Sufi Poetry

Hey everyone, I've been wondering how well known this form of poetry is, and so I figured I'd start a thread about it.

I really don't know much about Sufi poetry myself, except a bit of the history that I learned in a half hour class that I attended at a medieval reinactment festival. It really interested me, but the class didn't teach how to write it or anything, the lady just read a few poems and talked about where it originated.

So, what do any of you know on the subject?

-Tolyk

It takes some getting used to. A lot of it is deliberately esoteric. Sufis were not always the most popular people to their governments; they had to avoid direct discussion of what they were up to, or they'd be handing their prospective prosecutor the evidence to have them killed, when the movement was at its most threatened.

Careful and annotated translations are available, and I'd say, start with Oxford and perhaps the Penguin books. Your course probably clued you to the mysticism which lies at the root of it.

Dervishes are fascinating, not least because of their facility for conspiracy and cooperation in secret toward hidden goals. Iran, Iraq, and Turkey are the places to encounter them easiest, but there are a few problems right now with travel in Iran or Iraq, and the government of Turkey is secularist. Tariqahs operate "underground" there.

Members recognize each other by the shape of their moustache, the gesture of a hand, the passing of a coded phrase. But they pool their resources and the organizations control a lot of money and have members, undeclared ones, usually, in business circles and government ones. They publish, run schools, support their young men and women in the cities. A regular secret society, actually numerous secret societies, with a history nearly nine hundred years old now.

cantdog

Yeah, she mainly discussed the mysticism and the different aspects within the poetry. How they always wrote about love, but it was either about spiritual love or physical love. That is the reason I brought it up really, because the physical love was just like writing erotic poetry.

Thanks for all of the information though Cantdog.

Have you done any searches on the subject, sounds interesting so far.

Oh, yes I've done quite a few. But mostly I just pull up other amature sufi writers.

tolyk said:

Oh, yes I've done quite a few. But mostly I just pull up other amature sufi writers.

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Well as you find out more, share with the group.

Probably the best way is to find an organization in your city. They will guide you to the best books. To find an organization , try alternative newspapers.

They are very welcoming to all races and the ones over here deal quite a bit on the new age, mystic side. The love they are talking about is both emotional, intellectual and physical but with emphasis on the spiritual, becoming transcendant.

I am not a Sufi, myself but I've known a couple.