read write prompt #46: dervishes and wine odes

by Ren Powell

Oh, the mysterious, mystic Sufis! They’re sometimes called Dervishes. (I always thought of them dancing. Or whirling, really. But not all do.) While the devout Muslim shows his or her devotion to Allah by praying five times a day and leading a pure life, Sufi mystics (a branch of Shia) attempt to live their lives in a continual state of prayer. Similarly to Catholic monk orders, each Sufi order follows its own specific practices. Some take vows of celibacy and poverty, some have men and women pray side by side in the mosques, some dance and others meditate while seated and still. But, as with all Muslims, the drinking of alcohol is strictly forbidden. Poetry, on the other hand …

Many of us have read the Afghan poet Rumi’s poetry, or run across the work of the Persian, Sufi poet Hafiz. If you haven’t yet, I recommend them both. Often humorous and unexpectedly sensual, Hafiz’s poem “Buttering the Sky”* has a spiritual kinship with haiku.

I have been reading a collection of Umar Ibn al-Farid’s poems (d.1235 c.e.), which includes “Poem of the Sufi Path.” Because words in Arabic carry several meanings, the poem can also be translated into “Stringing the Strings of Poetry’s Pearls.” This long poem is something of an instruction manual for Sufi. Creating poems is a form of worship.

Even though there are only 15 authentic (extant) poems and some riddles, Umar Ibn al-Farid is considered the most accomplished of the mystic poets. It is said that he composed his poems in a state of ecstasy, writing them down immediately after. There are also stories of him tearing his clothes and running madly through the streets after hearing poems recited. Like many of the early Islamic poets, and like Sufis in general throughout history (even today), he was sometimes persecuted by the ruling elite. In part, because he wrote of Allah using a feminine pronoun. (It is interesting that his father was a lawyer representing women’s causes.)

With my limited knowledge of Sufi poetry, I was surprised when I read the first poem in the book: “The Wine Ode.” Huh? Wine? This poem appears to praise the virtues of drunkenness.

But the excerpt I linked to above (the second stanza of which is often quoted) must be put in context of the whole poem. For example, another stanza is:

In memory of the beloved
we drank a wine;
we were drunk with it
before creation of the vine*

Clearly, the wine that existed before grapes is not wine as most of us know it. Wine is the Divine Itself/Himself/Herself, as you would have it.

My challenge to myself and to you is to take an example from the Sufi poets and write about the Divine through an image we don’t usually use. I don’t mean write to worship a toaster god. Nor am I promoting polytheism. But take a look at Sufi poems on the net. Draw on your memories of places and moments you feel were sacred.

Another option for those of you who mediate or pray: meditate on your poem, pay attention to the prayer you can share with others. Write it down immediately (but don’t go running through the streets half-naked).

(And, well, if you are an atheist, you can always write a poem to support the rights of all people to worship – or not — in the way they wish.)

* Translations abound on the net (of varying quality), but I don’t want to endorse possible copyright infringements upon translators by linking to any specific poem. The stanza I quoted above is from Umar Ibn al-Farid, Sufi Verse, Saintly Life. trans. Th. Emil Homerin. Paulist Press; New York, 2001. “Buttering the Sky” can be found in Hafiz’s The Gift. trans. Daniel Ladinsky.