The Metaphysics of Sufism and Concomitant Philosophies: A Study of Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet
Subject Areas : Mytho
1 - Guest Lecturer of English at Milli AL-Ameen College (for Girls) and at Indira Gandhi National Open University
Keywords: mysticism, enlightenment, annihilation, Renunciation, Infinite, Gnostic faith,
Abstract :
Sufism as a religious and socio-cultural movement in India and the Middle-East has contributed a whole body of literature for posterity to unravel its mystic and devotional significance. It has also opened up vibrant debates on the quality and true essence of worship to God. While Sufism has been explored in this paper with references to some seminal works of various Sufi saints and poets; the major thrust area of this study deals with an interpretation of The Prophet, a sustained and highly artistic work of devotional literature by the Lebanese American poet and writer, Khalil Gibran. Gibran’s work merits discussion not only because of its inherent philosophy but also due to its combination of a varied aesthetic perception of life, combined with a purely ethical stance; the most important aspect of the work being, how the writer manages to discuss thoughts of the divine through a purely secular framework of the text. This study attempts to explain and analyze the text of The Prophet keeping in mind such predilections and resonances.
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References/ Works Cited
1. Sources of Indian Tradition. From the Beginning to 1800. Vol I. II Edition. Embree, Ainslie. T. (Ed. & Revised) N.Y.: Columbia University Press, 1958. P.448.
2. Mansur Al-Hallaj (c. 858 – March 26, 922) (Hijri c. 244 AH – 309 AH) was a Persian mystic and a revolutionary writer who was also a famous Sufi saint and writer of poems, he was accused of heresy and was executed at the orders of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Muqtadir after a long, drawn-out investigation. Al-Hallaj was born in Fars province of Persia to a cotton-carder (Hallaj means "cotton-carder" in Arabic). His grandfather was a Zoroastrian and his father lived a simple life, and this form of lifestyle greatly interested the young Al-Hallaj. At a very young age he memorized the Holy Qur'an and would often retire into solitude or join other mystics in their study or in their debates.
3. Ibn Arabi was a devout monist who propounded his ideas of Wahdatul Wajud (The Unity of Existence) which means that all things pre-exist in the knowledge of God, from Whom things emanate and to Whom they ultimately return. There can be no creation without the knowledge of God (ex-nihilo). What is revealed to us in its outward aspect is actually an inward aspect of God. While every phenomenon reveals some attribute of reality, man is the microcosm in which all the divine attributes rests in unison, and in man alone is God’s presence felt to the greatest degree. This belief along with elements derived from Gnosticism, Neo-Platonism, Christianity and other sources, occupies the central scheme of things in Ibn Arabi’s philosophic rationale.
4. Gibran, Khalil. Complete Works of Khalil Gibran. Delhi: K.R.J. Book International, 2006. P.11.
5. Sources of Indian Tradition. From the Beginning to 1800. Vol I. II Edition. Embree, Ainslie. T. (Ed & Revised) N.Y.: Columbis University Press, 1958. P.456.
6. Gibran, Khalil. Complete Works of Khalil Gibran. Delhi: K.R.J. Book International, 2006. P.16.
7. Rumi, Jalal-ud-Din Mohammad. The Masnavi. R.A. Nicholson (Ed) London: Gibb Memorial Series, 1937.
8. Gibran, Khalil. Complete Works of Khalil Gibran. Delhi: K.R.J. Book International, 2006. P.23.
9. Hujwari, Ali. Al-Ibn-Uthman, Al-Jallabi Al- Hujwari Uthman, Kashaf Al-Mahjub, (Translated by R.A.Nicholson) London: (E.J.W.) Gibb Memorial Series, 1911. P.19.
10. Gibran, Khalil. Complete Works of Khalil Gibran. Delhi: K.R.J. Book International, 2006. P.29.
11. Complete Works of Khalil Gibran. P.50.
12. Complete Works of Khalil Gibran. P.53.
13. Complete Works of Khalil Gibran. P.48-49.
14. Complete Works of Khalil Gibran.P.46.
15. Complete Works of Khalil Gibran.P.73.
16. Ibrahim ibn Adham was one of the most prominent of the early ascetic Sufi saints, who miraculously converted to a Sufi mystic from a princely lifestyle (being the King of Balkh) in order to choose a life of asceticism and piety. The story of his life closely resembles that of Gautam Buddha. Abu Nu’aym tells that for Adham meditation in stillness along with asceticism was all and everything. Rumi extensively described the legend of Ibrahim in his Masnavi. The most famous of Ibrahim's students was Shaqiq al-Balkhi (d. 810)
17. Rabia Basri (713-717 C.) was a female Muslim saint and Sufi mystic, she was the fourth daughter of a very poor family. Rabia was a slave but on being released by her master went into the desert and lost herself in prayers and became an ascetic. Her murshid was Hazrat Hassan Basri. Rabia introduced the concept of Divine Love by which she meant that God should be loved for God's own sake as Master of the universe since nothing else mattered but God. She died in Jerusalem in 185 AH.
18. Bijli, S.M. Mysticism. IAD Religio-Philosophy (Original) Series No. 32. New Delhi: Idarah-i-Adabiyat-i-Delhi, 1999. P.22.
19. Bijli, S.M. Musticism. P.22.
20. Complete Works of Khalil Gibran.P.63.
21. The Naqshbandi order is the only Sufi order that claims its lineage (silsilah) to the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, through Abu Bakr, the first caliph and Muhammad's companion. This lineage also indirectly connects to Ali, Prophet Muhammad's cousin, son-in-law and the Fourth Caliph, via Jafar as-Sadiq. In contrast, most other Sufi orders (turuq) trace their lineage through Ali. Abu Ya'qub Yusuf al-Hamadani and Abd al-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani, were regarded as the organizers of the practices of this order and they were also responsible for placing stress upon the purely mental dhikr. The order was later associated with Muhammad Baha ad-din an-Naqshabandi, hence the name of the order.
22. Fana (Fana) is the Sufi term for self "dissolution" or "annihilation".It means dissolving the ego, the self, while remaining physically alive. Persons having entered this enlightened state obtain awareness of the intrinsic unity (Tawhid) between Allah and all that exists in the physical world, including the individual's mind. This concept is also related to Baqaa, or subsistence, which is the state of pure consciousness under God’s will and nothing else.
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