syed vahiduddin reviews sufi poems translation

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Heart's Witness by Bernd Manuel Weischer; Peter Lamborn WilsonReview by: S. VahiduddinPhilosophy East and West, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Apr., 1982), pp. 221-222Published by: University of Hawai'i PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1398724 .

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22121

becomesvery thin. The concluding chapter bringsout the emotional dimension of Sufism.The writerconcludes that the gnosis of God is not possible without love or devotion.In the end it must be conceded that Mir Valiuddin's work, inspiteof its limitations, hasan enduringvalue. Itgives information which is not available elsewhere. Both in style andcontent it is a good specimen of a form of Sufic thought which has found favor in theIndian subcontinent, even in circles which are wary of Sufism. In any case the mysticthought and devotional piety which Valiuddin representsis superior to easy secularismand legalistic fundamentalism.S. VAHIDUDDINIndian Instituteof Islamic Studies

Heart's Witness. Translated by Bernd Manuel Weischerand Peter Lamborn Wilson.Tehran: Imperial IranianAcademy, 1978, Pp. 178. Price not given.Sufismis a many splendoreddome to which the best approachis throughthe poetrywhichit inspiredand the anecdotes, no matter whetherthey are apocryphal or authentic, whichhave accumulated round the charismatic figure of the Master during his lifetime andcontinued to swell even after his death. Sufic experienceformulated as a doctrine can bevery misleading and may give rise to conflicting interpretations and controversies. Themonumental work of Ibn 'Arabi illustrates it very eloquently. Fortunately we have inAwhaduddin Kirman, no theoreticianof mysticism, a poet who has given expression tohis ecstaticexperiencein quatrainsor rubd'is,a form of poetic composition with which wehave become familiar through Fitzgerald's all too free rendering of 'Omar Khayyam.Brevity is the soul of the quatrainsand surprisinglyenough a ruba'tcan transmitmysticexperience with all its depth in a few verbal intimations. The difficulty with Kirmani,however, is that much that is attributedto him is not his, and many other quatrainsare tobe found in the works of other writers. Some of these nevertheless show the impact of hisgenius unmistakably. This seems to be specially true, as it is pointed out, of the quatrainswhich are given in the last section.Kirmani was deeply influenced by the monistic thought of Ibn 'Arabi. God does notreveal Himself unveiled but through the veil of creation. Human beauty servesas the bestmedium through which the divine may reveal itself. Though the hululi or incarnationisttendencies were imputed to him as to some other Sufis, Ibn 'Arabi did not believe in theincarnationof the divine in human form. It is only the reflection of the "Divine Essence"in creation which provokes ecstasy, and yet its poetic expression gave rise to mis-understandings. But although Awhaduddin Kirmani's preference for the "beardlessyouth" as the locus of divine revelationgave riseto stories which shocked his fellow Sufis,his poetic utterances as recorded in the collection before us have nothing shocking aboutthem. The similaritywith the Platonic vision of beauty is striking,and we cannot but agreewith Ritter that "contemplation of God's beauty in a handsome youth or boy is in thesemitic culturalcontext, a foreign body". Corbin's attempt to find thejustificationof thispracticein an alleged saying of the prophet cannot stand close analysis.

becomesvery thin. The concluding chapter bringsout the emotional dimension of Sufism.The writerconcludes that the gnosis of God is not possible without love or devotion.In the end it must be conceded that Mir Valiuddin's work, inspiteof its limitations, hasan enduringvalue. Itgives information which is not available elsewhere. Both in style andcontent it is a good specimen of a form of Sufic thought which has found favor in theIndian subcontinent, even in circles which are wary of Sufism. In any case the mysticthought and devotional piety which Valiuddin representsis superior to easy secularismand legalistic fundamentalism.S. VAHIDUDDINIndian Instituteof Islamic Studies

Heart's Witness. Translated by Bernd Manuel Weischerand Peter Lamborn Wilson.Tehran: Imperial IranianAcademy, 1978, Pp. 178. Price not given.Sufismis a many splendoreddome to which the best approachis throughthe poetrywhichit inspiredand the anecdotes, no matter whetherthey are apocryphal or authentic, whichhave accumulated round the charismatic figure of the Master during his lifetime andcontinued to swell even after his death. Sufic experienceformulated as a doctrine can bevery misleading and may give rise to conflicting interpretations and controversies. Themonumental work of Ibn 'Arabi illustrates it very eloquently. Fortunately we have inAwhaduddin Kirman, no theoreticianof mysticism, a poet who has given expression tohis ecstaticexperiencein quatrainsor rubd'is,a form of poetic composition with which wehave become familiar through Fitzgerald's all too free rendering of 'Omar Khayyam.Brevity is the soul of the quatrainsand surprisinglyenough a ruba'tcan transmitmysticexperience with all its depth in a few verbal intimations. The difficulty with Kirmani,however, is that much that is attributedto him is not his, and many other quatrainsare tobe found in the works of other writers. Some of these nevertheless show the impact of hisgenius unmistakably. This seems to be specially true, as it is pointed out, of the quatrainswhich are given in the last section.Kirmani was deeply influenced by the monistic thought of Ibn 'Arabi. God does notreveal Himself unveiled but through the veil of creation. Human beauty servesas the bestmedium through which the divine may reveal itself. Though the hululi or incarnationisttendencies were imputed to him as to some other Sufis, Ibn 'Arabi did not believe in theincarnationof the divine in human form. It is only the reflection of the "Divine Essence"in creation which provokes ecstasy, and yet its poetic expression gave rise to mis-understandings. But although Awhaduddin Kirmani's preference for the "beardlessyouth" as the locus of divine revelationgave riseto stories which shocked his fellow Sufis,his poetic utterances as recorded in the collection before us have nothing shocking aboutthem. The similaritywith the Platonic vision of beauty is striking,and we cannot but agreewith Ritter that "contemplation of God's beauty in a handsome youth or boy is in thesemitic culturalcontext, a foreign body". Corbin's attempt to find thejustificationof thispracticein an alleged saying of the prophet cannot stand close analysis.

