al-Farid are considered within the context of Islamic mysticism, Arabic literature, and Sufi poetry. Th. Emil Homerin uncovers the literary and religious intent of these poems and their aesthetic and mystical content, showing them to be a type of meditative poetry. Indeed, Ibn al-Farid often alludes to the Sufi practice of “recollection,” or meditation on God, to evoke a view of existence in which the seeker may be transformed by an epiphany of love revealing an intimate relationship to the divine beloved. Homerin provides elegant translations and close readings of Ibn al-Farid’s poetry, highlighting the beauty of his verse, its moods, meanings, and significance within Islamic mysticism and Arabic poetry, where Ibn al-Farid is still known as the “Sultan of the Lovers.”

Contents

1. MYSTICAL IMPROVISATIONS

Master Poet

Homage to al-Mutanabbī

Transformations

Riddles & Rubā‘īyāt

2. LOVE’S SECRETS

Tryst

Love Talk

Hymns of Devotion

Sun and Full Moon

“You Have Been Remembered”

3. JOINED AT THE CROSSROADS

The Changing Ode

Sacred Fire

Turn Aside at Tai

Holy Pilgrimage

“Greetings from Su‘ād”

4. THE BELOVED’S WINE

Blood-Red Wine

A Liberated Spirit

Two Intoxications

Drunk by a Glance

Immortal Wine

Wine of the Covenant

5. POEM OF THE SUFI WAY IN “T”-MAJOR

The Great Ode

Together Alone

Shifting Guises

Love’s Sweet Season

Spirit and Matter

Yesterday’s Tomorrow

Manifest Sites

Shadow Play

Poet & Guide

Covering Reality

Two Masters

CONCLUSION: THE POETRY OF RECOLLECTION

I but not “Me”

Content and Form

Beginning to End

Meditation and Recollection