Arabica Volume 46 Issue 1 1999 [Doi 10.2307%2F4057250] Gerald Elmore -- Ibn Al-ʿArabī's Cinquain (Taḫmīs) on a Poem by Abū Madyan

Ibn al-ʿArabī's "Cinquain" (Taḫmīs) on a Poem by Abū MadyanAuthor(s): Gerald ElmoreSource: Arabica, T. 46, Fasc. 1 (1999), pp. 63-96Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4057250 .

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IBN AL-cARABI'S "CINQUAIN" (TA JMIS) ON A POEM BY ABU MADYAN

BY

GERALD ELMORE

Yale University

E ACH in their own way, Abui Madyan gu'ayb and Muhyi 1-Din Ibn al-cArabi may be said to be the most important exemplars of Siifism

to emerge out of al-Andalus in the sixth/12th century.' The real nature of the relationship between them has always been quite obscure, however; and it remains problematic in spite of the fact that Ibn al-cArabi refers to Abiu Madyan almost regularly throughout his voluminous writings in the most respectful terms. That the two men never met (although they lived in the same general region until around Ibn al-cArabi's thir- tieth year) is undisputed. WM'y they did not meet is the question, inas- much as it would appear that there must have been ample opportunity for the younger Siifil beginning his career in Seville to have made a visit (z4yra) to the Sayh al-s'uyiih in Bigaya (Bougie), if he had really wished to pay due homage. In these circumstances, what precisely are we to make of Ibn al-cArabi's repeated references to Abui Madyan as "our master" (s'ayu-n&)?2

As far as any objective evidence indicates, there is actually no war- rant for critical scholarship to represent Abui Madyan's influence on Ibn al-cArabi as substantively significant or even really notable. Despite his sincere deference toward the elder s'ayh's phenomenal renown in the

' Both emigrated from their doomed homeland in the 6th/ 12th century, Abui Madyan to take up residence from an early age in North Africa, and Ibn al-'Arabi eventually travelling extensively in the East before settling down in Syria. Hence, while the former's career is inextricably bound up with the history of tasawwuf in the Majrb, Ibn al-'Arabi's fame was (and could only have been) achieved in the less doctrinally provin- cial Masinq.

2 That the expression is not to be taken literally is shown in the fact that Ibn al- 'Arab! also applies it to Abui l-'Abbas Ibn al-'Arif, who died twenty-five years before he was born.

C Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 1998 Arabica, tome XLVI



64 GERALD ELMORE

Magrib and his association with many local Sfi'rs who had joined this charismatic leader's ever-widening circle, Ibn al-'Arabi, in my view, seems to have owed little to any personal teacher at all, much less to one of whom he only knew through second-hand reports.3 He was, in fact, always quite mindful of letting this note of independence be heard above the refrains of generous praise for one or another predecessor or confrere. But although there is no strand of Ibn al-'Arabi's thought that can be shown to be derived from the North African school, he does occasionally quote sayings of Abui Madyan (not always without criticism), and in the present article we will examine the unique case of an entire poem (qasfda, gazal) attributed to Abu! Madyan which has been elaborated into a longer, stylized genre (called a ta4mas) by the younger writer.

The Say4 al-Suyiu4 and the Sayh al-Akbar

The view that Abui Madyan stood to Ibn al-'Arab! as "master par excellence" even though the two never met "except in the spirit" has been ably represented in the ground-breaking studies of Claude Addas.4 In developing this position she has done a great service to our under- standing of formal Akbarian doctrine since, it cannot be gainsaid, this is the pretense cultivated in Ibn al-'Arabi's own testimony, especially in the Futfihdt al-makkcya and the Muhddarat al-abrar.5 That the impres-

3 Knowledge acquired through "published" writings I regard as first-hand, however, and here I do not doubt that Ibn al-cArabVs teachings will eventually be better under- stood in the context of their various literary and doctrinal antecedents, such as the works of (to name just a few) Aba Yazid al-Bistami, al-Hakim al-Tirmidi, 'Abd al- Oabbar al-Niffari, al-Husayn b. Mansutr al-Hallag, Abiu Hamid al-GazzJil, the Ibwan al-Saf-a' and, in the West, those of Ibn Masarra, Ibn Barragn and Ibn al-'Arif. But it is not likely that works in manuscript attributed to Abiu Madyan were current prior to Ibn al-'Arabi's departure from the Magrib in 598/1201-02.

