From Arab Poet to Muslim Saint: Ibn Al-Farid, His Verse, and His Shrine (Studies in Comparative Religion)

Homerin, Th. Emil

Literature & Fiction

Univ of South Carolina Pr

Ibn al-Farid (d. 632/1235) has long been venerated as a Sufi saint and poet whose verse stands as a high point in Arabic poetry. Several of his poems became religious and literary classics, among them the al-Khamriyah or Wine Ode. Perhaps the first and certainly the most influential commentary on this poem was the Sharh Khamriyat Ibn al-Farid by Dawud al-Qaysari (d. ca. 748/1347). Al-Qaysari was a direct spiritual descendent of the great Sufi master Ibn al-`Arabi (d. 637/1240), whose disciples read and reflected on Ibn al-Farids verse as part of their mystical studies. Al-Qaysari prefaces his commentary with a thoughtful essay on love, its various types, and their effects within creation. He then turns to a verse by verse commentary of the Wine-Ode in order to reveal the subtle, mystical meanings of Ibn al-Farids celebrated poem. The Wine of Love & Life by Th. Emil Homerin makes available for the first time the full Arabic edition and English translation of al-Qaysaris master-work of Sufi theology.

The Wine of Love and Life: Ibn al-Farid's al-Khamriyah and al-Qaysari's Quest for Meaning (Chicago Studies on the Middle East) (English and Arabic Edition)

History & Criticism

Middle East Documentation Center

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

Explores the work of beloved Sufi poet Umar Ibn al-Farid and its context. Provides many translations of Ibn al-Farid’s poetry. 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.” “This is the major work on the mystical poetry of Umar Ibn al-Farid by the leading Western expert on Arabic Sufi poetry. Stylistically refined and polished, Homerin’s translations of the extremely difficult medieval mystical poetry successfully convey the peculiarities of diction and the cultural and aesthetic richness of the original material. Together with the author’s earlier studies, this will remain a definitive study of Ibn al-Farid’s poetic oeuvre for years to come.” — Alexander Knysh, author of Islamic Mysticism: A Short History

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

State University of New York Press

Explores the work of beloved Sufi poet Umar Ibn al-Farid and its context. Provides many translations of Ibn al-Farid’s poetry. 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 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.”

State Univ of New York Pr

Aisha al-Ba‘uniyya (c.1456–1517) was one of the greatest women mystics in Islamic history. A Sufi master and an Arab poet, her religious writings were extensive by any standard and extraordinary for her time. In medieval Islam a number of women were respected scholars and teachers, but they rarely composed works of their own. Aisha al-Ba‘uniyya, however, was prolific. She composed over twenty works, and likely wrote more Arabic prose and poetry than any other Muslim woman prior to the twentieth century. The first full-scale biography of al-Ba‘uniyya in the English language, this volume provides a rare glimpse into the life and writings of a medieval Muslim woman in her own words. Homerin presents her work in the wider context of late-medieval Islamic spirituality, examining the influence of figures such as Ibn al-‘Arabi, al-Busiri and Ibn al-Farid, and emphasising the role of the person of the Prophet Muhammad in her spirituality. Aisha al-Ba‘uniyya is a fascinating introduction to a figure described by a sixteenth-century biographer as ‘one of the marvels of her age’.

Aisha al-Ba'uniyya: A Life in Praise of Love (Makers of the Muslim World)

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

Oneworld Academic

Through a detailed examination of a renowned Arab mystical poet, Th. Emil Homerin provides one of the first case studies to illustrate an obscure aspect of popular Islamic faith--the sanctification of saints and the creation of shrines in medieval times. Despite the fact that Muslims have venerated saints for more than a thousand years, Islam has never developed a formal means of canonization, and the process of sanctification remains an important but largely neglected dimension of Islamic scholarship. In "From Arab Poet to Muslim Saint", Homerin explores this uncharted territory by following the fortunes of a single Sufi saint over seven and a half centuries. Regarded as a saint within a generation of his death, 'Umar Ibn al-Farid (1181-1235) is still venerated at his shrine in Cairo. Contemporary religious singers and writers, including Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz, continue to cite the poet's verse. Using biographies, hagiographies, polemics, legal rulings, histories, and novels, Homerin traces the course of Ibn al-Farid's saintly reputation. He relates the rise and fall of Ibn al-Farid's popularity to Egypt's changing religious, cultural, and political environment.

From Arab Poet to Muslim Saint: Ibn Al-Farid, His Verse, and His Shrine

Poetry

Amer Univ in Cairo Pr

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Homerin, Th. Emil. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Homerin, Th. Emil