#A. J. Arberry
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The Poem of the Way
The Poem of the Way [Naẓm al-sulūk], translated into English verse from the Arabic of Ibn al-Fāriḍ by A. J. Arberry.
“The great theme of the poem is the mystic's quest for and realization of his identity with the Spirit of Muhammad, and thereby the absorption of his individual personality into the Unity of God.”
(The Poem of the Way expresses the spiritual experience along the Sufi Path and is perhaps the longest mystical poem composed in Arabic)
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When I am silent, I fall into the place where everything is music.
— Rumi, in "The Essential Rumi" translated by Coleman Barks with John Moyne, A. J. Arberry, and Reynold Nicholson. (HarperOne 1995) (via Make Believe Boutique)
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LVI THE TERROR
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
56:1 When the Terror descends (and none denies its descending) abasing, exalting, when the earth shall be rocked and the mountains crumbled and become a dust scattered, and you shall be three bands --
Companions of the Right (O Companions of the Right!) Companions of the Left (O Companions of the Left!)
56:10 and the Outstrippers: the Outstrippers those are they brought nigh the Throne,
in the Gardens of Delight (a throng of the ancients
and how few of the later folk)
56:15 upon close-wrought couches reclining upon them, set face to face,
immortal youths going round about them with goblets, and ewers, and a cup from a spring
(no brows throbbing, no intoxication)
56:20 and such fruits as they shall choose, and such flesh of fowl as they desire,
and wide-eyed houris as the likeness of hidden pearls,
a recompense for that they laboured. Therein they shall hear no idle talk, no cause of sin,
56:25 only the saying 'Peace, Peace!'
The Companions of the Right (O Companions of the Right!) mid thornless lote-trees and serried acacias, and spreading shade and outpoured waters, and fruits abounding unfailing, unforbidden, and upraised couches.
56:35 Perfectly We formed them, perfect, and We made them spotless virgins, chastely amorous, like of age for the Companions of the Right. A throng of the ancients and a throng of the later folk.
56:40 The Companions of the Left (O Companions of the Left!) mid burning winds and boiling waters and the shadow of a smoking blaze neither cool, neither goodly; and before that they lived at ease,
56:45 and persisted in the Great Sin, ever saying, 'What, when we are dead and become dust and bones, shall we indeed be raised up? What, and our fathers, the ancients?'
Say: 'The ancients, and the later folk shall be gathered to the appointed time of a known day.
56:50 Then you erring ones, you that cried lies, you shall eat of a tree called Zakkoum, and you shall fill therewith your bellies and drink on top of that boiling water
56:55 lapping it down like thirsty camels.' This shall be their hospitality on the Day of Doom. We created you; therefore why will you not believe?
Have you considered the seed you spill? Do you yourselves create it, or are We the Creators?
56:60 We have decreed among you Death; We shall not be outstripped; that We may exchange the likes of you, and make you to grow again in a fashion you know not. You have known the first growth; so why will you not remember?
56:65 Have you considered the soil you till? Do you yourselves sow it, or are We the Sowers? Did We will, We would make it broken orts, and you would remain bitterly jesting - - 'We are debt-loaded; nay, we have been robbed!'
Have you considered the water you drink? Did you send it down from the clouds, or did We send it? Did We will, We would make it bitter; so why are you not thankful?
56:70 Have you considered the fire you kindle? Did you make its timber to grow, or did We make it? We Ourselves made it for a reminder, and a boon to the desert-dwellers.
Then magnify the Name of thy Lord, the All-mighty.
No! I swear by the fallings of the stars
56:75 (and that is indeed a mighty oath, did you but know it) it is surely a noble Koran in a hidden Book none but the purified shall touch, a sending down from the Lord of all Being.
This document was prepared with borrowed etext for Arthur's Classic Novels; the book The Koran Interpreted A Translation by A. J. Arberry, taken from the original etext koran-arberry10.txt.
