1981 Boullata VerbalArabesqueandMysticalUnion Ta'IyyatIbnalFarid

Verbal Arabesque and Mystical Union: A Study of Ibn al-Farid's "Al-Ta'iyya al-Kubra"
Author(s): Issa J. Boullata

Source: Arab Studies Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Spring 1981), pp. 152-169
Published by: Pluto Journals
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41854901
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Verbal Arabesque and Mystical Union:
A Study of Ibn al-Farid's "Al-Ta'iyya al-Kubra"
Issa J. Boullata
The aim of this article is to explore the relationship of style and meaning
in Ibn al-Farid's ode "Nazm al-Suluk" known as "al-Ta'iyya al-Kubra." It
also hopes to show how a poet uses the literary conventions of his culture to
express creative ideas and how, by setting out from the tradition, he can be
innovative and unique. But since form and content are inseparable elements
of literary structure, it is expected that the discussion will also shed light on
Ibn al-Farid's thought, and thus possibly contribute to a deeper under-
standing of his Sufism.
It is disconcerting to note how little the literary historians, critics, and
commentators of the past have dealt with this aspect of Ibn al-Farid's work.
They concentrated on his thought to explain his complex ideas, some of
them hoping to establish his orthodoxy and win him support, others to
prove that he was heretical and ought to be banned.1 When his style was
mentioned at all, it was referred to in lavish terms by admirers with little
analytical concern or else it was severely criticized by enemies as surrep-
titiously delusive.
Issa J. Boullata is Professor of Arabic Literature and Language, Institute of

Islamic Studies, McGill University, Montreal.
This is a contribution to a forthcoming Festschrift honoring Dr. Ihsan Abbas on

his 60th birthday, edited by Dr. Salma Khadra Jayyusi and containing essays on
Arabic literary criticism by several of his friends, colleagues, and former students.
1. Among those who wrote in support of Ibn al-Farid are his commentators Sa'id
al-Din al-Farghani (d. 669/1271) in Muntaha al-Madarik (Istanbul, 1293/1876);
'Abd al-Razzaq al-Kashani (d. 730/1330) in Kashf al-Wujuh al-Ghurr(C airo, 1319
A.H.); Dawud b. Mahmud al-Qaysari (d. 751/1350) in "Sharh al-Ta4iyya" extant in
several MSS.; and others including al-Suyuti (d. 911/1505), al-Shakrani (d. 973/
1565), Hasan al-Burini (d. 1024/1615), and *Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi (d. 1143/
1731). Among those who wrote disapprovingly are Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) in
Majmu'at al- Rasa' il wa'l-Masa'il, 5 vols. (Cairo, 1341-1349 A.H.); Ibn H ajar al-
'Asqalani (d. 852/1449) in Lisan al-Mizan , 7 vols. (Haydarabad, 1329-1331 a.h.);
Burhan al-Din Ibrahim al-Biqa4i (d. 885/1480) in "al-Natiq bi 'l-Sawab al-Farid li-
Takfir Ibn al-Farid" and other writings extant in MS. form; and others. For a
general conspectus, see Muhammad Mustafa Hilmi, Ibn al-Farid wa'l-Hubb al-
Ilahi (Cairo, 1945), pp. 74-93.
152 ASQ Volume 3 Number 2
Verbal Arabesque 153
Al-Qashani (d. 730/ 1330), 2 on

al-Suluk," writes:
The obligation to speak about divi

state of intoxication made him [Ib
unity and the hidden mysteries o
called "The Stringing of Pearls." [I
revealed ideas like boudoir-virgins
or jinn , looking like sapphire and
the veil, like paradise nymphs se
fluent orators were rendered una
revealed knowledge and vision, and
comeliness. They all recognized t
gathered the best arts of rhetoric
Al-Qaysari (d. 751 / 1350), 4 anot

less lavish in praise:
He composed the ode of "The Str

virgin brides with brilliant faces. N
age nor will human nature permit
nights. It cannot be described in la
symbolic clarification. For in each
poetic feats such as paronomasia
other devices mentioned in the scie
concerned. As for meaning, he used
manners and showed thereby the
guided, and the abodes of those
moving to the stations of knower
pointed to the perfections of th
perfecting, and he revealed the r
stages and reached the highest s
never equalled by any one of the
2. His name published on the title

Razzaq al-Kashani. But this work is
named izz al-Din Mahmud al-Kash
MSS. of the book, e.g., Paris 3163 a
mann, GAL , S. I, 463.
3. al-Kashani, Kashf al-Wujuh al-Ghurr , pp. 7-8.
4. Dawud b. Mahmud b. Muhammad al-Rumi al-Qaysari, see Brockelmann,
GAL 2:231 and GAL , S. 2:323.
5. al-Qaysari, "Sharh al-Ta'iyya," MS. Add. 3668 (8) at the University Library,
Cambridge, England, folio 3a.
154 Arab Studies Quarterly
Ibn Hajar al-4Asqalani (d. 852/1449), on

