The Translator of Desires

The Translator of Desires PDF Author: Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691212546
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
A masterpiece of Arabic love poetry in a new and complete English translation The Translator of Desires, a collection of sixty-one love poems, is the lyric masterwork of Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi (1165–1240 CE), one of the most influential writers of classical Arabic and Islamic civilization. In this authoritative volume, Michael Sells presents the first complete English translation of this work in more than a century, complete with an introduction, commentary, and a new facing-page critical text of the original Arabic. While grounded in an expert command of the Arabic, this verse translation renders the poems into a natural, contemporary English that captures the stunning beauty and power of Ibn ‘Arabi’s poems in such lines as “A veiled gazelle’s / an amazing sight, / her henna hinting, / eyelids signalling // A pasture between / breastbone and spine / Marvel, a garden / among the flames!” The introduction puts the poems in the context of the Arabic love poetry tradition, Ibn ‘Arabi’s life and times, his mystical thought, and his “romance” with Niẓām, the young woman whom he presents as the inspiration for the volume—a relationship that has long fascinated readers. Other features, following the main text, include detailed notes and commentaries on each poem, translations of Ibn ‘Arabi’s important prefaces to the poems, a discussion of the sources used for the Arabic text, and a glossary. Bringing The Translator of Desires to life for contemporary English readers as never before, this promises to be the definitive volume of these fascinating and compelling poems for years to come.

The Translator of Desires

The Translator of Desires PDF Author: Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691212546
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Get Book

Book Description
A masterpiece of Arabic love poetry in a new and complete English translation The Translator of Desires, a collection of sixty-one love poems, is the lyric masterwork of Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi (1165–1240 CE), one of the most influential writers of classical Arabic and Islamic civilization. In this authoritative volume, Michael Sells presents the first complete English translation of this work in more than a century, complete with an introduction, commentary, and a new facing-page critical text of the original Arabic. While grounded in an expert command of the Arabic, this verse translation renders the poems into a natural, contemporary English that captures the stunning beauty and power of Ibn ‘Arabi’s poems in such lines as “A veiled gazelle’s / an amazing sight, / her henna hinting, / eyelids signalling // A pasture between / breastbone and spine / Marvel, a garden / among the flames!” The introduction puts the poems in the context of the Arabic love poetry tradition, Ibn ‘Arabi’s life and times, his mystical thought, and his “romance” with Niẓām, the young woman whom he presents as the inspiration for the volume—a relationship that has long fascinated readers. Other features, following the main text, include detailed notes and commentaries on each poem, translations of Ibn ‘Arabi’s important prefaces to the poems, a discussion of the sources used for the Arabic text, and a glossary. Bringing The Translator of Desires to life for contemporary English readers as never before, this promises to be the definitive volume of these fascinating and compelling poems for years to come.

The Tarjumán Al-ashwáq

The Tarjumán Al-ashwáq PDF Author: Ibn al-ʻArabī
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Sufi poetry, Arabic
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description


On Disciplining the Soul

On Disciplining the Soul PDF Author: Ghazzālī
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
The spiritual life in Islam begins with riyadat al-nafs, the inner warfare against the ego. Distracted and polluted by worldliness, the lower self has a tendency to drag the human creature down into arrogance and vice. Only by a powerful effort of will can the sincere worshipper achieve the purity of soul which enables him to attain God's proximity. This translation of two chapters from The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din) details the sophisticated spiritual techniques adopted by classical Islam. In the first step, On Disciplining the Soul, which cites copious anecdotes from the Islamic scriptures and biographies of the saints, Ghazali explains how to acquire good character traits, and goes on to describe how the sickness of the heart may be cured. In the second part, Breaking the Two Desires, he focusses on the question of gluttony and sexual desire, concluding, in the words of the Prophet, that 'the best of all matters is the middle way'. The translator has added an introduction and notes which explore Ghazali's ability to make use of Greek as well as Islamic ethics. The work will prove of special interest to those interested in Sufi mysticism, comparative ethics, and the question of sexuality in Islam.

Stations of Desire

Stations of Desire PDF Author: Ibn al-ʻArabī
Publisher: Ibis Press
ISBN:
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Book Description
Poetry. Translation. One of the great mystics of all time, Muhyiddin Ibn al-'Arabi was a prolific author who wrote on every aspect of medieval Islamic thought. Michael Sell's STATIONS OF DESIRE contains the first translations of Ibn 'Arabi's TURJUMAN into modern poetic English. Sells, one of the most distinguished contemporary translators of classical Arabic poetry, carries into his translations the supple, resonant quality of the original Arabic. The book also includes a selection of Sell's original poems, which are modeled on the Turjuman and serve as a further commentary on the medieval odes and their extension into the present climate of poetry.