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Everything But God Is Vanity
Peace, one and all… Why, surely everything but God is vanity, and every pleasure must inescapably pass away, and every one shall know what he has earned when the account books are laid open before God. Labid ibn Rabi’ah, trans. A J Arberry
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Do they not know that God is He who accepts repentance from His servants, and takes the freewill offerings, and that God -- He turns, and is All-compassionate?
- The Koran Interpreted A Translation by A. J. Arberry
Do they not know that it is God Himself who accepts repentance from His servants and receives what is given freely for His sake? He is always ready to accept repentance, most merciful.
— Abdul Haleem
Know they not that Allah is He Who accepteth repentance from His bondmen and taketh the alms, and that Allah is He Who is the Relenting, the Merciful.
— English Translation (Pickthall)
Do they not know that it is Allah who accepts repentance from His servants and receives charities and that it is Allah who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful?
Holy Qur’an, at-Tawbah 104
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Arabic Poetry Note: A. J. Arberry (1905-1969)
^ āliyaẗ(un)… The upper portion of the spear-shaft; … or the head (ra’s(un) thereof: or the half that is next to the iron head: or the part of the spear that is below the iron head: or the portion of the spear that enters the iron head, extending to the third part thereof [i.e. of the shaft]; so that it signifies the uppermost of the three equal portions of the shaft: pl. ^awāl(in), which some…
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Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is a niche wherein is a lamp —the lamp is in a glass, the glass as it were a glittering star— lit from a blessed olive tree, neither eastern nor western, whose oil almost lights up, though fire should not touch it. Light upon light. Allah guides to His Light whomever He wishes. Allah draws parables for mankind, and Allah has knowledge of all things.
from ‘Sūrah 24: The Light (An-Nur)’ in The Qur’an: With a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation, trans. Alī Qulī Qarā'ī.
✼ مَثَلُ (mathalu), resemblance, similarity, likeness, image, equivalent; proverb; metaphor; example; from م ث ل (m-ṯ-l), forms words relating to similarity, resemblance, assimilation, imitation; cognate with تَمَاثُل (tamāṯul), resemblance, similarity, symmetry; تَمَثَّلَ (tamaṯṯala), to imitate, copy; to imagine, to fancy, to get an idea; to quote as example; تمثال (timṯāl), sculpture, statue; مَثَلَ (maṯala), to imitate, to copy; to represent, to signify; to appear before, to present oneself; مُمَثِّلَة (mumaṯṯila), actress; Hebrew מָשָׁל (mashál) n. proverb, allegory; v. to rule, to reign, to govern (Strong’s Concordance).
❧
“Muhammad is the Messenger of God, and those who are with him are hard against the unbelievers, merciful one to another. Thou seest them bowing, prostrating, seeking bounty from God and good pleasure. Their mark [mathaluhum, similitude] is on their faces, the trace of prostration. That is their likeness [wamathaluhum, similitude] in the Torah, and their likeness in the Gospel: as a seed that puts forth its shoot, and strengthens it, and it grows stout and rises straight upon its stalk, pleasing the sowers, that through them He may enrage the unbelievers. God has promised those of them who believe and do deeds of righteousness forgiveness and a mighty wage.” (Q. 48:29, trans. A. J. Arberry)
“Their likeness in the Torah, and their likeness in the Gospel, is like a seed that sends out a stalk, then makes it firm, and it becomes strong and rises straight upon its stem, gladdening the cultivator's heart, in order to fill the unbelievers with dismay.” (Q. 48:29, trans. Ahmed Ali)
❧
cf. Sonnet 15; cf. Highet; cf. Isaiah 63:17; cf. Ezekiel 11:19; cf. Basavanna 162: “making an iron frame/ for a bubble on the water”
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Hafiz, L' Amore è un mare senza sponde
L'ho sempre detto, lo dico una volta ancora:
Io vagabondo, non devio da me stesso.
Sono come un pappagallo;
lo specchio è di fronte a me;
quello che dice il Maestro dell'Eternità, balbettando lo ripeto anch'io.
Ah Sufi, come puoi pensare che abbandonerò un amore come questo
per un pietoso luogo comune?
