Wine, Music and Love: Imagery, Practice and Aim

Introduction

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In this weeks lecture, we will explore the interconnected themes of Love, Wine and Music Recap Love in the Sufi Tradition Wine: Poetic Imagery and Metaphor Sama`: Music, Dance & Audition

Recap

Recap In the last few weeks, we have looked at the following themes: The Tradition of Gabriel: hierarchies of faith Sufi understandings of God, Creation and the Human Being Spiritual development and purification The role of the Wali (saint) as teacher and guide (shaykh - Arabic and pir Persian, Urdu, Turkish) This week, we shall extend our discussions to look at the three interconnected themes 1. The nature and role of love 2. The nature and role of poetic imagery (i.e. wine) 3. The nature and role of musical audition (sama`)

Themes for this Session

Selfhood and freedom from the nafs Experience and conveying experience to others Experiencing love and describing that experience Using words to point to the wordless Separation and union, pain and joy Relationships: with God, with others, with self

Love in the Sufi Tradition

Jalaluddin Rumis Masnavi

Listen to the reed, How it tells a tale Complaining of separation: Ever since I was parted From the reed-bed, My lament has made Men and women weep. I search for a heart Smitten by separation That I may tell the pain Of love-desire. Everyone who has got far from his source Harks back for the time When he was one with it
(Masnavi 1.1-4)

Ibn Arabis Meccan Openings

From love we originate, for love we were created. That is what we aim for and it is to this we have given ourselves (Futuhat Makkiya, volume 2, p.393)

Love & the Understanding of God

In previous weeks, we looked at the Sufi understanding of God Transcendence: There is none like unto Him (112:4) Tanzih - difference Immanence: And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein (50:16) Tashbih similarity Sufi understandings of love move between these two poles Love & need Need a characteristic of human beings, not of God in Islamic thought (2:255) Sufi writers attempted to explain Gods love for creation in these terms

Love in the Quran

Love is referred to in numerous Quranic passages Most passages relate to actions and human characteristics That is, actions and qualities loved by God are referred to:
God loves [yuhibb] the servants who do good deeds [muhsinun] (5:93; see also 2:222 and 2:177)

Actions and qualities not loved by God are also referred to:
You have chosen only idols instead of Allah. The love between you is only in the life of the world. Then on the Day of Resurrection you will deny each other and curse each other, and your abode will be the Fire, and you will have no helpers (2:165)

Shirk associating others with God; ascribing partners Social transgression/public sin:
for Allah does not love transgressors (2:190)

These verses associate Gods love for man with obedience and moral conduct The Sufi tradition focuses on a number of other verses

Love in the Quran

Although all of these form part of Sufi ideas, some are especially important
O you who have believed, whoever of you should revert from his religion - Allah will bring forth [in place of them] a people He will love and who will love Him [yuhibbuhum wa yuhibbunahu] humble toward the believers, powerful against the disbelievers; they strive in the cause of Allah and do not fear the blame of a critic. That is the favour of Allah; He bestows it upon whom He wills. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing (5:54) Say, [O Muhammad], If you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful (3:31)

Love as obedience to God was the key element in early idea

Love in the Hadith Love is also a prominent element in the hadith literature Picks up and explores Quranic themes, also adding new elements Practical love: adab
You will not enter the Garden until you believe and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I show you something that make you love one another? They said, Yes, Messenger of Allah. The Prophet said, Spread the greeting among yourselves

Where are those who love each other for the sake of My glory? You will be with those you love Whoever loves to meet Allah

His foot with which he walks

Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me [wali], I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks... Love as union with the Divine?

