The Sufi Path of Love - The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi (by W. C. Chittick)

International Society for Iranian Studies

The Sufi Path of Love. The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi by William A. Chittick Review by: Annemarie Schimmel Iranian Studies, Vol. 17, No. 2/3 (Spring - Summer, 1984), pp. 324-328 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of International Society for Iranian Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4310454 . Accessed: 13/06/2014 01:47 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

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The Sufi

Path

of

Love.

Teachings

The Spiritual

Albany: By William A. Chittick. 433 pp. 1983. York Press,

State

University

of

Rumi.

of New

AnnemarieSchimmel During the last several years, William Chittick studies about later a number of excellent published ments in Sufism, proving himself to be an excellent preter of that area of Sufism which developed under of IbncArabi and his commentator $adruddin influence Maulana Riimils contemporary and neighbor.

has developinterthe Qtinawl,

work, Rumi's poetical There are many ways to interpret didactic the weave to and lines, 60,000 more than with its of the lyricism verses of the Mathnavi, the high-soaring into an Dlv&n-i Shams and the prose pieces of FThi m3 flhi which show Maulana to forget the letters organic whole--not Most of friends and admirers. preceptor as the practical the commentators in the Islamic world who have interpreted Mathnav;, "The Qur'an in the Persian tongue," as Jfmi called it, were convinced that Rumi's work was nothing but a poof wa4dat alof Ibn cArabils doctrine etical expression and it was MuhammadIqbal, the Indo-Muslim poetwujud, the dynamism of rediscovered who recently philosopher, Rumi's verse more Besides explaining Maulana's teaching. Rumi one can see predominantly or less "theosophically," poet who, with a unique power of transformaas an ecstatic and worldly transparent is able to make everything tion, Or else, truth. use it as a symbol for the transcendent the enthusiastic singer and one can see in him primarily of mystical dance, as do most of his modern inspiration interpretation However, this latter admirers in the West. and translations relies upon more or less literal usually leaves out important aspects of Rumils thought; therefore barely any of its proponents takes the trouble of going texts and reading and rereading back to the original are Maulanals entire work. Thus, many misunderstandings to be removed. still

of Near Eastern Annemarie Schimmel is Professor at Harvard University. and Civilizations

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Languages

to gives a new direction It is here that Chittick His study is one of the few works Maulanals admirers. the example of R. A. Nicholson and A. J. which, following Arberry, takes the whole corpus of Rumi's poetry and prose We fully agree with him as the basis for interpretation. that Maulanals verses are, in a mysterious way, interreof any one of Rumi's "A thorough understanding lated: of all of some degree of understanding teachings entails Even by studying a few poems one can reach them" (p. 10). of Rumi's thought, provided one a deeper understanding knows all shades of meaning in the verse and is aware of Once one has diskey words. the poet's use of certain of Maulana's thought principles covered the main structural and knows at which point in life he wrote the verse in one can deduce numerous relations and everything question, falls in place. We are also happy to agree with the author that one and not the hundreds of learned has to read Rumi himself, commentaries written about the Mathnavi over the centuries, in order to really understand all dimensions of his work. the thought content of his work, Maulana's For, besides layers that so many different language contains poetical is needed before one can apprecimuch more investigation his That holds true for his vocabulary, ate it in full. elaborate use of use of meters, and his surprisingly translates Chittick and alliteration. devices rhetorical from Nicholson's Rumi's verse into prose, often departing is less heavy than His translation and Arberry's versions. reading. Nicholson's and on the whole makes for pleasant of his translations at the are explained The principles notes explanatory beginning of the book, and he offers versions. with earlier whenever he disagrees significantly to the book is very introduction The historical brief. (The fact that Shamsuddin was indeed assassinated of his tomb beneath the has been proven by the discovery The main Maqam-Shams in Kony, close to Rumi's house.) of three chapters which corpart of the work consists knowledge, respond to the three dimensions of Sufism, i.e., realization. works, and spiritual Chittick begins with "Sufi Theory" (pp. 17-98) and deals here with themes like "God and the World" and with importance is given tco the discussion special anthropology;