1 See the English translation of her lengthy study, Quest for the Red Sulphur: The Life of Ibn 'Arabt (Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1993), p. 45, 60-61, 66, 89-90, 112-14. N.132 lists references to Abui Madyan in some of Ibn al-'ArabV's works (to which may be added these references to the Cairo, 1911 edition of the Futahat al- malkkya: vol. I, p. 102, 251-53, 356, 571, 590, '629, 654-55, 666; vol. II, p. 11, 22, 216, 318, 505, 683; and vol. IV, p. 498; as well as those to the Muhadarat al-abrdr given in the next note).

Muhddarat al-abrdr wa-musdmarat al-a4ydr (The Conference of the Righteous and the Converse of the Excellent) is briefly described by Osman Yahia in Histoire et clussifcation de l'oeuvre d'Ibn 'Arabt (Damascus: Institut Franvais de Damas, 1964), p. 396-97, riper- toire geniral no. 493; and, more extensively, by Addas in Quest, p. 95-96 and 100-02. Vol. I of the Muh4ddara was re-edited in 1972 by M.M. al-Ijawli (Cairo: Dar al-Kitab



IBN AL-'ARAB15S "CINQUAIN" (TAIMIS) 65

sion of Abui Madyan's role sometimes suggested by Ibn al-'Arabi's words simply does not accord with verifiable facts is, from one valid per- spective, a secondary consideration, but here we shall be concerned primarily to set the biographical record straight by way of stressing the overwhelming originality of the Sayh al-Akbar and his obvious aloof- ness to anything that the relatively simple precepts of the Bejayan say4 al-tarbya had to offer. Before turning to the chronological problem that lies at the crux of the relation between these two great Siifi masters, however, let us outline the essentials of the picture projected in Ibn al- 'Arabi's writings.

The frequency with which Abui Madyan is mentioned by Ibn al- 'Arabi is probably second only to that of his citations of Abui Yazid al-Bistami (d. 260/874), the celebrated IjurdsdnT exponent of mystical "intoxication" (sukr). Indeed, references to both of these seminal figures- the one from the East and the other from the West, each known (but in different ways!) for and by their short, pithy sayings (?ata4ht/hikam) are often to be found in proximity in Ibn al-'Arabi's writing, as if he somehow associated them in his mind.6 Thus, in the Mawaqi' al-nugum, composed in Almeria in 595/1 199,7 he described how he was informed of Abui Madyan's accession to the supreme hierarchic office of the "pole" (al-qutbDya) shortly before his death-by none other than Abui Yazid (who had himself been a qutb in his time),8 who visited him in a vision.9 In the Mawaqi' and other early works Ibn al-'Arabi referred to Abui Madyan as Abu l-N/agd, "the father of salvation" (= the Savior, al-gawt), and "the Master of masters in our region" (sayh al- iiby bi-

majribi-nd)'0-both apparent allusions to his function as the qutb-and

al-4adid), but I do not know if a second volume (projected in two parts) was ever published, so for Vol. II I have consulted the Cairo, 1906 edition (of the Matba'at al- Sa'ada). References to Abiu Madyan: I, 203sqq., 214sq., 230, 252sqq., 260sq., 300sqq., 312sq., 324sq., 379sq., 386sq., 410sq., 432sq., 468sq., 496sq.; II, -14sq., 31, 68, 92 and 17 lsqq.

