{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (9)] – Love and Death}[14th April 1991]

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‘New attitudes towards love, too, were being gradually developed in poetry. Eventually, what was to become a classic theme, that of hubb udrhi (“Udrah love”)* – the lover would die rather ** than achieve union with his beloved – was explained by the Zahiri theologian Ibn Daud (died 910[ce])*** in his poetics anthology Kitab az-zahrah (“Book of the Flower”). This theme was central to ghazal**** poetry of the following centuries. Although at first completely secular, it was later taken over as a major concept in mystical love poetry. (The first examples of this adoption, in Iraq and Egypt, took place in Ibn Daud’s lifetime.)

The wish to die on the path that leads to # the beloved became commonplace in Persian, Turkish and Urdu poetry; and most romances in these languages end tragically. Ibn Daud’s influence also spread to the Western Islamic world. A century after his death, the theologian Ibn Hazim (died 1064[ce]), drawing upon personal experiences, composed in Spain his famous work on “pure love” called Tawq al-hamamah (The Ring of the Dove). Its lucid prose, interspersed with poetry, has many times been translated into western languages.’

#*

*after the tribe Udrah, whose members “die when they love”.

[See last previous ts journal entry but one, [Redbook9:104][19910414:1104p]{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (7)]}[14th April 1991]]

**“rather than”???

– cf fn=# below

{↓}

***{2048U~A~896CE}

****[See [Redbook9:104][19910414:1104o]{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (6)]}[14th April 1991]]

#{↑} ie not necessarily ‘instead of’[,] here.

#*– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 51

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{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (8)]}[14th April 1991]

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‘It was not until the Abbasids assumed power in 750,* settling in Baghdad, that the golden age of Arabic literature began. The influx of foreign elements added new colour to cultural and literary life. Hellenistic thought and the influence of the ancient cultures of the Near East, for example, contributed to the rapid intellectual growth of the Muslim community. Its members, seized with insatiable intellectual curiosity, began to adapt elements from all the earlier high cultures and to incorporate them into their own. They thus created the wonderful fabric of Islamic culture that was so much admired in the Middle Ages. Indian and Iranian threads were woven into this fabric, and a new sensitivity to beauty in the field of poetry and the fine arts was cultivated.’

**

*{2048U~768}

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 51

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{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (7)]}[14th April 1991]

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‘In Medina, on the other hand,* idealised love poetry was the vogue; its invention is attributed to Jamil (died 701[ce]), of the tribe Udrah, “whose members die when they love”. The names of some of those “martyrs of love”, together with the names of their beloved,** were preserved and eventually became proverbial expressions of the tremendous force of true love. Such was Qays, who went mad because of his passion for Laylā and was afterwards known as Majnūn (“the demented one”). ***|His story is cherished by later Persian, Turkish, and Urdu poets; as a symbol of complete surrender to the forces of love, he is dear both to religious mystics and to secular poets.

‘Notwithstanding such new developments, the traditional “qasidah” form of poetry was by no means neglected during the Umayyad period.|***’

****

*[Ref last previous entry ts journal, which this entry immediately follows in the source text]

**(sic)

***|<inserted 920121>|**

***– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 51

{↑cf XIV: [] 157-158 Hindu love (of god) literature (c[irca]7thC[entury ce]ff/)c[irca]11thC[entury ce]ff[;]

XII: [] 13-14 (French) romances c[irca]12thC[entury ce]ff.}

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{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (6)]}[14th April 1991]

[Redbook9:104][19910414:1104o]{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (6)]}[14th April 1991]

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‘… A remarkable poet from Mecca, ‘Omar ibn Abi Rabi‘ah (died c[irca]712 or 720[ce]), had contributed in large measure to the separate development of the love poem (“ghazal”) from its subordinate place as the opening section of the “qadisah”. Gentle and charming, in attractive and lively rhythms, his poems sing of amorous adventures with the ladies who came to Mecca on pilgrimage. His gay, melodious poems still appeal to modern readers.

*

*– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica) 22:] 50-51

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{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (5)]}[14th April 1991]

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‘The sheer emotive power of the Arabic language to enrapture and bewitch its listeners by sound alone should be kept in mind when considering any piece of Arabic literature. Only a people endowed with peculiar sensibility to the word could properly appreciate the refinement of pre-Islamic poetry and be ready to accept the concept of divine revelation apparently through the word in the Quran.’

*

*– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica) 22:] 50

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{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (4)]}[14th April 1991]

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‘It would be idle to look for the sincere expression of personal emotion in Arabic, Turkish or Persian poetry. The conventions are so rigid that the reader is allowed only a rare glimpse into the poet’s feelings. Indeed, such feelings were put through the sieve of the intellect, and personal experiences were thereby transformed into arabesque-like work of artistry, if not art.’