Ibn al-Farid's doctrine of ittihad (mystic
to think well of Sufis generally. He says th
style and symbols there is what he call
quotes al-Dhahabi (d. 748/1348) who s
adulterated with the idea of ittihad in t
most delicate metaphors, and is like po
Modern Arab writers have hardly bee
Generally imbued with the modern revu
they have not appreciated Ibn al-Farid's
Muhammad Mustafa Hilmi, who has wr
devotes hardly more than one page to
characterizing it as one distinguished by
exaggeration in rhetorical embellishme
cerned Ibn al-Farid less than wording as
producing paronomasia, antithesis, paral
cal embellishment.8 The only redeeming fe
"occasionally disgustful" ( mamjuja ), is
beginners learning versification, and its
poetic taste is thus formed under its influ
of Ibn al-Farid's Diwan to this feature b
of extreme beauty in it.10
Modern Western scholars also do no
attention. When they discuss it, as in th
Arberry, they hover over it lightly, t
character, and fall short of its essence. Lou
of generalities when he described Ibn a
d'esthétique transcendantale" (a feat of t
he described "al-Ta'iyya al-Kubra" as "a
and "a sort of kiswa for the spiritual p
By contrast, Nicholson and Arberry m
attempt at grappling with the style, not o
poetry, but also in their brief but insig
says:
6. Ibn Haiar al-'Asaalani. Lisan al- M izan 4:317-19.

7. Hilmi, Ibn al-Farid wa'l-Hubb al-IlahU pp. 51-52.
8. Ibid p. 51.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid., p. 52. See also Muhammad Mustafa Hilmi, Ibn al-Farid: Sultan al -
'Ashiain (Cairo, 1963), dd. 223-36.
II. Louis Massignon, La Cité des morts au Caire (Cairo, 1958), p. 64.
12. Ibid. English translation by Annemarie Schimmel, see her Mystical Dimen-
sions of Islam (Chapel Hill, 1975), pp. 274-79.
If his verse abounds in fantastic co

degree, the conceits and enigmas
intellectual conjuring tricks, but li
vitally connected with the moods
Here, perhaps for the first time,

organic unity of style and m
rhetorical devices are seen in thei
the poet's
"moods of feeling." B
connection functions at the level
emotive condition. He tries to ju
composing his verse in a report
ascribing it to the power of th
1 am not inclined to doubt the stat

abnormal manner. . . . Since the f
largely depend on materials stor
literary models with which he is fam
and revelations sometimes find sp
ficial style. The intense passion an
are in keeping with this account
The Lebanese scholar Anis al-M

tion (without crediting it to him)
ing the necessity of conscious eff
poet's reported state of profound
While this may be the only rea
does not explain the literary fu
Farid's style and their contribu
poem of his.
Al-Maqdisi considers repetition one of the faults of Ibn al-Farid's style. 16
Nicholson sees it in a more understanding perspective but does not offer an
explanation:
All his odes are variations on a single theme, and the variations themselves
have a certain interior uniformity. Not only do the same "leitmotifs" recur
again and again, but the same metaphors, conceits and paradoxes are continu-
13. R. A. Nicholson, Studies in Islamic Mysticism iCamhriHoe IQ9H n 1A7

14. Ibid., pp. 167-68.
15. Anis aì-Maqdisi, Umara' al-Shi'r al-' Arabi fi 'l-'Asr al-4Abbasi (Beirut, 1969,
8th printing), pp. 460-61.
16. Ibid., pp. 454 et seq.
ally reappearing in new dress. . . . The poet has

by means of the delicacy of his art, the beauty of
sweetness" of his versification - powerful spells to
in his own language. The Diwan is a miracle of l
Nicholson is so engrossed in showing how th

monotony of repetition that he fails to analy
tion itself and to assess its meaning in the p
Arberry has carried the discussion a little furt
and rhetorical devices in "al-Ta'iyya al-Kubr
The aesthetic effect created by this sharp contra

strongly dominating themes and their almost e
detail of patterned variation is precisely similar t
a monumental building decorated with delicate a
blance is not accidental; for Ibn al-Farid's style, n
other Arab poet, represents the consummation
which culminated (with building materials instead
Alhambra's perfect balance between strength an
This brilliant comparison of the effect of the p

tracery and Alhambra 's perfect balance woul
he sustained the analysis, carrying it more deep
style in Islamic art with special reference to
times. But somehow he retained the false
rhetorical devices from any intended meanin
lose ground gained earlier by Nicholson who
meaning as "vitally connected." Arberry say
There are passages in which he seems to write

fascinated by the shapes and sounds of words
struggling desperately to arrange them into som
While this statement refers only to a few p

earlier evaluation of the poet's style, when h
son by comparing the aesthetic effect to th
underlying belief that delicate arabesque tra
monumental building vitiates to a large extent t
17. Nicholson, Studies in Islamic Mysticism , p. 1