6 This would certainly not preclude his recognizing them as opposites in many ways, of course-as unlike (and like) as east and west, early and late, drunkenness and sobriety.

7 That is, in the year following Abii Madyan's demise, according to the most common acceptation of his death-date (but see infra).

8 See FuU2hdt, vol. II, p. 6 (1. 31). Strictly speaking, al-Bistami had been a "deputy" (nd'ib) of the real pole (see ibid., 1. 15), and the same is to be assumed of Abul Madyan.

Mawaqi' al-nugum (Cairo: Maktabat Muhammad 'All Sabi-h, 1965), p. 140. Cf, also, for example, Futahdt, vol. II, p. 244 (1. 35), 252 (H. 12-14) and 280 (U. 23-28sq.).

10 Mawaqi', p. 89 (cf., also, p. 107-08). In the R. Ru2h al-quds ft mundsahat al-nafs, which was written in 600/1203 to a disciple of Abiu Madyan, the latter is called "the spokesman of this path (lisdn hddihi 1-tariqa) and its reviver (muOyf-hd) in the lands of the



66 GERALD ELMORE

in the Tadbfr&t a1-ildhhya The Divine Directions), which was actually written in the Andalusian home of a former close associate of Abiu Madyan, a certain 'Abd al-LUh Abiu Muhammad b. al-Ustad al-Mawruri, he is called "our Pillar" ('im&du-nd)." Clearly, Ibn al-'Arab! wished to express his solidarity with the popular adoration of the venerable saint, whose eventual martyrdom due to the heavy-handed attentions of the Almohad authorities could only have enhanced his growing charisma in the Muslim community.

Prior to assuming the rank of the qutbDya, Abui Madyan had been one of the two ministerial "imams" who serve (one at the left and the other at the right hand of) the pole, according to Ibn al-'Arabi's ini- tiatic regime.'2 Together these three stations are said to be alluded to in the last sura of the Qur'an: "Say: I take refuge in the Lord (Rabb) of mankind, the King (Malik) of mankind, the God (Ilah) of mankind""3-which represent, respectively, the imams of the right and the left (who is the higher), and the pole (the highest). Hence, in the Tadbfrat we read:

Of the Secret of Being at the Muhammadan Theophany (sirr al-wgfid 'inda 1-tagalt 1-muhammadt) our Master, Abiu Madyan (May God be pleased with him!), only attained the station of "the King of mankind" (Malik al-nds) [that is, the station of the "Imam of the Left"]. Therefore he used to declare that his Su2ra of the Qur'an was "Blessed be He in Whose Hand is Kingship!" (Tabdraka lladt bi-yadi- hi 1-mulku, = Suira LXVII), while the station, "the God of mankind", is special to the Pole. For that reason [I say that] Abui Madyan was one of the two Imams existent in the world.'4

Presumably this had been written before Ibn al-'Arabi was apprised in the vision by Aba Yazid of Abut Madyan's eleventh-hour promotion.

Magrib" (Damascus: Matba'at al-'Ilm, 1970, p. 79). Such expressions do not seem to occur in Ibn al-'Arabi's later works, however, where Abiu Madyan is generally called simply "our master".

Hendrik S. Nyberg, ed., Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-'ArabT (Leiden: Brill, 1919), p. 126. Mawruir (Mor6n) is a small town to the southeast of Seville.

12 This system is described by Michel Chodkiewicz in his Seal of the Saints: Prophethood and Sainthood in the Doctine of Ibn 'Arabt (Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1993), p. 89-102 (for references to the topic treated in Ibn al-'Arabi's writings, see n. 19 therein).

'3 Qur. 114: 1-3. This passage from the Scripture was one of those treated by Ibn al-'Arab! in his early monograph, K al-Mutallaptt [The Book of Triplicities] al-wdridaft l-Qur'dn (see Histoire et classification, r.g. no. 515), which also dealt with the final clauses of Qur. 2: 68 and 17: 110 (And be not loud in thy prayer nor silent therein, but seek a way between that).

