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[continued]

‘… Almost every current of modern Western philosophy and psychology, every artistic trend and attitude, has been eagerly adopted – though often only half-understood – by young Arab, Turkish or Persian writers.* Some of them, nevertheless, have achieved interesting results from time to time....’

**

No wonder Islamic commentators get mad at us sometimes.

*[Snap]

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 63

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[continued]

[EUROPEAN AND COLONIAL INFLUENCES: EMERGENCE OF WESTERN FORMS]

*[Ref marginal ms * below]

**

*The notion that ‘the once flourishing Muslim civilisation had for a long while been at a near-stagnation point despite its remarkable artistic achievements’ – suggests possibly a c[irca]1024-year sub-cycle, which ended c[irca]1536CE, in the Muslim heartlands. This is, however[,] clearly not the only cycle traceable in the Islamic world (see above, this Vol[ume]).***

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 61

***[]

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[continued]

‘ … Soon the high-flown style of post-classical Persian was being imitated by Ottoman authors, rhetoric often being more important to them than poetical content. The work of Baki (Baqi; died 1600)* is representative of the entire range of these Baroque products. Yet his breathtaking command of language is undeniable; it is brilliantly displayed in his elegy on Suleyman the Magnificent. In his time, according to a popular saying, one could find “a poet under every stone of Istanbul’s pavement”. Istanbul was the unique cultural centre of the Near East, praised throughout the ages by all who lived in the Imperial City.’

**

*2048G~1536CE***

G~-R~?

(cf [[Redbook9:112][19910414:1104aa]{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (18)]}[14th April 1991],] 112)

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 60

***[Underlined in red (ie later)]

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[continued]

‘In the Arab world, there was hardly a poet or original writer of note during the three centuries that followed the Ottoman conquest,* apart from some theologians … and grammarians.’

**

(The focus of Islamic literature at this time seems to have been in India and Ottoman Turkey)

*{(Mecca & Medina, 1516-17[ce])

2048G~1536[ce]|R~1792[ce]ff}

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:59]

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{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (20)]}[15th April 1991]

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[continued]

‘Savavid Iran, as it happened, lost most of its artists and poets to the neighbouring countries: there were no great masters of poetry in Iran between the 16^th and * 18^th centuries.’

**

*{2048G~1536[ce]|R~1792[ce]}

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:59]

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‘According to Persian tradition, the last classic [sic] author in literature was Jami, who died in 1492[ce].’*

**

*{2048G~1536}

** – E[ncyclopaedia] B[ritannica] 22:59

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[continued]

‘Although the writing of history became a firmly established art in Iran and the adjacent Muslim countries, the facts were unfortunately all too often concealed in a bombastic style and a labyrinth of cumbersome, long-winded sentences. A history written by Vassaf (died 1323[ce])* is the most notorious example of turgidity, but even his style was surpassed by some later writers. These stylistic tendencies deeply influenced Turkish prose writing: 17th-century [ce]** Turkish historical works, such as those of Pecevi (died 1650[ce]) ***and Naima (died 1716[ce]), for this reason almost defy translation. Later Persian prose in India suffered from the same defects. This development in Persian and Turkish prose is also reflected in the handbooks on style and letter writing that were written during the 14^th and 15^th**** centuries and afterwards. They urged the practice of all the artificial tricks of rhetoric by this time considered essential for an elegant piece of prose.’

#

*2048J~1280[ce]

**{2048G~R~1664[ce]}

***2048G~R~1664[ce]

– the beginnings of the Baroque effect?

(cf [[Redbook9:113][19910415:0840d]{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (22)]}[15th April 1991],] 113)

****2048J~1280|{J~G~1408[ce]}|G~1536[ce]

# [– ibid (Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:58)]

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[continued]

‘Even the most moralistic and mystical poets sometimes produced surprisingly coarse and licentious lines.’

*

*– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:57]

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[continued]

‘[In the Persian lyric poetry of Mohammed Shams od-Din Hafaz]* The different levels of experience are all expressed through the same images and symbols: the beloved is always cruel, whether a chaste virgin ** (a rare case in Persian poetry!) or a professional courtesan,*** or, as in most cases, a handsome young boy,**** or God himself,# mysterious and unattainable – or even, on the political plane, the remote despot, the wisdom of whose schemes must never be questioned by his subjects. Since mystical interpretation of the world order had become almost second nature to Persians during the 13^th century[ce],#* the human beloved could effortlessly be regarded as God’s manifestation; the rose#** became a symbol of highest divine beauty and glory; #*** the nightingale represented the yearning and complaining soul; wine, cup, #**** and cupbearer became the embodiment of enrapturing divine love. The poets’ multicoloured images were not merely decorative embroidery, but were a structural part of their thought.’##

##*

*{died 1389/90[ce]

2048J~1280[ce]|J~G~1408[ce]}

[Square brackets per ms]

**R~?

***J~?

****C (cf +C)

#F

#*{~2048J~1280[ce]}

#**☼?

#***r~↔s~?

#****?J~–G~–R~

##Same here.

