From Arab poet to Muslim saint : Ibn al-Fāriḍ, his verse, and his shrine

181 Pages·2001·7.706 MB·English

by  Th. Emil Homerin

Arab Poet
Muslim Saint
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Arab Poet
,6 Muslim Saint
Ibn al-Farid,
His Verse, and His Shrine
Th. Emil Homerin
The American University in Cairo Press
Cairo • New "fork
Perhaps your phantom
will visit my bed
in the darkness of dreams.
Copyright © 2001 by
The American University in Cairo Press
113 Sharia Kasr el Aini, Cairo, Egypt
420 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10018
www.aucpress.com
First published in hardback in 1994 by the University of South Carolina Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy-
ing, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Dar el Kutub No. 7137/01
ISBN 977 424 668 3
Printed in Egypt
Contents
Preface to the Paperback Edition V11
Preface xiii
Time, Place, and Pronunciation xi
Introduction 1
Chapter 1. Metamorphosis 15
Chapter 2. Sanctification 33
Chapter 3. Controversy 55
Chapter 4. Disjunction 76
Epilogue 93
Notes 99
Glossary 135
Select Bibliography 143
Index 157
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Preface to the Paperback Edition
I am grateful to the American University in Cairo Press for publishing
this second edition of From Arab Poet to Muslim Saint. Originally
published in 1994, the first edition has been sold out for several years,
and so a new edition will continue to address those interested in Ibn
al-Farid and the larger issues of Islamic mysticism and Muslim saints
in Egypt. I have taken this opportunity to add a list of addenda and
corrections to the first edition, and to provide an additional bibliog-
raphy of sources, most of which were published after 1994. Finally,
in this new preface, I have continued Ibn al-Farid's story through the
year 2000, based largely on my recent research in Cairo. For this, I
would like to express my gratitude to the National Endowment for
the Humanities and the American Research Center in Egypt, and to
the members of ARCE's Cairo office, especially director Mark
Easton, and Amira Khattab and Amir Hassan. I am also indebted to
Raymond Stock for graciously introducing me to Naguib Mahfouz,
and to Ken Cuno for our spirited conversations, during which he sug-
gested I approach the AUC Press regarding a second edition of this
book. Many other friends, some old and some new, made my family
and me welcome in Egypt once again, and in particular I want to
thank Hassan 'Khalid' Ibrahim, and Umm cUmar and her family at
Ibn al-Farid's shrine. As ever in Cairo, John Swanson remains a
knowledgeable and generous friend.
At Century's End
Shaykh Gad Salim Gad was the tireless caretaker of Ibn al-Farid's
shrine for nearly twenty-five years, and his sudden death in 1984 left
the shrine and its mawlid, or 'saint's day,' in disarray. Both appeared
in jeopardy for some years, yet his family and followers carried on.
Today, a permanent caretaker, Shaykh Mustafa Hanafi, supervises
the mosque, whose interior has been refurbished and freshly painted;
viii Preface to the Paperback Edition
older trees have been replaced in the courtyard to maintain the cool
shade there. The annual mawlid is again a very lively affair and
remains under the supervision of the RifacT, Sufi order to which
Shaykh Gad belonged. His sons, Umar and Taha, now grown men
with their own families, have a prominent place in the event, as does
their mother Umm Umar.
In 2000, the mawlid took place over three days, culminating on a
Thursday with a procession of the RifacT, order and a rousing evening
of chant and song performed by Yasin al-Tuhami, perhaps the most
popular Sufi singer in Egypt today. Early in the afternoon, the proces-
sion formed at the western end of the neighborhood, on the main street
leading up to the shrine. Male members of the RifacT order gathered
round as some pierced their cheeks with needles and skewers
(dabbus). An elderly man pierced his eyelid, while the youngest
member, a ten-year old boy, had his cheeks pierced for the first time.
Shaykh Gad's eldest son, cUmar, assisted many of the participants by
