#A. J. Arberry

[eyeoftheheart]

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)

[dk-thrive]

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)

[dinaive]

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.

[abdur-rahman-blog]

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

[dinaive]

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

[baublefobbersleuth]

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…

[catboygogol]

Poems of Al-Mutanabbī, trans. A. J. Arberry

[eatingpoetry]

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.

[dinaive]

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

[wisdomrays]

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.

[eyeoftheheart]

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.

[dinaive]

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

[pandaemoniumpancakes]

God, there is no god but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting. Neither slumber overtakes Him nor sleep. Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. Who is there who may intercede with Him save by His leave? He knows that which is before them and that which is behind them. And they encompass nothing of His Knowledge, save what He wills. His Pedestal embraces the heavens and the earth. Protecting them tires Him not, and He is the Exalted, the Magnificent.

from ‘Sūrah 2: The Cow (Al-Baqarah)’ in The Study Quran, ed. Sayyed Hossein Nasr, āyāh 255.

                       ❧

   “245. Who shall lend unto God a goodly loan, which He will multiply for him many times over? And God withholds and outstretches, and unto Him shall you be returned.” 

      [246-51: Saul narrative.]

   “254. O you who believe! Spend from that which We have provided you before a day comes wherein there shall be neither bargaining, nor friendship, nor intercession. And the disbelievers, they are the wrongdoers.”

      [255. āyat al-kursī]

   “260. And when Abraham said, “My Lord, show me how Thou givest life to the dead,” He said, “Dost thou not believe?” He said, “Yea, indeed, but so that my heart may be at peace.” He said, “Take four birds and make them be drawn to thee. Then place a piece of them on every mountain. Then call them: they will come to thee in haste. And know that God is Mighty, Wise.”

                       ❧

   “260. Remember, when Abraham said: “O Lord, show me how you raise the dead,” He said: “What! Do you not believe?” “I do,” answered Abraham. “I only ask for my heart’s assurance.” (The Lord) said: “Trap four birds and tame them, then put each of them on a (separate) hill, and call them, and they will come flying to you. Know that God is all-powerful and all-wise.” (trans. Ahmed Ali)

                        ❧

وَٱللَّهُ يَقۡبِضُ وَيَبۡصُۜطُ وَإِلَيۡهِ تُرۡجَعُونَ

   ✼ يَقۡبِضُ (yaqbiḍu) withholds, from the root ق ب ض (qāf bā ḍād); cf. Q. 20:96 qabḍatan, a handful; cf. Q. 2:283, maqbūḍatun, in hand.

   ✼ وَيَبۡصُۜطُ (basṭatan) extends, grants abundance, from the root ب س ط (bā sīn ṭā); cf. Q. 2:247, “Indeed, Allah has chosen [Saul] over you and has increased him abundantly in knowledge and stature.”

   ☛ وَيَبۡصُۜطُ, (basit) wide, extended, spread out; easy, simple—(antonym) مُعَقَّد (muʿaqqad), tied in many knots; complicated, complex, intricate; from ع ق د (ʿayn qāf dāl); cf. Q. 4:33: “And for all, We have made heirs to what is left by parents and relatives. And to those whom your oaths have bound to you [عَقَدَتْ, aqedat, pledged]—give them their share. Indeed Allah is ever, over all things, a Witness.” (Sahih International); cf. Q. 20:27: “Unloose the knot [عُقْدَةً, uq'datan, knot] upon my tongue” (trans. A. J. Arberry)

   “245. Who will give a goodly loan to God which He might double many times? For God withholds and enlarges, and to Him you will return.” (trans. Ahmed Ali)

   “245. Who is it that will lend unto Allah a goodly loan, so that He may give it increase manifold? Allah straiteneth and enlargeth. Unto Him ye will return.” (trans. M. Pickthall)

   “245. Who is he that will lend God a good loan, and He will multiply it for him manifold? God grasps, and outspreads; and unto Him you shall be returned.” (trans. A. J. Arberry)

                       ❧

   “’Withholding’ and ‘outstretching’ are two very important concepts in Islamic spirituality. The verb “withholds” is related to the state of spiritual “contraction (qabḍ), and the verb “outstretches” is related to the state of expansion (basṭ). Interpreted spiritually, this verse describes a threefold process of spiritual realization: inner purification (God withholds), the acquisition of the virtues (and outstretches), and finally spiritual realization and illumination (and unto Him shall you be returned). Some Sufis describe contraction and expansion as “two states that follow each other in the heart like the night follows the day.” Contraction and expansion are also related to the twin states of fear and hope, which must be kept in balance in order for a soul to progress spiritually. Seen in another way, when God withholds one is exposed to His Quality of Majesty, and when He outstretches, one experiences His Quality of Beauty (Ahmad ibn Ajiba).” 

                       ❧

   “6.27: The Master said, “Someone who is broadly learned with regard to culture, and whose conduct is restrained by the rites, can be counted upon to not go astray.”

   commentary: “A person who has been molded by the two main Confucian traditional forms—learning and ritual training—can be relied on to act appropriately. As Zhu Xi comments, “When it comes to learning, a gentleman desires broadness, and there is therefore no element of culture that he does not examine. When it comes to self-control, he desires restraint, and his every motion must therefore be in accordance with ritual. Having been disciplined in this way, he will not go against the Way.” Some commentators believe that it is the learning or culture of the gentleman that must be restrained by the rites (rather than the gentleman himself), but 9.11 supports the first reading. This passage is repeated in 12.15.” (Confucius, from Analects: with Selections from Traditional Commentaries, trans. Edward Slingerland)

                       ❧

   “Love made them clamour for the journey’s start./ They set out on the Way, a noble deed!/ Hadly had they begun when they agreed/ To call a halt: ‘A leader’s what we need,’/ They said, ‘one who can bind and loose, one who/ Will guide out self-conceit to what is true;/ We need a judge of rare ability/ To lead us over danger’s spacious sea;/ Whatever he commands along the Way,/ We must, without recalcitrance, obey,/ Until we leave this plain of sin and pride/ And gain Kaf’s distant peak. There we shall hide,/ A mote lost in the sun; the Simorgh’s shade/ Will cover those who travelled and obeyed.” (Farīd ud-Dīn Attar, from The Conference of the Birds, trans. Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis, lines 1596-1609)

[artfully-wayward]

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

[ahlulbaytnetworks]

Learned theologians do not teach love.

Love is nothing but gladness and kindness.

Ideas of right and wrong

operate in us until we die.

Love does not have those limits.

When you see a scowling face,

it is not a lover’s.

A beginner in this way

knows nothing of any beginning.

Do not try to be a shepherd.

Become the flock.

Someone says, This is just a metaphor.

But that is not so.

It is as clear and direct

as a blind man stubbing his foot

against a stone jar.

The doorkeeper should be more careful,

says the blind man.

That pitcher is not in the doorway,

replies the doorkeeper.

The truth is, you do not know

where you are. A master of love

is the only sign we need.

There is no better sign

than someone stumbling around

among the waterpots looking for signs.

Every particle of love,

any sprig of an herb,

speaks of water.

Follow the tributaries.

Everything we say has water within it.

No need to explain this to a thirsty man.

He knows what to do.

RUMI

BRIDGE TO THE SOUL

JOURNEYS INTO THE MUSIC AND SILENCE

OF THE HEART

Translations by Coleman Barks,

with A. J. Arberry and Nevit Ergin