*

*( – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica) 22:48])**

**(but cf eg [[Redbook9:104][19910414:1104o]{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (6)]}[14th April 1991]ff] 104-105 below)

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{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (3)]}[14th April 1991]

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‘The versatility and erudition of the classical maqāmah authors is dazzling, but the fables and parables that, during the first centuries if Islam, *|had been told in a comparatively easy flowing style, later became subject to a growing trend towards artificiality, as did almost every other literary genre, including expository prose. Persian historiographers and Turkish biographers, Indo-Muslim writers on mysticism and even on science all indulged in a style in which rhyme and rhetoric often completely obscured the meaning.|* It is only since the late 19^th century** that a matter-of-fact style has slowly become acceptable in literary circles; the influence of translations from European languages, the role of journalism, and the growing pride in a pure language freed from the cobwebs of the past worked together to make Islamic languages more pliable and less artificial.’

***

*||* {NB.

Cf the growth of absolutist centralism (ref [[Redbook9:93-94][19910413:1056m]{Late Absolutism in Islam}[13th April 1991],] 93), & the idea that Islam’s foundation in [2048ce]M~U~ had characterised its entire chronological quality – even its ‘decline’ in G~, as well as its [2048ce]G~ expressions}

**2048R~1792[ce]|R~C1920[ce]

Islamic 2048 year cycle J~1792[ce]|J~G~1920[ce]

***– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica) 22:48]

(& see ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica) 22:] 49 for details and examples (eg [see next ts journal entry])

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{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued]}[14th April 1991]

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[continued]

‘Epic poetry was unknown to the Arabs, who were averse to fiction, whether it was expressed in poetry or in prose. The development of epic poetry was thus hindered, just as was the creation of novels or short stories.’

*

* – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica) 22:] 48

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{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2)}[14th April 1991]

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(Islamic Literature: general)

- - - -

*‘In order to understand and enjoy oriental literature, the external characteristics of it have to be studied most carefully. The literatures of the Islamic peoples are “intellectual”; **in neither poetry nor prose are there many examples of subjective lyricism,*** as it is understood in the West.”

****

*{([[Redbook9:99][19910414:1104e]{Islamic Art – The Word (1) [continued (5)]}[14th April 1991],] 99→)}

**{cf [[Redbook9:76-77][19910411:0935n]{[Literature in Islam [continued]]}[11th April 1991]&f,] 76}

***{c[ontra][?] [[Redbook9:76-77][19910411:0935n]{[Literature in Islam [continued]]}[11th April 1991],] 77}

**** – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica) 22:] 47

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{Derivation in Bridging Cycles}[14th April 1991]

[Redbook9:102][19910414:1104i]{Derivation in Bridging Cycles}[14th April 1991]

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[continued]

It would be useful to be able to distinguish the nature of ‘mainstream’ cycles – eg 1-2048CE Western Europe, c[irca]2048-1BCE Crete & Greece – from ‘bridging’ cycles – eg c[ica]512BCE-c[irca]512CE Western Roman Empire (and perhaps c[irca]1536CE-c[irca]2560CE North America?) – if only to avoid the collapse into chaos consequent on too great a complexity of analysis (ie too many and too subtle cycles).

One distinction appears to be that whereas the ‘main’ cycle sequence gives rise to originality of thought and development, ‘bridging’ cycles seem to manifest only relatively derivative cultural expressions. This is generally true of both the Roman and the North American* cultures.

*[Really?]

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{Islamic Cultural Influence}[14th April 1991]

[Redbook9:101][19910414:1104h]{Islamic Cultural Influence}[14th April 1991]

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‘It is notable that the arts of the Islamic peoples have had relatively little impact on other cultures, certainly far less than their artistic merit would appear to warrant.

‘Europe has known art objects of Islamic origin since the early Middle Ages, when they were brought home by the Crusaders or manufactured by the Arabs in Sicily or Spain. Much admired and even imitated, they formed part of the material culture in those times, so much so that even the coronation robes of the German emperor were decorated with an Arabic inscription. At the same time, Islamic motifs wandered into the belles lettres of Europe, and Islamic scientific books formed a basis for the development of Western science. Islamic culture as such, however, was rather an object of hatred than admiration; a more objective appreciation of both the works of art and of literature did not start until the mid-17th century, when travelers** told of the magnificent buildings in Iran and Mughal India, and the first works from Persian literature were translated, influencing German classical literature. Indian miniatures inspired Rembrandt....’

