One of my favorite ghazals of Rumi, its inherent musicality embodies the Ṭarab the poet declares himself to be in the opening line. https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1krbWlfxx-K9Icigm9-YSQCXoMoiP8LsQ Original/Translation: من طربم طرب منم زهره زند نوای منI am delight, delight is me; Venus sings my melody. عشق میان عاشقان شیوه کند برای منLove between lovers makes a way for…
“Forever do the Spirits yearn for you” / “Forever in your remembrance do my moments pass”: al-Suhrawardi and al-Shābb al-Ẓarīf
Although better known as the founder of the Illuminationist Philosophical tradition, Shihāb al-dīn al-Suhrawardī was also a gifted Arabic poet, and this poem, in particular has been beloved by Sufis and lovers throughout the ages. al-Shābb al-Ẓarīf’s poem of the same meter seems to be modeled on it in part. But al-Shābb al-Ẓarīf’s poem stands…
Baha al-Dīn Zuhayr: “I have, in passion, a secret”
One of the most famous and celebrated poets and prose stylists (and calligraphers) of the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods, Bahā’ al-dīn Zuhayr (d. 656/1258) was known for his impossibly easy (sahl mumtani’) and elegant style that combined directness, sincerity, and brevity with wit and profound feelings-especially in love poetry, poetry about friendship, and praise poetry….
al-Ḥarrāq, “The best of my states is my trust in your grace”
A lovely madīḥ nabawī poem by the “little Ibn al-Fāriḍ,” the Shādhilī-Darqawī shaykh and poet, Muḥammad al-Ḥarrāq (1186/1772-1261/1845). The closing lines are some of my favorite verses of metaphysical madīḥ, beautifully recited here: Translation: The best of my states is in my reliance on your grace,And begging at your door is my placeBy God, how…
al-Ḥarrāq, “Are you seeking Layla?”
Translation: Are You Seeking Layla? Are you seeking Layla while she is manifest in you? And you suppose she is someone else, but she’s not other than you. In the sect of love, this dullness is apparent, So be sharp, for [seeing her as] other is the source of estrangement. Do you not see that…