'4 KZeinere Schrnten, p. 158-59. Cf, also, FutiAdt, vol. I, p. 184 (1. 4), and vol. IV, p. 195 (11. 1 & 10-11).



IBN AL-'ARABI'S "CINQUAIN" (TAIMIS) 67

The apparent inconsistency is cleared up in the following passage from the K al-Qutb wa-l-imamayn, where Ibn al-'Arabi has been discoursing on the attributes of the imam al-aysar:

The Master, Abul Madyan, lived in this station in Bejaya until his death approached to within an hour or two.'5 [Then] the honorary mantle of the Poleship (blil'at al- qutbDya) was bestowed upon him and his [hieratic] name became 'Abd al-Ildh [the Servant of the God], while the honorary mantle of this Imamate [that is, that of the Left] was removed from him, and his mantle in the name of 'Abd al-Rabb'6 was transferred to a certain man in Bagdad whose [hieratic] name was 'Abd al- Wahh,db. (A man from Hjurasan had vied with the Master, Abui Madyan, in [the accession to the Poleship]). The Master died as a great Pole, [but prior to that (?) his special station had been indicated in the Suira] from the Qur'an, "Blessed be He in Whose Hand is Kingship!""

But this text brings up an even more intractable problem regarding the precise nature of the two imamates and, hence, Aba Madyan's pre- vious status. Note that here Ibn al-'Arabi denominates the imam of the left (viz., Aba Madyan) 'Abd al-Rabb, whereas, in accordance with the order based on the verse from the Surat al-N&is (CXIV), quoted above, his station should correspond to the Divine name, al-Malik. More- over, in Chapter CCLXX of the Futiihdt (which constitutes a kind of commentary on that same sura) the latter correlation is explicitly estab- lished.'8 May we see in this discrepancy any hint of a doubt that Abut Madyan occupied the second rank in the esoteric hierarchy up to the end of his professional life in Bejaya? Probably not.'9 Nevertheless, I cannot concur with Addas that the following lines from that chapter, in which Ibn al-'Arab! speaks of his special affinity with the mysterious "imam of the left", also refer to Abui Madyan in this case.20 The encounter takes place in the imaginal, "intermediate world" of the barza4:

This [personage] has blessed me with glad tidings (bisadra) by which he announced to me good news concerning my state (4d1-t), of which I had not been aware. But he notified me of it and forbade me from affiliating myself with any of the masters

As all sources agree that Abiu Madyan met his fate at Wadi Yassir in the vicin- ity of Tlemcen (Tilimsan) while en route to Marrakesh, then, according to Ibn al-'Arabi's scenario, the slay4 lived in Bejaya (Bigaya) only as the imam of the left, not the pole.

16 The Arabic is awkward here but evidently conveys the meaning I have indicated. The problem with the name, 'Abd al-Rabb, is discussed below.

'7 Manzil al-qutb wa-l-imamayn, p. 11-12, in Rasa'il Ibn al-'Arabt (Hyderabad-Deccan: Da'irat al-Ma'arif al-cUtmanlya, 1948), risala no. 19.

8 See vol. IV, p. 571, 11. 26sq. '9 After all, Abu! Madyan's affiliation with the name, al-Malik, is clearly implied

in the same quote (above) from the K. al-Qutb wa-l-imamayn, as well as that from the TadbFr&t.

20 Cf Quest, p. 65-66, and p. 178 of Addas's subsequent article, cited in n. 36, below.



68 GERALD ELMORE

(al-sfuyiib) that I had met, enjoining me: "Do not affiliate yourself with anyone except God. None of those whom you have met have authority over you in what you have attained; rather, God will take you into His care. So mention, if you wish, the merit of those whom you have met, but do not attach yourself to them; attach yourself to your Lord".

