“I Am No Foundling”: Al-Makzūn al-Sinǧārī Responds to Ibn al-Fāriḍ’s Poem of the Way
This article is a translation and analysis of a poem by the Nuṣayrī (ʿAlawī) poet al-Makzūn al-Sinǧārī (d. 638/1240) responding to a masterpiece of Arabic Sufi poetry, the Poem of the Way by his contemporary ʿUmar b. al-Fāriḍ (d. 632/1235). Al-Makzūn uses Ibn al-Fāriḍ’s own words to paint him as a f...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2023
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| In: |
Arabica
Year: 2023, Volume: 70, Issue: 6, Pages: 603-660 |
| Further subjects: | B
Nuṣayrī
B Soufisme B poésie arabe B al-Makzūn al-Sinǧārī B Ibn al-Fāriḍ B Arabic Poetry B Sufism B ʿAlawī |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article is a translation and analysis of a poem by the Nuṣayrī (ʿAlawī) poet al-Makzūn al-Sinǧārī (d. 638/1240) responding to a masterpiece of Arabic Sufi poetry, the Poem of the Way by his contemporary ʿUmar b. al-Fāriḍ (d. 632/1235). Al-Makzūn uses Ibn al-Fāriḍ’s own words to paint him as a false claimant outside the genealogy of true lovers. As against Ibn al-Fāriḍ’s mysticism of identification with an immanent beloved and his focus on the holy sites, al-Makzūn posits a transcendent beloved that reflects a human image without taking human form, and a Mecca built purely on semantic associations. The poem shows that Ibn al-Fāriḍ’s alleged belief in incarnation (ḥulūl) was being debated from an early stage, and that Nuṣayrīs in this period engaged more closely with Sunni Sufi literature than often assumed. Al-Makzūn emerges as a subtle thinker and accomplished poet whose work has long been neglected. |
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| ISSN: | 1570-0585 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Arabica
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700585-20231674 |