first rubbing the needles and skewers with lemon, and then carefully
forcing them through the skin. Finally, he pierced his own cheeks.
Then, the pierced devotees formed a long column, with each person
holding the shoulder of the man walking before him. They were
accompanied by other Rifacis, some of whom carried flags and ban-
ners with the name of the order, as others blew whistles, played cym-
bals and tambourines, or beat drums. A rhythm arose with the chant
"Allahu-l-hayyu" ('God, the living'), and many began to dance as
they slowly moved toward the shrine. One Rifa'l Sufi appeared to be
in charge of a small, rather sluggish snake, which he draped around
the neck of the ten-year old boy and others during the procession,
including one of two teenaged girls, who had joined their father in the
march. At points along the way, the procession stopped and recited, in
unison, the Fatihah, the opening chapter of the Qur'an. They were
joined in this by the many women, children, and men who lined the
street to share in the event.
At sunset, the procession finally arrived and entered the courtyard
of Umm cUmar's residence adjacent to the shrine, where various
members of the procession respectfully greeted her. Then, the needles
and skewers were withdrawn and the sunset prayers performed in the
mosque shrine containing Ibn al-Farid's tomb. Following the prayers
and a light meal, the participants gathered together with hundreds of
supporters, to listen to Yasin al-Tuhami sing Ibn al-Farid's mystical
verse. "Urnar, Tana, and a few other RifaT Sufis formed a line on
stage behind Yasin and swayed to the rhythm of his songs. Below and
to one side of the stage, Umm "Umar and a group of women formed
Preface to the Paperback Edition ix
their own section, where they enjoyed the performance. Yasin sang
long into the night, much to the delight of his enamored audience.
Relatives of Umm 'Umar taped the festivities, and she gladly shows
the video to visitors at her home on a VCR purchased by her sons.
With their support, Umm Umar has been able to retire and devote her
full attention to her younger children, her grandchildren, and the annu-
al celebration of the saint. Once a modest event, Ibn al-Farid's mawlid
now draws hundreds of participants, along with a number of Arab tel-
evision stations and reporters. Recently, a French crew has also filmed
the mawlid for a documentary on the saint and the Sufi path, and Ibn
al-Farid, as a poet, mystic, and saint, has drawn renewed scholarly
attention as well. Though these gains are modest, to be sure, they sug-
gest that after two centuries of decline, Ibn al-Farid's saintly appeal
may once again be ascendant.
Addenda and Corrigenda
Thanks are due to Todd Lawson and Roger Allen for pointing out
several of the errors corrected below.
Pages 15-16: The identity of Ibn al-Farid's student quoted on
page 16 is Jamal al-Din Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Musa ibn Yusuf
ibn Musdi al-Azdi (598-663/1202-65), a hadith scholar, poet and
litterateur, and author of a work entitled Mujam al-shuyukh, the
probable source for this biographical notice. Originally, I had
ascribed the passage to al-Mundhiri, who composed a work under
the same title (see page 101, note 3). Later, I found a portion of Ibn
Musdi's account of Ibn al-Farid cited by Ibrahim al-Biqal in his
Tanbih al-ghabi, edited and published in Masra'al-tasawwuf by Abd
al-Rahman al-Wakll (Cairo, 1953), 138. For more on Ibn Musdi, see
"Umar al-Kahhalah, Mujam al-mu allifln (Damascus: al-Maktabah
al-cArabiyah, 1957), 12:140, and Khalil ibn Aybak al-Safadi, al-Wafi
bi-l-wafayat, edited by Sven Dedering, et al. (Wiesbaden: Franz
Steiner Verlag, 1959-), 5:254-55.
Page 16: The published edition of Ibn Musdi's account of the
poet, noted above, gives the preferred reading tasarruf ('He decided
to undertake') in place of tatarruf ('He pushed to the limits'). The lat-
ter reading may be found in All ibn Muhammad al-Fayyuml, Nathr
al-juman fi tarajim al-ayan, Cairo: Arab League Manuscript
Institute, microfilm 428 (Ta'rlkh) of ms 1746, Istanbul: Maktabat
Ahmad al-Thalith, 70b.
Pages 65-66, 74, 122, n. 80: al-Matbuli for al-Matbuli.