Spiritual Poetry
Writing by abuhatem on Sunday, 11 of May , 2008 at 7:52 am
Poetry has always been a central part of the Arabic tradition. It would be no exaggeration to call it - the Arab tradition - as it occupies perhaps the most important place in the lives of Arabs throughout their history. Arabs never had a tradition of prose, thus pure poetry was the medium of choice for stories, odes, love poems, or even didactic teaching tools.
Poetry actually occupies an interesting part of the Islamic tradition itself. It is well known that the Prophet Muhammad once said, may peace be upon him, that there was much wisdom and eloquence in poetry. He also would quote pre-Islamic poets which had important meanings, such as Labid. It is well known that our Blessed Beloved and his companions sang poetry when working on fortifying the illuminated al-Madinah with a large trench.
Poetry recitations do have their roots in the Islamic tradition. Throughout Islamic history a tradition began called by many names in which Islamic poetry was sung and listened to. Such gatherings occurred often throughout Muslim history. This tradition of specifically Islamic spiritual poetry and music has been called by many names. Perhaps its most well known classical nomenclature is sama’ or “audition.”
The apex of Islamic spiritual poetry are odes sung and recited regarding love of God and his Messenger, the core of Islamic teaching. To this very day such odes are sung in gatherings throughout the Muslim world, and often before and after religious lessons. Such odes are not considered scripture or Divinely inspired - but simply expressions of love. T. J. Winter, a lecturer in Islamic studies at notes of the Syrian tradition of Islamic song:
A striking feature of this music is that it is sung a capella… This immediately invites a comparison with Gregorian chant, whose richness has been rediscovered of late by many Western listeners. The resemblance seems strengthened by the almost complete absence of polyphony. In keeping with the almost universal tradition in Islamic music, the voices soar and descend on a single line, the unison receiving only occasional complexity from a deliberate inconsistency in the duration of some of the notes. But here the resemblance to plainchant ends abruptly. The sound of the monks is redolent of shadowy Gothic spaces, and, like the Gothic style which it inhabits, proposes a world of darkness to which the sacraments alone can bring light. There is a mysterious quality to Gregorian chant which is profoundly foreign to these Muslim Syrian sounds, with their insistent, often exuberant syncopations. The root of the difference is, in the last analysis, theological: Islam has no doctrine of original sin, and its arts and music do not emerge de profundis, but form part of the larger song of creation. ‘Have you not seen,’ says the Koran, ‘that God is hymned with praise by all who are in the heavens and the earth, and the birds in their flight? Each knows its prayer and its form of praise.’ The Muslim believer is invited not to set creation behind him, but to join it, and therefore to experience something of its beauty and joy. ‘I rejoice in the world,’ says one Muslim poet, ‘because the world rejoices in Him.’
Here is one example of a very famous spiritual poem sung by a very famous reciter of poetry, the Syrian reciter Nour ed-Din Khourshid:
The first ode he sings is tabaly a famous Arabic poem which translated is:
Be sweet and kind to me
I have been pushed away and returned
In the deep love of He like the Beautiful Full Moon
In my state of poverty
And of brokenness
I hope for the night of beauty
O withdrawing one
Do not harm me
For upon the longing in love there is no harm
Take from me
And report from me
I am a leader of longing love
O God, O God
My glance at the face of the Beloved was natural
And separation for his lovers is greatly painful
He sings another ode after that on love, here are a few excerpts:
The presence has been made excellent
The view has been made pure
The glad tidings have come
To the people of God
They stood engrossed
From this glad tiding
They established it as a sign
of Loving God
Until others began to doubt
That we had reached insanity
in our love of God
The moons of Diyari said
“Say to the lords of passion,
that everyone who loves Muhammad
is in safety and peace.”
This is just something to think about. Agape or charitas in Greek - or mahabba in Arabic - the spiritual love for one’s religious guide is deep in the hearts of Muslims.
Category: Islam
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