Smetti di spremere l'uva nel bicchiere.
Io, Sufi, posse essermi sbagliato, ma forse ho ragione:
Hafiz deve seguire il suo cammino
e nelle rosse labbra di lei incontrare il suo cibo celestiale.
Se devi parlare, parla un'altro giorno: ma non questa notte
Amato , non fargliene una colpa,
se per cercare sollievo,
il santuario del suo cuore in rovina,
che protegge il tesoro prezioso della sua pena,
alla deliziosa taverna Hafiz porta;
ma Hafiz non ha vergogna di vergognarsi;
se il mondo avesse un nome immacolato
Hafiz, davvero si vergognerebbe di usarlo.
Chiamatelo bevitore di vino e adultero.
Che altro ancora? Non ti dirà di no.
L'amore è un mare senza sponde
e in questo mare senza limiti non c'è alcun aiuto.
Chi salpa mai più rivolge il suo sguadro verso la terra; e tuttavia,
sono felice di partire per questo viaggio,
perchè è meraviglioso navigare in questo mare.
Che importa se anche il viaggio più lungo alla fine giunge a termine
che importa se la più maestosa delle navi alla fine affonda
il mio amore è con me nello stessa grande immensa nave
e quando affonda, anch'io affonderò.
Trad. di Arthur J. Arberry
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waking up early everyday.
LXXIV SHROUDED In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate 74:1 O thou shrouded in thy mantle, arise, and warn! Thy Lord magnify thy robes purify and defilement flee! Give not, thinking to gain greater and be patient unto thy Lord. For when the Trump is sounded that day will be a harsh day, The Koran Interpreted A Translation by A. J. Arberry
“What were you made to stay under the covers and be warm?” no, you were put on this planet to do something. Marcus Aurelius
“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”
— Maya Angelou
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Poems of Al-Mutanabbī, trans. A. J. Arberry
#going fucking feral#i am frothing at the mouth#and i was hit with heroides xii the day after reading this book#literally wrecked#like um i need a week off to just smoke on the roof and cry please and thank you#arabic poetry#文学
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The Discourses of Rumi (FIHI MA FIHI) based on the original translation by A. J. Arberry
Try to be like Rumi. Try to live such a good, divine life, that Muslims, Christians, Jews, Arabs, Persians, Turks and Romans, people of every culture and religion, will come to your funeral, honor you and weep for you.
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The Guest House
This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
By Jalaluddin Rumi Translated by Coleman Barks, from “Rumi: Selected Poems,” Penguin, 2004.
#The Guest House#Rumi#Jalaluddin Rumi#Rumi: Selected Poems#Coleman Barks#John Moynce#A J Arberry#Reynold Nicholson#joy#depression#life#life advice#advice#rumi is the best pal#philosophy#poetry#eatingpoetry#eating poetry#illness#sorrow
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XCV THE FIG
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
95:1
By the fig and the olive and the Mount Sinai and this land secure!
We indeed created Man in the fairest stature
95:5
then We restored him the lowest of the low -- save those who believe, and do righteous deeds;
they shall have a wage unfailing.
What then shall cry thee lies as to the Doom? Is not God the justest of judges?
The Koran Interpreted
A Translation by A. J. Arberry
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TAFAKKUR: Part 433
THE MAIN FACTORS IN THE SPREAD OF ISLAM: Part 2
A. J. Arberry has also pointed out that the reason for the spread of Islam is Islam itself and its religious values. (Aspects of Islamic Civilization, p.12)
He writes:
‘The rapidity of the spread of Islam, noticeably through extensive provinces which had long been Christian, is a crucial fact of history. The sublime rhetoric of the Qur’an, that inimitable symphony, the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy…and the urgency of the simple message carried, holds the key to the mystery of one of the greatest catalysms in the history of religion. When all military, political and economic factors have been exhausted, the religious impulse must still be recognized as the most vital and enduring.’