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SPRING-SUMMER 1984

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It seems to me that Heart, and Intellect." of "Spirit, in this overstressed is slightly the role of intellect himchapter (as in the whole book) even though Chittick (represented self shows at some later point that intellect a guide, or a watchman) has no place in as a policeman, This thought appears repeatedly the sanctuary of Love. to the in Maulana's poems and has no doubt contributed among those especially enthusiasm his poetry has inspired, in the long and strenuous path that who are not interested to Love, but see everywhere nothing but Love leads finally as the orIt goes without saying that intellect, itself. up necessary is absolutely faculties, ganizer of spiritual translate rather I would Personally, point. to a certain the word Caql in this- context as "reason" because the word connotation. bears a negative "intellect"'often The second part is devoted to "Praxis" and begins toward "those who of Rumi's attitude with an analysis about the He then leads us to Rumi's teachings doubt." of "the discipline interprets prophets and the saints, Divine and human of striving the cooperation the Path," and is right in emphasizing that, Chittick Grace (pp. 109-170). books are of no according to Maulana and many other Sufis, path, and he shows that this is the avail on the difficult introducreason why Rumi himself never wrote a theoretical people, some by blamed was (For this he tion to Sufism. as the Mathnavi relates'!) part, "Attainment to and most extensive The third, It God," comprises almost half of the book (pp. 173-350). which finally of the Self," begins with the "extinction Maulana leads man to the state when he can say Ana'1-4aqq. as he of this expression, has often spoken of the meaning Oh me, "Kill Uqtulunij, poem famous s used Hallaj' also has of his teachings: as a cornerstone friends," my trustworthy it seemed to him to embody the secret of growing through however, that I am not I must confess, self-sacrifice. as "I am is simply translated too happy when Ana'1l-haqq is "I meaning its original that God," without explaining for nonA small explanation am the Absolute Truth." chapter (In the following would be welcome. specialists of definition on "Love" one could also point to Hallaj's God as "dynamic Love.")

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The third part contains numerous themes of mystical love, such as "Separation and Union," but there is also a fine chapter on Imagination and Thought in-which the author deals with the concept of khayal. It is difficult to prove to what extent Rumi knew and used the concept of the calam al-Mithal, but I tend to agree with Chittick that Maulana was well acquainted with the different currents and theories of Sufism of his time. Whether or not he incorporated them into his own poetry is a different question. Other chapters in part three deal with the "Garden in Spring," a favorite theme of Maulana; then follows "The heart-ravishing Beloved," "Wine and Intoxication" (which includes the mystical "The beloved of the Beloved." dance), and finally I was particularly conhappy to see that Chittick siders the grand scene of Zulaikha, for whom everything she does or sees is related, knowingly or unknowingly, to the beloved Yusuf, as "a key passage for Rumi's whole poetical world" (p. 236). In this very late passage of the Mathnavi, the monomania of the lover is described so superbly that I cannot think of any more beautiful example from Islamic mystical poetry: here we deal not with wabdat al-wujUd in the technical sense, but with the absolute of the lover on his beloved, concentration which makes him or her forget that there exists anything besides the Beloved. On the other hand, I would be a little more doubtful about the meaning attributed to shahada: it seems to me somewhat too farfetched that the words of the profession of faith can mean "Whatever exists is God." Even though this interpretation is possible in later Sufism, the nonspecialist the formulation. may misunderstand Chittick's book contains some useful diagrams of some divine names and contrasting and numerous pairs of elements, carefully prepared indices make it easy to find any quoted verse easily. The cover bears the calligraphy of the divine name Al-Waduid, "The Loving" (which, however, is very rarely used by Rumi). This book is a treasure house for all those who are in Maulana, and it will prove to his enthusiinterested astic followers that his high-soaring thoughts grow out of a pattern that has its own logic (as was already stated in his analysis by the Austrian orientalist Hammer-Purgstall

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of a Turkish commentary on the Mathnavi in 1854). The reader who is more or less acquainted with Rumi will find a clear survey of the most important material, convincingly arranged and interpreted. It is natural that in such a survey the poetical aspect of Maulana, such as his grand paradoxes and the sometimes grotesque imagery, are not dealt with, but that was not the author's specifically intention. If there is anything to be regreted it is this: the from the introductory texts are not clearly distinguished commentaries and the typography is, on the whole, not satisA different factory. arrangement of the verses would have made it easier to use and enjoy this fine book, for which to William every student and lover of Rumi will be grateful Chittick.

By Nahid Rachlin. Married to a Stranger. $12.95 cloth. E. P. Dutton, Inc., 1983.

New York:

Jerome W. Clinton

years in the life This is the story of two crucial It begins with of a young Iranian woman, Minou Hakimi. gradua recent university her marriage to Javad Partovi, in her high ate who is a temporary teacher of literature and divorce from him. and ends with her separation school, home in In between she moves with Javad from her parental Ahvaz to Abadan, where he has a permanent job in one of the high schools. The novel appears to be set in the period just bebut the political fore and during the Iranian Revolution, into the background of the times is poorly integrated Cinema is Rex the at fire terrible the is, That story.

Professor Jerome W. Clinton is Associate Studies at Princeton University.

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STUDIES

of Near Eastern

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