The Tarjumán Al-Ashwáq: A Collection of Mystical Odes (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Excerpt from The Tarjumán Al-Ashwáq: A Collection of Mystical Odes

And a temple for idols and the pilgrim's Ka'ba and the tables of the Tora and the book of the Koran.

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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The Tarjumán Al-Ashwáq: A Collection of Mystical Odes

Whatever view may be taken of the respective merits of Arabic and Persian poetry, I think it will generally be allowed by those familiar with the mystical literature of both nations that the Arabs excel in prose rather than in verse, while the Persian prose-writers on this subject cannot be compared with the poets. Farídu'ddín 'Attar, Jalalu'ddin Rumí, Hafiz, and Jamí - to mention only a few of the great Persian poets whose works, translated into various languages, have introduced the religious philosophy of Sufiism to a rapidly widening circle of European culture - are as much superior to their Arab rivals, including even the admirable Ibn al-Farid, as the Futuhát al-Makkiyya and the Fusus al-Hikam are superior to similar treatises in Persian. The Tarjuman al-Ashwáq is no exception to this rule. The obscurity of its style and the strangeness of its imagery will satisfy those austere spirits for whom literature provides a refined and arduous form of intellectual exercise, but the sphere in which the author moves is too abstract and remote from common experience to give pleasure to others who do not share his visionary temper or have not themselves drawn inspiration from the same order of ideas. Nevertheless, the work of such a bold and subtle genius deserves, at any rate, to be studied, and students will find, as a reward for their labour, many noble and striking thoughts and some passages of real beauty. The following lines are often quoted. They express the Sufí doctrine that all ways lead to the One God.

'My heart has become capable of every form; it is a pasture
for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks,
And a temple for idols and the pilgrim's Ka'ba and the
tables of the Tora and the book of the Koran.
I follow the religion of Love: whatever way Love's
camels take, that is my religion and my faith.'

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.