Brockelman, who is usually very unsympathetic and partial, also recognizes the religious values of Islam as the main factor for the spread of Islam (History of the Islamic Peoples, p.37). Rosenthal makes his point as follows: ‘The more important factor for the spread of Islam is the religious Law of Islam (Shari‘a, which is an inclusive, all-embracing, all-comprehensive way of thinking and living) which was designed to cover all manifestations of life.’ (Political Thought in Medieval Islam, p.21).
Besides many other reasons which are responsible for the spread of Islam, it is the exemplary life-style and unceasing efforts of individual Muslims to transmit the message of Islam throughout the world which lie at the root of the conquest of hearts by Islam. Islamic universalism is closely associated with the principle of ‘amr bi’l-ma’ruf (enjoining the good) for Islam is to be spread by Muslims by means of ‘amr bi’l-ma’ruf. This principle seeks to convey the message of Islam to all human beings in the world and to establish a model Islamic community on a worldwide basis. The Islamic community is introduced by the Qur’an as a model community: We have made of you an Ummah justly balanced, that you might be witnesses (models) for the peoples, and the Messenger has been a witness for you (2.143). A Muslim or the Muslim community as a whole thus has a goal to achieve. This is the spread of Islam, conveying the truth to the remotest corner of the world, the eradication of oppression and tyranny and the establishment of justice all over the world. This requires the Muslim to live an exemplary life, and thus the moral and the ethical values of Islam have usually played an important part in the spread of Islam. Here follow the impressions of the influence of Islamic ethics on black Africans of a Western writer of the nineteenth century:
‘As to the effects of Islam when first embraced by a Negro tribe, can there, when viewed as a whole, be any reasonable doubt? Polytheism disappears almost instantaneously; sorcery, with its attendant evils, gradually dies away; human sacrifice becomes a thing of the past. The general moral elevation is most marked; the natives begin for the first time in their history to dress, and that neatly. Squalid filth is replaced by some approach to personal cleanliness; hospitality becomes a religious duty; drunkenness, instead of the rule becomes a comparatively rare exception chastity is looked upon as one of the highest, and becomes, in fact, one of the commoner virtues. It is idleness that henceforward degrades, and industry that elevates, instead of the reverse. Offences are henceforward measured by a written code instead of the arbitrary caprice of a chieftain–a step, as everyone will admit, of vast importance in the progress of a tribe. The Mosque gives an idea of architecture at all events higher than any the Negro has yet had. A thirst for literature is created and that for works of science and philosophy as well as for the commentaries on the Qur’an.’ (Quoted from Waitz by B. Smith, Muhammad and Muhammadanism, pp.42-43)
The tolerance of Islam is another factor in the spread of Islam. Toynbee praises this tolerance towards the People of the Book after comparing it with the attitude of the Christians towards Muslims and Jews in their lands. (A Historian’s Approach to Religion, p.246). T. Link attributes the spread of Islam to the credibility of its principles together with its tolerance, persuasion and other kinds of attractions (A History of Religion). Makarios, Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch in the seventeenth century, compared the harsh treatment received by the Russians of the Orthodox Church at the hands of the Roman Catholic Poles with the tolerant attitude towards Orthodox Christians shown by the Ottoman Government and prayed for the Sultans (T. Link, A History of Religion).
This is not the only example of preference by the followers of the religions for Muslim rule over that of their own co-religionist. The Orthodox Christians of Byzantium openly expressed their preference for the Ottoman turban in Istanbul to the hats of the Catholic cardinals. Elisee Reclus, the French traveller of the nineteenth century, wrote that the Muslim Turk allowed all the followers of different religions to perform their religious duties and rituals, and that the Christian subjects of the Ottoman Sultan were more free to live their own lives than the Christians who lived in the lands under the rule of any rival Christian sect (Nouvelle Geographie Universelle, vol. 9). Popescu Ciocanel pays tribute to the Muslim Turks by stating that it was luck for the Romanian people that they lived under the government of the Turks rather than the domination of the Russians and Austrians. Otherwise, he points out, ‘no trace of the Romanian nation would have remained,’ (La Crise de l’Orient).
