Origins
The origins of this work are shrouded in mythology. Most accounts of the poem's construction derive from Shayk ibn al-Farid's grandson, Ali sibt Ibn al-Farid in his biographical work Adorned Proem to the Diwan (Dibijat al-Diwan), heralding his grandfather's legacy and many of the stories surrounding it. According to Ali, Umar ibn al-Farid "would fall into deathlike trances for days, then recover and spontaneously recite verses directly inspired by God; these verses were then collected to form this long ode". In another story related by Ali, it is said that Umar received instruction from the prophet Muhammed himself, requesting that he title it as the "Poem of the Sufi Way", instead of the original title intended by Umar ibn al-Farid, "The Diaries of Hearts and the Gardens' Sweet Scents".
Read more about this topic: Sufi Way
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
“Compare the history of the novel to that of rock ‘n’ roll. Both started out a minority taste, became a mass taste, and then splintered into several subgenres. Both have been the typical cultural expressions of classes and epochs. Both started out aggressively fighting for their share of attention, novels attacking the drama, the tract, and the poem, rock attacking jazz and pop and rolling over classical music.”
—W. T. Lhamon, U.S. educator, critic. “Material Differences,” Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s, Smithsonian (1990)
“The settlement of America had its origins in the unsettlement of Europe. America came into existence when the European was already so distant from the ancient ideas and ways of his birthplace that the whole span of the Atlantic did not widen the gulf.”
—Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)
“Grown onto every inch of plate, except
Where the hinges let it move, were living things,
Barnacles, mussels, water weeds—and one
Blue bit of polished glass, glued there by time:
The origins of art.”
—Howard Moss (b. 1922)