18. A. J. Arberry, The Poem of the Way (Lond
19. Ibid.
Without its arabesque tracery, Al

of "al-Ta'iyya al-Kubra" in another
of the entire poem is without some
tion is as fine and tightly woven as
Arberry from his apt metaphor
filigree, since it is the essence of th
silver or gold wire. The ornamental
filigree. Similarly, the ornament
of apart from his poetry; if it is
II
This must not be taken as a defense of ornament in poetic style. It should

rather be understood as implying the unity within style of all the elements
producing it and their integration to create meaning in a successful poem. In
the style of Ibn al-Farid, ornament is a dominant element. But this fact must
not blind one to the truth of the inalienable character of ornament: it is
inseparable from the other elements of style that work together to produce
meaning in successful poetry.
Why ornament is such a dominant element in Ibn al-Farid's style or why
ornament is more dominant in the literary style of one age than that of
another is another question. Artistic expression in all cultures seems to pass
through ages of varying styles, sometime along the line manifesting itself in
elaboration of form, complexity of ornamentation, and a pervasive effort
after calculated elegance and studied ornate devices. Whether in literature,
music, and architecture, or in painting, sculpture, and other plastic arts,
there develops at one time or another a style that may be called baroque in
one culture or may not be called anything in another; that style lays great
emphasis on fastidious or excessive refinement and on preciosity in expres-
sion. It reflects the values of the society producing it as well as that society's
stage of artistic development.
In trying to survey the artistic styles in Arab literary history, the Egyptian
scholar Shawqi Dayf has recognized three styles common to Arabic verse
and prose of all ages.21 Avoiding the terminology of Western literary criti-
cism because he considers it inadequate for Arabic, he has designated these
three styles by terms derived from the Arabic word for making, workman-
ship, and skill. The word is san* a which can also mean art or craft, and Dayf
uses it to designate the style which a poet or a writer adopts to produce a
20. Ibid.
21. Shawqi Dayf, al-Fann wa Madhahibuh fi 'l-Shi'r al- Arabi (Cairo, 1969, 7th
edition) and al-Fann wa Madhahibuh fi 7- Nat hr al-' Arabi (Cairo, 1960, 3rd ed.).
literary text that has definite and necessar

literary expression is not as effortless
imitates it. When the effort of the poet o
literary text, Dayf uses the derived word
of style. When the effort of the poet o
Dayf uses another derived word, tasann
style. Thus from san* a ("art"), to tasnť
ity") Dayf sees styles in Arabic verse and
does not explain why a certain style is ado
becomes prevalent in a particular age ex
Arab civilization have experienced a sim
and sophistication.
Dayfs theory of literary development ma
tic to embrace all manner of change in
literature or the other arts. But it may hav
seem to go in cycles and that, when poe
and readers have had enough of one style,
process of innovation which introduces
ment seems mostly to be from simple t
excessive complexity can often lead to
Individual talent and ingenuity as well
political, religious, or ideological natur
change, though literary theorists sometim
their magnitude, and some even do not
sober findings of a member of the Prag
may be helpful to cite here; Jan Mukaro
literature is a struggle between the inertia
interventions of personalities. The histor
biography, depicts his struggle with the in
is an interaction, therefore, between the l
viduals. But it must be remembered tha
viduals are affected by social factors. In
factors into psychological ones that even
in conjunction with other factors of inn
acter.
The modern Syrian poet-critic Adonis23 claims that Arab Islamic cultur
has continuously subjugated and suppressed the forces of innovation and
22. Jan Mukarovsky, The Word and Verbal Art, ed. and trans. J. Burbank and P
Steiner (New Haven and London, 1977), p. 175. His essay is entitled 'The Individual
and Literary Development."
23. Adunis [4Ali Ahmad Sa'id], al-Thabit wadl~Matahawwil, 3 vols. (Beirut, 1974-
1978).
religiously supported the trends to