The Muslims’ attitude towards the people they conquered is quite clear in the instructions given by the rightly-guided Caliphs: ‘Always keep fear of God in your mind; remember that you cannot afford to do anything without His grace. Do not forget that Islam is a mission of peace and love. Keep the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) before you as a model of bravery and piety. Do not destroy fruit-trees nor fertile fields in your paths. Be just, and spare the feelings of the vanquished. Respect all religious persons who live in hermitages or convents and spare their edifices. Do not kill civilians. Do not outrage the chastity of women and the honour of the conquered. Do not harm old people and children. Do not accept any gifts from the civil population of any place. Do not billet your soldiers or officers in the houses of civilians. Do not forget to perform your daily prayers. Fear God. Remember that death will inevitably come to every one of you some time or other, even if you are thousands of miles away from a battlefield; therefore be always ready to face death.’ (Andrew Miller, Church History; Ali lbn Abi Talib, Nahj al-Balagha)
A historical episode which Balazouri, a famous Muslim historian, relates, tells about how pleased the native peoples were with their Muslim conquerors is of great significance
When Heraclius massed his troops against the Muslims, and the Muslims heard that they were coming to meet them, they refunded the inhabitants of Hims the tribute they had taken from them, saying: ‘We are too busy to support and protect you. Take care of yourselves.’ But the people of Hims replied: ‘We like your rule and justice far better than the state of oppression and tyranny in which we were. The army of Heraclius we shall indeed, with your help, repulse from the city.’ The Jews rose and said: ‘We swear by the Torah, no governor of Heraclius shall enter the city of Hims unless we are first vanquished and exhausted.’ Saying this, they closed the gates of the city and guarded them. The inhabitants of other cities–Christians and Jews–that had capitulated did the same. When by God’s help the unbelievers were defeated and Muslims won, they opened the gates of their cities, went out with singers and players of music, and paid the tribute (Futuh al-Buldan).
To sum up, although most Western writers, under the instigation of biased Orientalists of the Church, have alleged that Islam spread by the force of the sword, the spread of Islam was because of its religious content and values, and ‘its power of appeal and ability to meet the spiritual and material needs of people adhering to cultures totally alien to their Muslim conquerors’, together with some other factors. Some of these factors are the tolerance which Islam showed to people of other religions, the absence of ecclesiastic orders and hierarchy in Islam, mental freedom and absolute justice which Islam envisages and has exercised throughout the centuries, the ethical values it propagates, and Islamic humanitarianism, universalism and brotherhood, and its inclusiveness. Sufi activities, the moral superiority of Muslim tradesmen, the principle of ‘enjoining the good’, and Islamic dynamism and the magnificence of the Islamic civilization contributed of their own to the spread of Islam.
The main religious qualities which attracted people to Islam were:
(i) the simplicity of the theological doctrines of Islam based on the Divine Unity;
(ii) rationalism of the Islamic teachings;
(iii) the complete harmony of the Islamic ideals and values with human conscience;
(iv) the inclusiveness and comprehensives of Islam, covering all aspects of physical, mental, and spiritual life of individuals and societies, hence the harmony of religion and life which it established;
(v) the lack of formalism and mediation;
(vi) the vividness, dynamism and resilience of the Islamic theology, and its creativity and universalism, and its compatibility with established scientific facts;
(vii) the cohesion and harmony of the Islamic principles, and
(viii) the shortcomings of other theological systems.
#allah#god#prophet#Muhammad#quran#ayah#sunnah#hadith#islam#muslim#muslimah#hijab#help#revert#convert#dua#salah#pray#prayer#welcome to islam#how to convert to islam#new convert#new muslim#new revert#revert help#convert help#islam help#muslim help#reminder#religion
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I became his reed pipe and likewise lamented on his lip.
Rumi, "I closed my eyes to creation", from Mystical Poems of Rumi; translated by A. J. Arberry
#quotes#literature#poetry#dark academia#prose#writing#reading#poets#quote#words#lit#text#rumi#mewlana jalaluddin rumi
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