Terms for Love

Rahma mercy, from a root meaning womb; cf. al-Rahman & al-Rahim Rabb often translated as Lord (see 1:2); suggests one that sustains, cherishes and educates; cognate with Hebrew rabbi Alaqa engagement of the heart with its beloved, the root also refers to an embryo (see Quran chapter 96) Hawa desire; a double-edged word Widad constant love; al-Wadud as one of the Divine Names Hubb/Mahabba pure love; the primary Quranic term for love Ishq binding, captivating love; a non-Quranic term Shawq passionate longing Khulla friendship; attribute of Abraham (al-Khalil) Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, 13th century scholar Author of a number of influential works on spiritual psychology Offers an account of the different stages of love that is useful See handout

Ishq
`Ishq seemingly derived from `ashaqa or bindweed/creeper Denoting a love that grips the heart utterly; passionate and overwhelming desire for the beloved Because the term does contain a sense of physical love, its lawfulness was debated extensively Is it appropriate to describe Gods love in these terms? Longing also suggested separation that is, because two still exist (lover and beloved) this cannot describe union with God Earlier thought shied away from this term, preferring hubb and its various derivatives By Ibn Arabis time (13th century CE), Ishq had become seen as the highest form of love (see handout) The Servant of the Loving One (Ibn Arabi) Divine love pre-exists human love:
How would the artisan not love his own work? We are undoubtedly His work for He has created us and He has created our sustenance and all that is good for us; how then could He not love us?

Different Forms of Love

Metaphorical love ishq-i majazi Essential love ishq-i haqiqi As we saw previously, reality is hierarchically arranged Creation and Humanity as loci of divine manifestation (mazhar) of the Divine Names In other words, reality exists in order to bring creation and humanity into relationship with God Creations purpose is to fall in love with God:
I was a Hidden Treasure and loved to be known. Therefore I created the Creation that I might be known

Ishq-i Majazi is thus the first, human stage Ishq-i Haqiqi is to come into complete loving union with the divine Human, even erotic, love has a role to play in this unfolding relationship One reason for erotically charged imagery in Sufi poetry

The Stages of Love

Ja`far al-Sadiq (the Truthful, died 765CE) Descendant of Muhammad, 6th Shi`ite Imam One of the earliest examples of a codified list of spiritual stages Stations 10,11 and 12 are all connected with different grades of love These ideas proved deeply influential, and elaborated greatly by subsequent writers See C. Ernst (1999), The Stages of Love in Early Persian Sufism, from Rabi`a to Ruzbihan (on Blackboard) An excellent overview of the development of ideas about love in early Sufi thought and poetry

The Story of Shaykh Sam`an

Farid al-Din Attar (early 13th century), Mantiq alTayr (Conference of the Birds); very important Sufi poem Highly influential A group of birds go in search of the Simorgh (a fabulous king) A series of adventures in valleys of experience (love, detachment, etc), ending with a vision of the Simorgh as si morgh (30 birds) This is the longest single episode in the entire work and hinges on themes of love, the breaking of boundaries, dreams and redemption

The Story of Shaykh Sam`an

Learned shaykh falls for a beautiful Christian girl and travels to Rome, with 400 disciples Where the condition of her love is his conversion As well as his drinking of wine, eating of pork i.e. breaking Islamic ritual taboos He is left in this state until he dreams of Muhammad, whose announces the end of his trial He begins the journey home, as the girl rushes after him She has had a similar dream, and converts to Islam, dying soon afterwards, in the shaykhs arms Or, that moment when Truth is unveiled and revealed Standing before the Beloved a description of revelation (kashf)

Wine: Poetic Imagery and Metaphor

Sufi Poetry Hakim Sanai (an 11th century poet): Saqi! Bring wine and do not cease to bring it Jami: O Saqi! Pass the cup of wine In pairs, what role does wine play in this poem? How is it described? In groups, compare your answers

Experience and Taste

Sufi poetry is thus designed to convey and explore experience Experiential knowledge of God as the aim of Sufism Taste: dhawq the experience, and the moment of tasting itself Sufi poetry is also the experience itself That is, the words are designed to convey and be dhawq I have included an internet article entitled Mevlana and Me: Poetry, the Moment and Suhbah Written from a faith perspective, but does explore a number of useful ideas: Poetry as experience Poetry as unfolding relationship; the twists and turns of life and growth The moment (waqt): My poetry is like the bread of Egypt Rumi

Poetry in the Islamic World

Poetry in pre-Islamic Arabia: poetry as primary medium of culture Poetry as the realm of magic and the Jinn And yet, Muhammad is reported to have said: Some poetry contains wisdom Early Islamic world shied away from poetry Even Rumi compares poetry to tripe (Fihi Ma Fihi 16) Sufi poetry as edgy, risqu, sexy, illicit and yet the bearer of wisdom Sufi Imagery is thus similarly edgy and erotically charged