##*– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22]: 57

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[continued]

‘During the 13^th century,* the Islamic lands were exposed, on the political plane, to the onslaught of the Mongols and the abolition of the Abbasid caliphate, while vast areas were laid to waste. Yet this was in fact the period during which Islamic literatures reached their zenith.’

**

*2048J~1280[ce]

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22]: 56

(i[mmediately] f[ollowing] p[receding] e[xtract])

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

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[continued]

‘The most famous of the Persian mystical masnaris is by Mawlana (“Our Lord”) Jalaled-

Din ar-Rumi (died 1273)* and is known simply as the Masnari. It comprises some 26,000 verses and is a complete – though quite disorganised – encyclopaedia of all the mystical thought, theories, and images known in the 13^th century. It is regarded by most of the Persian-reading orders of the Sufis as second only in importance to the Quran. Its translation into many Islamic languages and the countless commentaries written on it up to the present day indicate its importance in the formation of Islamic poetry and religious thought.

Jalalad-Din, who hailed from Balkh and settled in Konya, the capital of the Rum, or Anatolian Seljuks (and hence was surnamed “Rumi”), was also the author of love lyrics whose beauty surpasses even that of the tales in the Masnari. Mystical love poetry had been written since the days of Sanai,** and theories of love had been explained in the most subtle prose and and sensitive verses by the Sufis of the early 12^th century.*** Yet Rumi’s experience of mystical love for the wandering mystic, Shams ad-Din of Tabriz, was so ardent and enraptured him to such an extent that he identified himself completely with Shams, going so far as to use the beloved’s name as his own pen-name. His dithyrambic lyrics, numbering more than 30,000 verses altogether, are not at all abstract or romantic. On the contrary, their vocabulary and imagery are taken direct from everyday life, so that they are vivid, fresh, and convincing. Often their rhythm invites the reader to partake in the mystical dance practised by Rumi’s followers, the Mawlawiyah. His verses sometimes approach the form of popular folk poetry; indeed, Rumi is reputed to have written mostly under inspiration; and despite his remarkable poetical technique, the sincerity of his love and longing is never overshadowed, nor is his personality veiled. In these respects he is unique in Persian literature.’

****

*{2048J~1280[ce]}

**{↑[[Redbook9:107-108][19910414:1104v]{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (13)][Attar]}[14th April 1991],] 107}

***{2048A~J~1152[ce}

****– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22]: 55-56

(immediately following preceding extract)

{cf [[Redbook9:64-67][19910410:1202]{The Path (Tariqah)}[10th April 1991],] 64,

[[Redbook9:89][19910413:1056e]{Sufis}[13th April 1991],] 89,

[[Redbook9:105][19910414:1104r]{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (9)] – Love and Death}[14th April 1991],] 105f}

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[continued]

*

‘Among Sanā’ī’s** smaller masnaris, Sayr al-ibad ila al-maad (“The journey of the servants to the Place of Return”) deserves special mention. Its theme is the journey of the spirit through the spheres, a subject dear to the mystics and still employed in modern times as, for example, by Iqbāl in his Persian Jāvīd-nāmeh (1932).***

Sanā’ī’s epic endeavours were continued by one of the most prolific writers in the Persian tongue, Farīd ad-Dīn Attār (died c[irca]1220).**** He was a born storyteller, a fact that emerges from his lyrics but even more so from his works of edification. The most famous among his masnaris is the Mantiq ut-tayr (The Conversation of the Birds), modelled after# some Arabic allegories. It is the story of 30 birds who, in search of their spiritual king, journey through seven valleys. The poem is full of tales, some of which have been translated even into the most remote Islamic languages. (The story of the pious Sheykh San‘ān, who fell in love with a Christian maiden, is found, for example, in Kashmir.) Attār’s symbolism of the soul-bird was perfectly in accord with the existing body of imagery beloved of Persian poetry, but it was he who added a scene in which the birds eventually realise their own identity with God (because they, being sī morgh, or “30 birds”, are identitified with the mystical Sēmorgh, who represents God.)

Also notable are his Elahi-nameh, an allegory of a king and his six sons, and his profound Mosibat-nameh (“Book of Affliction”) which closes with its hero being immersed in the ocean of his soul after wandering through the 40 stages of his search for God. The epic exteriorizes the mystic’s experiences in the 40 days of seclusion,’

#*

*{(From 11^th century Iranian writing turned to Persian, for mystical works)}

**{2048A~J~1152[ce]

***{2048R~C1920}

****{2048A~J~1152}

#sic

#*– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 55

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[continued]

‘Another strophic form developed in Spain is the songlike zajal (melody), interesting for its embodiment of dialect phrases and the use of occasional words from Romance languages. Its master was Ibn Quzman of Cordoba (dies 1160[ce]),* whose life-style was similar to that of Western troubadours. His approach to life as expressed in these melodious poems, together with their mixed idiom, suggests an interrelationship with the vernacular troubadour poetry of Spain and France.’

**

*{2048A~J~1152CE}

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 54

(which also see on Ibn Khaldun,

& E[ncyclopaedia] B[ritannica] 6:222-223

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