The state of this Imam [of the Left] was like my own state: None of those whom he had met had authority over him in the Way of God except God [Himself].2'

There is surely no reason to identify Ibn al-'Arabi's interlocutor here as Abui Madyan. All indications are that the latter had been decisively influenced by his various masters, including 'Ali Ibn Hirzihim (d. 559/ 1164) and, especially, the celebrated Berber ascetic, Abu! Ya'za Yalannuir (d. 572/1177), and, as we will have occasion to see, affiliation with a properly accredited s'ayh would become the virtual sine qua non of Abu Madyan's teaching, at least as it has come down to us today. Then who might the "imam of the left" be in the present instance? As Chodkiewicz has pointed out, apart from any human "deputies" (nuww&b), the real holders of the hierarchic offices of the pole and his two min- isters, according to Ibn al-'Arabi, must be physicaly living apostles (Musul).22 I would hypothesize, then, that the above imam is none other than Jesus son of Mary ('Isa b. Maryam), the immortal rasiul and super-walt with whom Ibn al-'Arab! felt a special kinship,23 even testifying in the prologue (4utba) of the Futf/hdt that he was his counterpart ('adil), son and friend (4ali1).24 As for the "state" or station that Jesus and Ibn al- 'Arab! shared according to the latter's repeated assertion, it is the very seal of sainthood (4atm al-wal4ya), of which Jesus is the universal, and Ibn al-'Arab! the particular, Muhammadan instantiation.25 As one of the four immortal awtad (supports)-of whom the first, Idris-Enoch, was

2 Futahat, vol. II, p. 573 (11. 10-13). 22 See Seal, p. 92-94, where Chodkiewicz summarizes Ibn al-'Arabi's hierarchy as

expounded in Futzfiht, II, 5-6. Cf, also, Quest, p. 65-66. 23 Ibn al-'Arab! claims to have met Jesus "many times in ecstasies" (FuW4hdt, II, 49

[32-33]), most notably in the very beginning of his Siufi career (see ibid. and III, 43 [20-21] and IV, 77 [30], et al.), as he refers to him as "our first Master (sayhu-nd l-awwal) at whose hand we returned [to God]", going on to add: "He has a great solicitude for us and does not forget us for a single moment. I hope that we might attain the time of his descent [as the Mahdl/Seal of sainthood], God willing!" (III, 341 [2 1-23]).

24 Futfihdt, I, 3 (2). Ibn al-'Arabi also says (II, 49 [33]) that Jesus called him by the name, "Beloved" (al-habb)--a show of endearment also claimed byJohn the Evangelist (see John 13: 23, 19: 26 and 21: 20).

25 On this subject in general, see Seal, p. 116-46, and 'Quest, p. 76-81, et al. My own study of Ibn al-'ArabV's K 'Anqd' mugrib (The Fabulous Gryphon), which deals primarily with the seal of sainthood, is in preparation to be published this year.



IBN AL-'ARABI'S "CINQUAIN" (TA HMIS) 69

generally considered by Muslims to be the solar "pole", while the fourth was al-Hadir-Jesus, along with Elias (Ilyas), would naturaly be counted as one of the two ministerial "imams".

Whatever the sense in which Ibn al-'Arab! regarded Abiu Madyan as a qutb or an honorary "substitute" of some sort,26 the fundamental issue of his "real" attitude toward the older sayh must depend, in my judgment, on the biographical facts of their actual relationship (or lack thereof) since they were, after all, contemporaries, living in accessible proximity.27 Bejaya, where Abui Madyan had located his zdzvya (mosque- school) long before the time of Ibn al-'Arab!'s commencement on the Siift path in Andalusia in 580/1184 at the age of nineteen years,28 was situated astride the main road connecting the "Near" and "Far" Magribs, and it was an important maritime center in close connection with Almeria and Cartagena, the nearby port of Ibn al-'Arabi's hometown, Murcia. Why would the young neophyte, living in Seville (and travelling widely in Andalusia), in the bloom of his noviciate and with the fame of Abui Madyan resounding from every quarter, not pay the master the courtesy of a visit (zSydra) as he had and would numerous other Stifls of much less stature?29