Imagery, Symbol and Metaphor

Love Perhaps the most important subject of this literature Human relationships as a metaphor for the relationship with God Lover, Beloved and Love itself (Ashiq, Mu`ishq and Ishq) The identity of the beloved: human or divine, or both at the same time? Gender? Homo-eroticism? Love-play (Shahid-bazi) Not always clear, though Persian poetic convention depicted the beloved as a handsome adolescent male In other words, these poems (like love itself) are deeply ambiguous This makes a single interpretation difficult Multi-layered imagery

Imagery, Symbol and Metaphor

Wine and intoxication Most often used to represent the ecstasy of union with the beloved Drunkenness sweeps away all doubts in joyful abandon, though tinged with illicit danger Wine forbidden by Islamic law, and thus can stand for rebellion against social norms, and also hidden, esoteric joy/truth The Wine-giver/pourer (Saqi) Often the teacher (shaykh or pir); the one who dispenses the wine of love/truth Sometimes God is depicted as the wine-giver/pourer The Tavern of Ruin Sometimes, the sufi convent (khanqah); the place where one receives loves wine

Sama`: Music, Dance & Audition

Sama`
We have looked at love and the poetic imagery used to convey it Not the only means of experiencing, developing and communicating love Sufis have also been known for their use of music, singing and dance Designed to transcend everyday boundaries Longstanding and heated debates within and beyond Sufi tradition about the lawfulness of music, etc Sama` (Arabic) becomes sema in Persian and other Islamicate languages Meaning literally, hearing, audition not music or dance Audition denoting hearing of music, poetry and also audience i.e. the setting and the hearer

Audition
Sama` not just spiritual music itself, but the whole formal ceremony Different forms of Sama` in various countries (which we will see shortly) Important to note this formal, ritual dimension I have uploaded some discussions of sama` to Blackboard Music as the means of transcendence Poetry as the language (limitations of words are also important) Setting: defined as the place or presence of the heart, rather than a physical place (though these are important too) Audience: the right people? The right time In the Sufi Music and Rituals folder, I have added a very useful documentary called Sufi Soul Well worth watching

Mevlevi Sema
Mevlevi tariqa, more famously known as the Whirling Dervishes Based on the teachings of Jalaluddin Rumi (d. 1273CE) The ceremony itself is long and involved, and reached its current form in the 17th century I want to play you two parts from this ceremony 1. Ayin-i Naat: the opening chant in praise of Muhammad 2. Ayin-i Selam: one of the musical parts of Mevlevi sema, in which we will see whirling

Examples from Further Afield

Last week we looked at the Qawwali song: Allah, Muhammad, Chaar Yaar Sufi Music from Syria: note the Quranic recitation at the beginning of the piece (2:1-5) Abu al-Hasan al-Shushtari: Letting Go of Delusions/My Sweetest Moments This piece comes originally from Muslim Spain, of the 13th century It is worth focusing on this song for a moment The lyrics are in your handouts

Further Reading: Love in Sufi Thought B. Abrahamov (2003), Divine Love in Islamic Mysticism, London: Routledge C. Ernst (1999), The Stages of Love in Early Persian Sufism, from Rabi`a to Ruzbihan (on Learning Central) E. Ormsby (2011, trans.), al-Ghazali: Love, Longing, Intimacy and Contentment, Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society Sternberg, R J & Barnes, M L (1988, eds.), The Psychology of Love, London: Yale University Press A. Williams (2006, trans.) Spiritual Verses: the First Book of the Masnavi-yi Ma`navi, London: Penguin

Further Reading: Sufi Poetry

Bruijn, J T P (1997), Persian Sufi Poetry, Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Kennedy, P F (1997), The Wine Song in Classical Arabic Poetry, Oxford: Clarendon Press Lewis, F (2008), Rumi: Past and Present, East and West, London: Oneworld

Further Reading: Sama` in Sufi Thought

Ernst, C. W. (1997), The Shambhala Guide to Sufism, Boston, Mass.: Shambhala Publications L. Lewisohn (1997), The Sacred Music of Islam: Sama` in the Persian Sufi Tradition British Journal of Ethnomusicology 6, 1-33