may be said that style had to devel
to be cornered into ever narrower activities of further elaboration of mere
rhetorical embellishments, often solely to establish or enhance reputation
for virtuosity, because these were safe havens for poets who wanted to
introduce change without being ostracized. But Adonis's theory - a general-
ly Weberian one - is hotly debated. Nor would a Marxist theory be less
hotly debated as it attempts to explode "the myth of sublime literature"24
and consider rhetorical embellishments as so much decadent art nourished
by the ruling and economically dominant class that aims at suppressing the
masses and deluding them by dazzle and tinsel to keep them away from
broaching the real issues of life. As noted earlier, literary theorists generally
disagree on the modality or the magnitude of social factors in literary
development, some even deny their having any effect.
What concerns us here is that by the seventh/ thirteenth century, when Ibn
al-Farid was writing, style in Arabic literature had developed certain fea-
tures of elaboration and excessive ornamentation. No poet of any import
ever hoped to get his meaning across by ignoring them. This style had
become the literary idiom of the time - a consummation of over four centu-
ries of development. Like the great poet that he was, he must have intuitively
known that his contribution to literary tradition could succeed only by using
the established conventions to the best advantage and that, if his individual
talent was to have any effect on the general bearing and orientation of the
tradition, and perhaps ultimately of the culture, he must speak the idiom of
his time while trying to transcend it. His total contribution to the tradition
and, eventually, to the culture is measured by his success in adding some-
thing unique, completely his own, yet genuinely embedded in the matrix of
the conventions of his time.
It may well be that his contribution was in a style which Dayf charac-
terizes as tasannu ', i.e., a style replete with traces of excessive technical
effort; but it is not true that technical effort here means merely rhetorical
embellishment. Though rhetorical embellishments are predominant in Ibn
al-Farid's style, they do not constitute his only mark of expert control over
his time's literary conventions. These latter extend to areas of literary
structure that go back even to pre-Islamic times and consist of age-old
accumulations of attitudes, maxims, concepts, genres, historical symbols,
literary allusions, and Islamic and other religious and cultural referents. To
be ignorant of them renders Ibn al-Farid's poetry rather incomprehensible.
As Arberry says, "His style, like that of some modern poets, presupposes in
24. There is even a book so entitled in Arabic, namely, Usturat al-Adab al-Rafl'
(Baghdad, 1957) by 'Ali al-Wardi, a mildly socialist Iraqi sociologist.
the reader a ready- familiarity with a wid

Ibn al-Farid mastered the conventions o
them by creating a new artifact to expres
This is what all good poets try to do, the d
degree in which each of them achieves th
quality of what he has to say, and ultimately
ourselves.
Control of the tradition means deep and wide knowledge of its master-
pieces, its other writings, and the national lore. It does not mean an
enslavement to the past or a slavish imitation of bygone achievements, for
real knowledge of the tradition results in a creative assimilation of its values.
Through a principle of inclusion and exclusion developed under the in-
fluence of social factors and of individual traits, this assimilation helps to
form the poet's vision. When he writes, his personality shows through; his
originality is reflected in how he uses or manipulates the tradition or how he
reacts to it or struggles against it as he places himself in the context of its
total historical effect.
Ibn al-Farid's contribution to Arabic literature attests to a high degree of
control of the tradition. One needs to be familiar with a wide repertoire of
reference to understand him. This is particularly so since his topic is Sufism
which, by his time, had reached an advanced stage of growth whereby Sufi
writings had developed their own tradition within the larger literary tradi-
tion of the Arabs.
Ill
It is impossible within the limits of this article to study the ode"Nazm al-
Suluk"26 in its totality. I will concentrate on one section, namely, the passage
from verse 549 to verse 574, in order to explore the relationship of style and
meaning and to show at least some aspects of the poet's control of the
tradition. This particular section is close to the spiritual climax of the whole
poem and has not been studied enough.
R. A. Nicholson, who has translated the ode except for some verses here
and there amounting to a quarter of the whole,27 has chosen not to render
this passage in English. He explains:
25. Arberrv, The Poem of the Wa'' pp. 5-6.

26. This poem is also known as "al-Ťa4iyya al-Kubra"(The Greater Ode Rhyming
in T) and consists of 761 verses. This name distinguishes it from Ibn al-Farid's "al-
Ta4iyya al-Sughra" (The Minor Ode Rhyming in T) which consists of 103 verses.
27. For the translation of the ode, see Nicholson, Studies in Islamic Mysticism ,
pp. 199-266; see also his note 3, p. 195 for verses not translated.
In language so figurative as to be a
549-574) the Divine Names accord
the benefits which accrue from
respective spheres of influence, vz
invisible world ('alamu ' l-ghayb ),
and the world of almightiness ('a
plane of undifferentiated unity (
peared. This phase, however, is m
mystical experience plurality return
exclude the Many, but comprehend
is the essence of the whole.28
Muhammad Mustafa Hilmi has dealt with only part of this section of the
poem and briefly analyzed the poet's concept of the divine Essence and the
Attributes and their relation to Being and phenomenal existence.29
A. J. Arberry who has ably translated the whole ode as The Poem of the
Way admits to the difficulty of this passage:
The tension is increased more and more, as the poet meditates upon the
profound mysteries of Unity, until he finally delivers himself of a series of lines
highly mannered and ornamented in an almost complete incoherence of
sensual ecstasy.30
He then gives an idea of the intricate verbal patterns of the passage by