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222 Book Reviews22 Book Reviews

The translations presentedin this volume are not of course "strictlyliteral"but try torecreate the experience which inspired the poems. It may be noted that words used inpoetry have their associations and for this reason the translation of a poetic work iswellnigh impossible, association of poetic words parallel to the original can hardly befound. Anyhow what is implicit in the originalcannot be made explicit in the translation,as it is likely to narrow down the vision and give a twist which might not have beenintended. For example while Shahid (the beloved) in the original leaves open the specifi-cation of sex, the translators have thought it fit to renderit as "a pretty boy." Yet apartfrom the limitationswhich are inherentin any work of translationthe skill with which thetranslation is done and success which is achieved in capturing the spirit of the originaldeservesappreciation.The following verses show both the Sutfipoet and his translators attheir best. They may serve also as a fitting reply to the critics from his own Suficbrotherhood who dubbed him as incarnationist:

"My soulthe body of thetranscendentWitness,Soul

in my breasthis bright form.That lovely faceyou call 'the onewho reveals'

is notthe Witness himself

but his dwelling place. (Page 165)The book is warmly recommended to all lovers of mysticism and poetry.S. VAHIDUDDINIndianInstituteof Islamic Studies

Women in Buddhism:Images of the Feminine in Mahayana Tradition. By Diana Paul.Berkeley,California: Asian Humanities Press, 1979. Pp. x + 333.It is indeed difficultto extract philosophical issues from social-cultural case studies andreligioustexts. However, in seeking to explore the interrelationshipsbetween, and mutualinfluenceof, varietiesof sexual stereotypesand religiousviews of the Mahayana Buddhisttradition, Diana Paul's Womenin Buddhismdoes succeed in drawing our attention tomattersof philosophical importance. Paul examines the "images"of women which arisein a numberof Buddhist texts associated with Mahayana and finds that, while ideally thetraditionpurports to be egalitarian, in actual practice it often betrayeda strong misogy-nist prejudice.Sanskritand Chinese texts are organized by theme and type, progressingfrom those which treat the traditionallyorthodox and negative to those which set forth apositive consideration of soteriological paths for women. Thus, two basic leitmotifs

The translations presentedin this volume are not of course "strictlyliteral"but try torecreate the experience which inspired the poems. It may be noted that words used inpoetry have their associations and for this reason the translation of a poetic work iswellnigh impossible, association of poetic words parallel to the original can hardly befound. Anyhow what is implicit in the originalcannot be made explicit in the translation,as it is likely to narrow down the vision and give a twist which might not have beenintended. For example while Shahid (the beloved) in the original leaves open the specifi-cation of sex, the translators have thought it fit to renderit as "a pretty boy." Yet apartfrom the limitationswhich are inherentin any work of translationthe skill with which thetranslation is done and success which is achieved in capturing the spirit of the originaldeservesappreciation.The following verses show both the Sutfipoet and his translators attheir best. They may serve also as a fitting reply to the critics from his own Suficbrotherhood who dubbed him as incarnationist:

"My soulthe body of thetranscendentWitness,Soul

in my breasthis bright form.That lovely faceyou call 'the onewho reveals'

is notthe Witness himself

but his dwelling place. (Page 165)The book is warmly recommended to all lovers of mysticism and poetry.S. VAHIDUDDINIndianInstituteof Islamic Studies

Women in Buddhism:Images of the Feminine in Mahayana Tradition. By Diana Paul.Berkeley,California: Asian Humanities Press, 1979. Pp. x + 333.It is indeed difficultto extract philosophical issues from social-cultural case studies andreligioustexts. However, in seeking to explore the interrelationshipsbetween, and mutualinfluenceof, varietiesof sexual stereotypesand religiousviews of the Mahayana Buddhisttradition, Diana Paul's Womenin Buddhismdoes succeed in drawing our attention tomattersof philosophical importance. Paul examines the "images"of women which arisein a numberof Buddhist texts associated with Mahayana and finds that, while ideally thetraditionpurports to be egalitarian, in actual practice it often betrayeda strong misogy-nist prejudice.Sanskritand Chinese texts are organized by theme and type, progressingfrom those which treat the traditionallyorthodox and negative to those which set forth apositive consideration of soteriological paths for women. Thus, two basic leitmotifs

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syed vahiduddin reviews sufi poems translation

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