***

*{[[Redbook9:156-158][19910421:1410]{Leo....}[21st April 1991],] 156}

**(sic)

**** – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica) 22:] 46

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{Plato on Poets}[14th April 1991]

[Redbook9:100][19910414:1104g]{Plato on Poets}[14th April 1991]

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The note* of [sic] comparison with Plato – on poets – does throw doubt yet again on Plato’s g~{-}qualities.** I’ve tended to wriggle out of it by saying that when Plato was planning his ideal state he assumed an M~ viewpoint – which is not unreasonable. All these locations are relative and *** contextual in any case; Plato may be the nearest one comes to a Western g~ philosopher, and his seminal position in Western philosophy (and contrast with Aristotle’s) suggests a cardinal position (and at g):

A dynamic alternative is:

– but I don’t much care for this!

*ref [[Redbook9:96-97][19910414:1104b]{Islamic Art – The Word (1) [continued]}[14th April 1991]fn=*,] 96

**ref earlier Vol[ume]... [(eg) [Redbook5:171][19880618:1855]{The Metaphysic of Metaphysics}[18th June 1988]]

{(ie Plato had no room in his Utopia for Poets, who were dangerous to Order; only for censors....)}

***(?)

****{ref VIII: [[Redbook8:191][19910127:0013]{Socrates, Plato and Aristotle [– Socrates & Plato]}[27th January 1991]&f,] 191}

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{Islamic Art – The Word (1) [continued (6)]}[14th April 1991]

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[continued]

What all this* tends to suggest is a horizontally dis-integrated culture** – between, perhaps, the G~ tendencies *** of the Arab mind in particular, and the M~ tendencies **** of Islam. Until fairly recently (c[irca 18th century[ce]?)# Western culture was generally horizontally integrated, and shows very recent signs (eg the end of the Cold War) or becoming so again. By contrast, Western Christianity has tended to emphasise the vertical division between C and A~ – God and the World – whereas Islam has tended to emphasise vertical unity or at least homogeneity, the spiritual and the mundane unified in Islam.#*

*[Presumably, [Redbook9:96-100][19910414:1104]{Islamic Art – The Word (1)}[14th April 1991]ff (above); but see also fn refs below)]

**{Perhaps even a totally disintegrated culture (per marginal degree-codes above) – each work of art taking the characteristics of its own degree but in the simplest of singular forms, ie with technical proficiency (U~?) but no creative construction into larger or higher forms (– which would involve qualitative integration, ie using all circle degrees?)}

***(ref [[Redbook9:76-77][19910411:0935m]{[Literature in Islam]}[11th April 1991]ff,] 76)

****(ref eg [[Redbook9:68][19910411:0935c]{The Law (Shariah) [continued (3)]}[11th April 1991],] 68)

#ref Dis[s]oc[iation of Sensibility (ie Thought & Feeling)]

[See eg [Redbook6:245][19890912:1140l]{Historical Circles (3) [continued (6)]}[12th September 1989]]

#*(ref [[Redbook9:86][19910412:0905q]{Islam in Action [continued (4)]}[12th April 1991],] 86,

{[[Redbook9:56][19910409:1239]{Islam}[9th April 1991],] 56}

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{Islamic Art – The Word (1) [continued (5)]}[14th April 1991]

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[continued]

‘A perfect harmony is reached in some of the miniature manuscripts of Iran, Muslim India, or Ottoman Turkey,* which, in their lucid colours and fine details of execution, recall both the perfection of the calligraphy that surrounds them in delicate paper and the subtlety of the stories or poems that they accompany or illustrate.

‘Those accustomed to the Western ideals of plasticity or form in the fine arts or literature or to the polyphonic interweaving of melodic lines in music have some difficulty in appreciating this art. The palaces seem to be without a fixed architectural plan;** rooms and gardens are simply laid out according to daily needs.*** The historian offers an outstanding amount of detailed reports and facts but with no unifying concept. The Muslim writer prefers this carpet-like form; he adds colour to colour, motif to motif, so that the reader only understands the meaning and end of the whole web from a certain distance. Music, differentiated as it may be in the countries between Morocco and India, follows the same model: variations of highest subtlety on a comparatively simple**** given subject or theme.’

#

*{cf [[Redbook9:141-147][19910420:0953ee]{Late Period of Islamic Art [continued (2)]}[20th April 1991],] 144}

**{cf [[Redbook9:141-147][19910420:0953z]{Late Period of Islamic Art [continued (2)]}[20th April 1991],] 142}

***{J~?}

****{R~?}

# – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica) 22:45]

{→ [[Redbook9:102-116][19910414:1104#]{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) }[14th April 1991],] 102}

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