transcribing a few lines from the Arabic original.
Only Arberry has considered it important to draw attention to the intri-
cate verbal patterns of this passage, though he calls its style "highly man-
nered and ornamented." He seems to have given up any attempt to penetrate
the intricacies of style and grasp the meaning of the passage by referring to it
as "an almost complete incoherence of sensual ecstasy." His translation31
does not reflect the verbal patterns in it, of course, but it conveys a sense of
obscurity. Arberry states in his introduction:
1 have striven deliberately to match obscurity with obscurity, and light with
light; seeking at the same time to shadow the sustained tension which I have
remarked as so outstanding a feature of the original. ... I have set myself to
rival Ibn al-Farid's own enigmas, the solutions of which are to be sensed rather
than reasoned.32
28. Ibid., p. 251. A footnote to the passage reads: "The 'alamu ' l-malakut and the
'alamu 'l-jabarut denote the Attributes and the Essence."
29. Hilmi. Ibn a!- Farid wa'l-Huhh nl-Ilnhi nn 901-907
30. Arberry, The Poem of the Wa'' p. 84.
31. Ibid., pp. 57-60, lines 1753-1829 of his blank verse.
32. Ibid., p. 8.
It may be true that meaning in certain pa

reasoned. But I believe that in this p
reasoned. The intricate verbal patterns o
poet's style, are themselves significant a
this extent, any characterization of its s
ornamented is inappropriate if the imp
mannerism or ornamentation is divorced f
elements of style in a successful poem co
verbal patterning as is obvious in this pass
the scrutiny of the critic.
The passage comes in that section of th
mystical state known as the sobriety of
scended a previous state known as the in
In this new state there is unity of wors
awareness that the universe and God are one. But this realization is not as
overwhelming to the mystic as when it first struck him and intoxicated him.
Conscious of the unity, he is now conscious also of the separateness of
worshipper and worshipped, of the differentiation between the universe and
God. He knows that the One comprehends the Many, that unity contains
plurality. This knowledge brings harmony into his being as it expresses the
harmony of Being itself. There is therefore sobriety in the realization of this
truth, a clarity of thought and emotion, that understands the order of both
phenomenal existence and pure Being, of both the physical world and the
spiritual universe. As this order is understood, there is rejoicing in its
harmony.
Writing the ode in this state, the poet offers what may be called an
"objective correlative," to use the language of T. S. Eliot. What he presents as
meaning is presented in a style that embodies the meaning. Elements of
order and harmony predominate in the style of this passage which speaks
about order and harmony. The verbal patterns in it are not mere otiose or
superfluous ornamentation but are themselves an expression of the meaning
intended.
Let us look at those verbal patterns and note their forms and their
repetitions in a harmonious order characterized by a striking homology. The
passage is made up of twenty-six lines of two hemistichs each. It can be
divided thematically and formally into three parts: part 1 (eight lines), verse
549 to verse 556; part 2 (eight lines), verse 557 to verse 564; and part 3 (ten
lines), verse 565 to verse 574. As Nicholson has observed, part 1 describes
the Divine Names according to their characteristic qualities, part 2 speaks of
the benefits which accrue from them, and part 3 tells of their respective
spheres of influence. The Divine Names are shown to be Attributes of One
Essence that manifests itself in a plurality of perceived phenomena making
up one universe harmoniously ruled in an infinity of Being and an eternity
of Oneness. This apparently sim

content is couched in a style wh
actually very complex too.
Looking at the morphology of
gous structures of vocables plac
each other horizontally as well
similarity among themselves di
omitting the nonhomologous an
sequence:33
550 shawadi . . . hawadi ... - bawadi . . . ghawadi . . .

552 jawahir . . . zawahir ... - tawahir . . . qawahir . . .
554 mathani . . . ma4ani ... - maghani . . . mabani . . .
556 naja'ib . . . ghara'ib ... - ragha'ib . . . kata'ib . . .
The odd lines have the following sequence on omitting the nonhomologous
words:
549 fa-tasrifuha min hafizi 4l-4ahdi awwalan - bi-nafsin . . .

551 wa-tawqifuha min muthiqi i-'ahdi akhiran - bi-nafsin . . .
553 wa-ta'rifuha min qasidi M-hazmi zahiran - ... nafsin bi'l-wujudi
555 wa-tashrifuha min sadiqi 4l-4azmi batinan - ... nafsin bi4l-shuhud
Subjecting part 2 to the same survey, shows the following sequences with
even lines:
558 4aqa4iq . . . daqa'iq ... - haqa'iq . . . raqa4iq . . .

