06.10.08
Rumi, sufism, poets, decoys, and how I outsmarted sufi hyenas
The last post reminds of the previous series, when Sillykitty was still around, about finding a box of old sonnets and, sonnets. The piece about ‘Unrequited love, and stray cats’, must have scared SK away. I got interrupted in my train of thought, and the question of my sonnets was merely the wind up for a tale, hardly able to be told.
Actually I lucked out.
I was ruminating about writing my memoirs, with an aside about how I outsmarted the sufis as I passed through that terrain. See, being a poet was only a decoy, and they fell for it, like a baited trap.
Rumi and sufi poets. Give me a break. Sentimentality from many centuries ago. Sufism in its grotestque decline left the occult phonies wondering how they could manage it, putting hapless poets at risk, and the hyenas attempted some high culture trying to imitate what they didn’t understand.
That happened to me, but I fooled them.
That’s one way to say alibaba, and enter the world of sufi thieves.
Poets beware. You’ll have to fill in the blanks here. I’m done.
Don’t fall for sufi propaganda that starts with the oulala on Rumi. I happened a long time ago, and it isn’t a spiritual path.
AK said,
June 14, 2008 at 9:36 am
Poets beware is right.
Read the biographies of British poet Robert Graves and survey the descriptions from various viewpoints about his entanglement with Idries Shah. The two volume biography of Graves written by his nephew Perceval gives very detailed information as Perceval had access to family letters.
For another article and a number of comments with suggestions for yet more reading, go here:
http://androidsinlove.com/site/?p=690
Regarding Nasr, he is influenced by the ideology of traditionalism, through which many have gone on to involve themselves in Sufi studies. Mark Sedwick’s survey of Traditionalism, ‘Against The Modern World’ is very informative.
What is of interest is that though some scholarly Sufis are honorably forthright about their commitments to Traditionalist ideology, others are not. And this is something all prospective students of Sufi studies should keep in mind, because Traditionalism is an ideology that introduces important biases into someone’s thought and work. Readers and students deserve to know whether a scholar is biased so that they can take that into account when studying his or her work.
AK said,
June 14, 2008 at 9:57 am
Note: there is also nothing unique about being a Sayyid (descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, peace be to him).
V.S. Naipaul, in his book Beyond Belief, interviewed a man living in Pakistan in the early 1990s. The man told Naipaul this:
‘Salman, speaking of this neurosis (in which countries converted by the Arabs to Islam feel obligated to deny and even denigrate the existence and vitality of their pre-Islamic history, customs, culture, substituting an imposed Arabic/Islamic identity) said,
“Islam does not show on my face. We have nearly all, subcontinental Muslims, invented Arab ancestors for ourselves.
“Most of us are sayeds, descendents of Muhammed, through his daughter Fatima, and cousin and son-in-law Ali.
“There are others, like my family–who have invented a man named Salim-al-Rai. And yet others who have invented a man called Qutub Shah. Everyone has got an ancestor who came from Arabia or Central Asia.’ (Naipaul, Beyond Belief, p 307.)
For descriptions of the Sayyid clans and Sufism as practiced in the 1850s in Sindh, in what is now Pakistan, read Francis R Burton’s book, based on first hand observations, Sindh and the Races That Inhabit the Valley of the Indus.
Shah could easily have obtained and read Burton’s book. It and other works published in English and European langages, give pretty detailed descriptions of the initiations and spiritual practices of Sufis in that region, and the many persons able to claim Sayyid descent. Burton also describes
how Pirs (spiritual leaders of Sufi communities) wielded vast political influence, often enjoyed great wealth, and could, if they chose do anything and have ready excuses made for them by eager devotees. Burton himself learned to travel as a Sufi and this enabled him a wide latitude of behavior–and enabled him to visit Medina and Mecca in disguise–his account makes fascinating reading.
EW Lane in his 1836 book, Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, also gives highly detailed information about games, customs and yes, magical tricks and superstitions practiced by conjurers in Egypt at that time. Lane’s book with its lovely engravings (a boon for anyone interested in clothing and interior design) is, like Burton’s books, easy to obtain and might well have been accessible to Shah during his years when he worked at a privately owned museum of magic in Great Britain in the years before he went public as a Sufi.
Burton gave detailed descriptions in his book about Sindh of various practices of magic and divination, and Lane, author of an 1840s book entitled A De
AK said,
June 15, 2008 at 9:41 am
Some quotes from Richard F. Burton concerning the number of Sayyid families in Sindh, which shows that the title in and of itself though it conferred dignity, was by no means rare–or proof of exalted spiritual attainment.
“The two great families of Sayyids, viz. Hasani and Hosayni, are both numerous in Sindh. Individuals belonging to the latter class have the title of Pir, as in Pir Bhawan Shah. The Hosayni race is termed Sayyid, as in Sayyid Jendal Shah. As usual in our province, these two large bodies are subdivided into clans, called after their place of residence, as Bokhari, Mathari, Shirazi, Lakhiri, Sakrulai, &c. ….
‘In Sindh, a Sayyid seldon will allow his daughter to marry a Moslem who is not of the same lineage. Formerly no man, however rich or respectable would have dared address a maiden of the sacred stock…the consequence was that many of the women were left unmarried and old maids are not common in the East. The custom is now disappearing.
‘Another peculiarity in Sindh is that if either of the parents be a Sayyid, all the children must be called Sayyids…
(RF Burton, Sindh and the Races that Inhabit the Valley of the Indus, pp. 232, Chapter 9, originally published in 1851, republished in 1998.)
So, over time, the number of persons calling themselves Sayyid would increase. The title would be one of dignity but by no means proof of unique status nor would being a Sayyid, be in and of itself, proof of supreme spiritual attainment.
sillykitty said,
June 15, 2008 at 10:37 pm
what a lot of self-important jerks men are. a real plus to having survived psychic rape and dismemberment should at very least be the ability to laugh at ones stupid self and see the absurdity in all this academic posturing and bru-ha-ha. agendas and rivalries and big words, oh my. spare me. do you live in physical bodies or are you just out floating around in the ether somewhere? maybe god really is a woman. if so you can well imagine she is PISSED. experience the birth scene in the movie ‘knocked up’ (near the very end) with lovely katherine heigel if you would like an attractive visual on this. funny too.
meanwhile. hi nemo. thanks for saying hi. keep fighting the good fight however you conceive it to be. i am doing the same. god(dess) help us!!!!! love, sk
AK said,
June 16, 2008 at 9:40 am
What SK describes as psychic rape has been discussed here and is termed projective assault. The article by psychoanalyst Stanley Rosenman is highly valuable and worth looking for.
http://www.drirene.com/catbox/index.php?showtopic=38323