Bewildered

Bewildered PDF Author: Ibn al-ʻArabī
Publisher: Post-Apollo Press / Litmus Press
ISBN: 9781933959375
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Poetry. Middle Eastern Studies. Translated from the Arabic by Michael Sells. BEWILDERED contains new translations of Ibn al-'Arab? Tarjuman poems in modern poetic English. The translator of a highly praised volume of pre-Islamic qasidas, Desert Tracings, and STATIONS OF DESIRE, the first renderings of Ibn al-'Arab? Tarjuman, Michael A. Sells carries into his translations the supple, resonant quality of the original Arabic, so that the poems come to life in English. Expert yet unaffected, [Michael Sell's translations in BEWLIDERED] capture the original Arabic even as they introduce a figure as eminent as Rumi who is little-known in the West. Furthermore, by revisiting past translations, Sells's work confirms that literature is best rendered not in a single English version, but many.--Kevin Blankinship

The Purity of Desire

The Purity of Desire PDF Author: Daniel Ladinsky
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143121618
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 146

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Book Description
The first full-length volume of Rumi’s cherished verse, from bestselling poet Daniel Ladinsky Renowned for his poignant renderings of mystical texts, here Daniel Ladinsky captures the beauty, intimacy, and musicality of one of Islam’s most beloved poets and spiritual thinkers. With learned insight and a delicate touch, this work explores the nuances of desire—that universal emotion—in verse inspired by Rumi’s love and admiration for his companion and spiritual teacher, Shams-e Tabriz. These poems thoughtfully capture the compelling wisdom of one of Islam’s most revered artistic and religious voices and one of the most widely read poets in the English language. The Purity of Desire is an essential volume for anyone looking to feel their soul awakened.

Hallaj

Hallaj PDF Author: Husayn ibn Mansur Hallaj
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 0810137364
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
Winner of the Global Humanities Translation Prize Hallaj is the first authoritative translation of the Arabic poetry of Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj, an early Sufi mystic. Despite his execution in Baghdad in 922 and the subsequent suppression of his work, Hallaj left an enduring literary and spiritual legacy that continues to inspire readers around the world. In Hallaj, Carl W. Ernst offers a definitive collection of 117 of Hallaj’s poems expertly translated for contemporary readers interested in Middle Eastern and Sufi poetry and spirituality. Ernst’s fresh and direct translations reveal Hallaj’s wide range of themes and genres, from courtly love poems to metaphysical reflections on union with God. In a fascinating introduction, Ernst traces Hallaj’s dramatic story within classical Islamic civilization and early Arabic Sufi poetry. Setting himself apart by revealing Sufi secrets to the world, Hallaj was both celebrated and condemned for declaring: “I am the Truth.” Expressing lyrics and ideas still heard in popular songs, the works of Hallaj remain vital and fresh even a thousand years after their composition. They reveal him as a master of spiritual poetry centuries before Rumi, who regarded Hallaj as a model. This unique collection makes it possible to appreciate the poems on their own, as part of the tragic legend of Hallaj, and as a formidable legacy of Middle Eastern culture. The Global Humanities Translation Prize is awarded annually to a previously unpublished translation that strikes the delicate balance between scholarly rigor, aesthetic grace, and general readability, as judged by a rotating committee of Northwestern faculty, distinguished international scholars, writers, and public intellectuals. The Prize is organized by the Global Humanities Initiative, which is jointly supported by Northwestern University’s Buffett Institute for Global Studies and Kaplan Institute for the Humanities.

The Translator of Desires

The Translator of Desires PDF Author: Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691181349
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
"A complete facing-page translation of the Tarjuman, which consists of sixty-one poems composed between 1202 and 1215 CE and published in 1215 at the earliest. The first word of the title can refer to a translator, interpreter, or biographer, on the one hand, and to a translation, interpretation, or biography on the other"--

The Translator

The Translator PDF Author: Leila Aboulela
Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
ISBN: 1555848400
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
A New York Times Notable Book: “Aboulela’s lovely, brief story encompasses worlds of melancholy and gulfs between cultures” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). American readers were introduced to the award-winning Sudanese author Leila Aboulela with Minaret, a delicate tale of a privileged young African Muslim woman adjusting to her new life as a maid in London. Now, for the first time in North America, we step back to her extraordinarily assured debut about a widowed Muslim mother living in Aberdeen who falls in love with a Scottish secular academic. Sammar is a Sudanese widow working as an Arabic translator at a Scottish university. Since the sudden death of her husband, her young son has gone to live with family in Khartoum, leaving Sammar alone in cold, gray Aberdeen, grieving and isolated. But when she begins to translate for Rae, a Scottish Islamic scholar, the two develop a deep friendship that awakens in Sammar all the longing for life she has repressed. As Rae and Sammar fall in love, she knows they will have to address his lack of faith in all that Sammar holds sacred. An exquisitely crafted meditation on love, both human and divine, The Translator is ultimately the story of one woman’s courage to stay true to her beliefs, herself, and her newfound love. “A story of love and faith all the more moving for the restraint with which it is written.” —J. M. Coetzee

Wild Words: Four Tamil Poets

Wild Words: Four Tamil Poets PDF Author: Lakshmi Holmstrom
Publisher: Harper Perennial India
ISBN: 9789351770879
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In 2003, a group of men and women, setting themselves up as guardians of Tamil culture, objected publicly to the language of a new generation of women poets - particularly in the work of Malathi Maithri, Salma, Kutti Revathi and Sukirtharani - charging the women with obscenity and immodesty. More than a decade later, a deep divide still persists in the way readers and critics perceive women poets. Tamil women poets have been categorized as 'bad girls' and 'good girls'. The traditional values prescribed for the 'good' Tamil woman are fearfulness, propriety and modesty. Our poets have chosen, instead, the opposite virtues - fearlessness, outspokenness and a ceaseless questioning of prescribed rules. This anthology celebrates the poetry of the four poets through Lakshmi Holmstrom's English translation.