560 sawami4 . . . lawami4 ... - jawami4 . . . qawami4 . . .
562 lata'if . . . waza'if ... - saha'if . . . khala4if . . .
564 ghuyuth . . . bu4uth ... - huduth . . . luyuth . . .
Odd lines:
557 fa-li-4llabsi minha bi-4tta4alluqi fi maqa - mi 4l-islami 4an . . .

559 wa-li-4l-hissi minha bi-4ttahaqquqi fi maqa - mi 4l-mani 'an . . .
561 wa-li-4nnafsi minha bi-4ttakhalluqi fi maqa - mi 4l-ihsani 4an . . .
563 wa-li-4l-jam4i min mabda ka4annaka wa-4ntiha - fa4in lam takun 4an . . .
33. According to the text in Diwan Ibn al- Farida ed. Mahmud Tawfiq (Cairo, ca.
1945), pp. 55-57 with minor corrections.
Part 3 shows the following sequences
566 fusul . . . wusul ... - husul . . . usui . . .

568 basha'ir . . . basa'ir ... - sara'ir . . . dhakha'ir . . .
570 madaris . . . maharis ... - magharis . . . fawaris . . .
572 ara'ik . . . madarik ... - masalik . . . mala'ik . . .
574 fawa'id . . . rawa'id . . . - 'awa'id . . . mawa'id . . .
Odd lines:
565 fa-marji'uha . . . fi 'alami 'sh-shaha - dati . . . ma . . .

567 wa-matli'uha fi 'alami '1-ghaybi ma - ...
569 wa-mawdi'uha fi 'alami '1-malakuti ma - ...
571 wa-mawqi'uha fi 'alami '1-jabaruti min - ...
573 wa-manba'uha bii-faydi fi kulli 'alamin - ...
Grammatically, the syntax has been made to highlight the morpholog

homology. All words cited above in the even lines are nouns in the nom
tive case followed in the text of the passage by nouns in the genitive case w
which they form crisp construct phrases. Furthermore, in the even lines t
nouns in the genitive case in the middle of each hemistich come in hom
gous pairs and form internal rhymes symmetrically positioned as foll
550 . . . mubahatin
552 . . . anba'in
554 . . . munajatin
556 . . . ayatin
558 . . . ihkamin
560 . . . adhkarin
562 . . . akhbarin
564 . . . infi'alatin ... - ... ittisalatin . . .

566 . . . 'ibaratin
568 . . . iqrarin
570 . . . tanzilin
572 . . . tawhidin
574 . . . ilhamin
The syntax of
each line begins
tional phrase an
phrase followed
3, each line begins with a noun in t

tional phrase and a genitive noun
(with a minor difference in the las
with the even lines and read with t
constructions in alternate order he
tartan design in a plaided fabric.
weaving of key ideas represented
vertical pattern which balances t
configuration of the harmonious
a full translation or transcription
manner as follows:
449 tasrifuha Control of them [the Attributes] is

min hafizi 'l-'ahdi by the first one to guard the
awwalan . . . Covenant [God] . . .
551 tawqifuha Their dedication is
min muthiqi 'l-'ahdi by the last one to confirm the
akhiran . . . Covenant [Muhammad] . . .
553 ta'rifuha Making them known is
min qasidi 'l-hazmi by the seeker of outward prudence
zahiran . . . [scholars of Muslim law] . . .
555 tashrifuha Their exaltation is
min sadiqi 'l-'azmi by the one of inward sincere pur-
batinan . . . pose [perfect Muslim mystics] . . .
557 li 'l-labsi minha To the body from them
bi 't-ta'alluqi fi maqami by attachment to the station of
'l-islami . . . Islam . . . [legalistic obligations
are for the body]
559 li M-hissi minha To the sense from them
bi 't-tahaqquqi fi maqami by ascertainment in the station of
'1-imani . . . faith . . . [certainty in faith
is for the heart]
561 li 'n-nafsi minha To the soul from them
bi 4t-takhalluqi fi maqami by character-acquirement in the
'1-ihsani . . . station of beneficence . . .[spiritual
edification is for the soul by
beneficence]
563 li M-janťi . . . To union of all . . .
min mabda ka'annaka from the beginning of "As if you"
wa 'ntiha fa 'in lam to the end of "If you do not" . . .
takun . . . [allusion to a Tradition in which
the Prophet said, "Beneficence
[ ihsan ] consists in worshipping

God as if you see H im, for if you do
not see Him, He sees you."]
565 marji'uha Their resort
fi 'alami i-shahadati . . . in the visible world is . . .
567 matli'uha Their rising place
fi 'alami '1-ghaybi . . . in the invisible world is . . .
569 mawdi'uha Their locus
fi 'alami '1-malakuti . . . in the world of Dominion [i.e., the
Attributes of God] is . . .
571 mawqi'uha Their alighting place
fi 'alami '1-jabaruti . . . in the world of Omnipotence [i.e.,
the Essence of God] is . . .
573 manba'uha Their fountainhead
bi '1-faydi of overflowing grace
fi kulli 'alamin . . . in every world is . . .
As the structure begins to build up a montage of semantic effects, one be-

gins to sense that the patterning of ideas and of words leads to a construc-
tion of a harmonious whole. Artistic symmetry and balance begin to express
spiritual harmony and order. A Sufi vision of the world emerges. Based on
Islamic tenets, it expresses a mystic view of God and the universe in which
art and thought blend to create impressions of unity and infinity as they
comprehend physical plurality and phenomenal multiplicity within an
eternity of harmony and order that evoke no other art as strongly as they do
arabesque. It may be said indeed that verbal arabesque has been used here to
describe mystical union: style and meaning have coalesced.
IV
I use the word arabesque advisedly. I do not, however, intend to limit the
effect of this particular poetic structure of Ibn al-Farid's to the aesthetic one
as Arberry did when using the term in reference to his poetry.34 Arabesque is
beautiful, but it is also meaningful. It is decorative, but at the same time it is
functional. The beauty of its abstract form is symbolic of the Islamic view of
God and the universe. In fact, it may be said that it is a visual expression of
the internal experience of it, an exteriorization of the inner state of contem-
plation of God and the universe.
34. Arberry, The Poem of the Wa'' p. 6.
Ernst Kiihnel, one of the schol

extensively, emphasizes its con
Doubtless, it was foremost the arti

view to plunge into linear speculati
from memory of what he had seen
sense to be the natural laws into unreal forms.35
Kiihnel recognizes that in arabesque there is "delight in ornamental medita-

tion and in esthetic asceticism" but he stresses that there is in it also an
ambition to go "well beyond a mere playful urge to invent ever new varia-
tions of a basic form and to adapt them to all possible decorative neces-
sities."36
While Kiihnel limits arabesque to the art which the Arabs call tawriq
(foliation) based on variations of design in unreal stylized leafy stems, other
scholars include in it geometric interlaced designs also. The leaves and stems
are not intended for their own real forms in Islamic art; they are reworked in
tawriq into unreal, stylized forms because form is held to be ephemeral and
transitory whereas stylized form, like the natural law sustaining reality, is
more durable since it is abstract. As linear movement leading to interlace-
ment can represent the natural laws of the universe abstractly without any
phenomenal form, geometric arabesque has been highly developed by the
Muslim artist.
Titus Burckhardt, who has studied Islamic art with deep sensitivity to its
meaning, says:
For a Muslim artist . . . geometrical interlacement doubtless represents the

most intellectually satisfying form, for it is an extremely direct expression of
the idea of the Divine Unity underlying the inexhaustible variety of the world.
True, Divine Unity as such is beyond all representation, because its nature,
which is total, lets nothing remain outside itself, it is "without a second."
Nevertheless, it is through harmony that it is reflected in the world, harmony
being nothing other than "unity in multiplicity" ( al-wahdah fi 'l-kathrah), the
same as "multiplicity in unity" ( al-kathrah fi 'l-wahdah). Interlacement ex-
presses the one aspect and the other. But it is in yet another respect that it
recalls the unity underlying things, namely, that it is generally constituted from
35. Ernst Kiihnel, The Arabesque: Meaning and Transformation of an Ornament ,

trans. Richard Ettinghausen (Graz, Austria, 1977), pp. 6-7. See also Ernst Kühnel's
article "Arabesque" in the Encyclopaedia of Islam , New Edition (Leiden, 1957), pp.
558-61.
36. Kiihnel, The Arabesque , p. 6.
a single element, a single rope or a single l

upon itself.37
Arabesque played a major role in Islamic a

onwards so that by Ibn al-Farid's time (576
strong and flourishing in all parts of the M
Ibn al-Farid was aware of or influenced by
tual subtleties of arabesque, although th
What I suggest is that arabesque and Ibn
sions of a mystical Islamic world view w
rhythm and repetition, create a definite s
of cosmic harmony in which unity and
one eternal reality.
Ibn al-Farid's repetition of forms in sub
beautiful order is no more "highly man
repetition of vegetal or geometric form
impressions of the endless forms of pheno
patterns of which establish a sense of cont
of order and harmony. Like the visual r
the movement of the eye across the repeat
metre intensified by verbal homologies of
logical, and syntactic levels contributes to
the poem whose message is that of order a
arabesque, therefore, is not mere embellish
every component of which contributes
To be sure, not all parts of Ibn al-Fa
intensity of patterning, nor does the re
style of this passage must, therefore, be
of intentional special effects as the ode
The other parts of the ode as well as
verbal patterns of one sort or another, b
the boundaries of one line as a unit for suc
devices must be studied within the context
features of the poet's style, it must be b
treated in all Ibn al-Farid's poetry is th
poem, the "Khamriyya"38 rhyming in M
nowhere better shown than in his "a
37. Titus Burckhardt, Art of Islam : Lang

Islam Festival Publishing Co., 1976), p. 6
Bakhtiar, The Sense of Unity : The Sufi Tra
Foreword by Seyyed H ossein Nasr (Chicago
38. For the text of this poem, see Tawfiq,
Suluk," his love theme relates t

mostly man's love for God. For
Being in which is dissolved the ap
yearning of the Many to be unite
One to be known by the Many, an
Unity of Being or Unity of Wi
therefore, not improbable that
parts of his "al-Ta'iyya al-Kubra
do with his main theme as was
English translations of it, see Nich

Arberry, The Mystical Poems of I
44 'Khamriyyah* (The Wine Song)
School of Oriental Studies (Univer
translation of it, see E. Dermengh
poème mystique de ' Omar ibn al
39. In his book Ibn al-Farid wa'l-H
tafa Hilmi tried diligently to pro
Witnessing (Wahdat a I- Shu hud) an
which was considered to be heretic
show how Unity of Witnessing can
thetwo doctrines are but different
angles. Hilmi's book was reprinted
and did not benefit from the scholar
after its first printing.

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Verbal Arabesque and Mystical Union: A Study of Ibn al-Farid's "Al-Ta'iyya al-Kubra"

Author(s): Issa J. Boullata

Issa J. Boullata is Professor of Arabic Literature and Language, Institute of

This is a contribution to a forthcoming Festschrift honoring Dr. Ihsan Abbas on

152 ASQ Volume 3 Number 2

Al-Qashani (d. 730/ 1330), 2 on

The obligation to speak about divi

Al-Qaysari (d. 751 / 1350), 4 anot

He composed the ode of "The Str

2. His name published on the title

Ibn Hajar al-4Asqalani (d. 852/1449), on

6. Ibn Haiar al-'Asaalani. Lisan al- M izan 4:317-19.

If his verse abounds in fantastic co

Here, perhaps for the first time,

1 am not inclined to doubt the stat

The Lebanese scholar Anis al-M

13. R. A. Nicholson, Studies in Islamic Mysticism iCamhriHoe IQ9H n 1A7

ally reappearing in new dress. . . . The poet has

Nicholson is so engrossed in showing how th

The aesthetic effect created by this sharp contra

This brilliant comparison of the effect of the p

There are passages in which he seems to write

While this statement refers only to a few p

17. Nicholson, Studies in Islamic Mysticism , p. 1

Without its arabesque tracery, Al

This must not be taken as a defense of ornament in poetic style. It should

literary text that has definite and necessar

religiously supported the trends to

the reader a ready- familiarity with a wid

25. Arberrv, The Poem of the Wa'' pp. 5-6.

He then gives an idea of the intricate verbal patterns of the passage by

It may be true that meaning in certain pa

of Oneness. This apparently sim

550 shawadi . . . hawadi ... - bawadi . . . ghawadi . . .

549 fa-tasrifuha min hafizi 4l-4ahdi awwalan - bi-nafsin . . .

558 4aqa4iq . . . daqa'iq ... - haqa'iq . . . raqa4iq . . .

557 fa-li-4llabsi minha bi-4tta4alluqi fi maqa - mi 4l-islami 4an . . .

Part 3 shows the following sequences

566 fusul . . . wusul ... - husul . . . usui . . .

565 fa-marji'uha . . . fi 'alami 'sh-shaha - dati . . . ma . . .

Grammatically, the syntax has been made to highlight the morpholog

564 . . . infi'alatin ... - ... ittisalatin . . .

3, each line begins with a noun in t

449 tasrifuha Control of them [the Attributes] is

[ ihsan ] consists in worshipping

As the structure begins to build up a montage of semantic effects, one be-

34. Arberry, The Poem of the Wa'' p. 6.

Ernst Kiihnel, one of the schol

Doubtless, it was foremost the arti

Kiihnel recognizes that in arabesque there is "delight in ornamental medita-

For a Muslim artist . . . geometrical interlacement doubtless represents the

35. Ernst Kiihnel, The Arabesque: Meaning and Transformation of an Ornament ,

a single element, a single rope or a single l

Arabesque played a major role in Islamic a

37. Titus Burckhardt, Art of Islam : Lang

Suluk," his love theme relates t

English translations of it, see Nich

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1981 Boullata VerbalArabesqueandMysticalUnion Ta'IyyatIbnalFarid

1981 Boullata VerbalArabesqueandMysticalUnion Ta'IyyatIbnalFarid