Ibn al-'Arab! himself anticipated this question, I think, and described in his Rzih al-quds, a long epistle to yet another disciple of Abui Madyan 'Abd al-'AzIz al-Mahdawi,30 who lived in Tunis-how one day after his prayers he was feeling a strong desire to meet the famous sayh, when a man joined him announcing that he came from Abui Madyan in North Africa. When he asked the man when he had been with him, he answered that he had only just finished praying with him in Bejaya and that the master gave him this message to convey:

26 The whole question is much more complicated than I have been able to indicate here, and, for the time being, it is perhaps best to consider that there are many different kinds of aqtdb in Ibn al-'Arabi's universe.

27 'Abd al-Rahman Badawi had perceptively framed the real historical issue in precisely these terms on p. 121 of his article, "Abii Madyan wa-Ibn 'Arab!" in Al-Kitab al-tad*kdd Mu4yi 1-Din Ibn 'ArabifT 1-dikrd 1-mi'awiya al-Idmina li-mil&di-hi, I. Madkhor, ed. (Cairo: Dar al-Kaitib al-'Arab! li-l-Tiba'a, 1969, p. 113-28), but, unfortunately, he did not go on to address the question as a historian.

28 I have described the occasion of his formal entry upon the path in "New Evidence on the Conversion of Ibn al-'Arab! to Siifism" (Arabica 1998, 1, p. 50-72).

29 See, for example, the biographical section of the R. Ruh al-quds, translated by Ralph W.J. Austin as Sufi of Andalusia (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1971), which gives instances of many such visits.

30 Cf below (and nn. 33 and 36).



70 GERALD ELMORE

Regarding our meeting together in spirit, it will happen and come true; but as for our meeting in the flesh in this world, God will not allow that. Rest assured, however, that the promise [of our meeting] is with God in the abode of His Mercy.3'

Although Ibn al-'Arabi goes on to explain that this envoy was actually one of the seven abddl (the third tier in the esoteric hierarchy) who had the power to translocate himself to any place on earth that he wished, we would be well advised to consider that the "message" here was probably one of a spiritual, interior nature. But in the Biddyat al- murfd, a manual for novices ascribed to Abul Madyan (see infra), it is written that "no one will prevent [an aspirant] from paying a visit [to the qualified master] except for a heretic (zindTq)" whose desire is to sow corruption in the garden of the world.32 This would not sound like an endorsement of the envoy in question.

Realistically, even given the best construction, Ibn al-'Arabi's expla- nation as to why he never made the acquaintance of Abiu Madyan in Bejaya must be seen as a rather lame excuse. The impression is even more inescapable when we consider the chronology of certain relevant dates. Firstly, Ibn al-'Arab! writes of having been in North Africa, visiting Tlemcen and Tunis (where he stayed for the first time with Sayh al-Mahdawi) in 590/1194.33 Given the logistics, it is almost impossi- ble to suppose that he did not at least make a stop-over in Bejaya in that year. But, according to the most common acceptation of Abui Madyan's death-date, the master only departed the scene in 594/1198, fouryears later. Furthermore, Ibn al-'Arab! is known to have sojourned in Fez throughout much of the three-to-four-year period intervening between the dates concerned. In light of this, it is difficult to take his account of the reason for their never meeting "in the flesh in this world" entirely seriously.

There is, however, one mitigating factor to be considered: Although our most authoritative biographist, Abiu Ya'qib Yulsuf al-Tadili (d. 627/ 1229-30), states that Abui Madyan died in 594/1198-and most scholars, east and west, have followed him in this-he also adds that some alleged that the obiit was as early as 588/1192. Indeed, Ibn al- Arabi seems to support the second option, writing in the Futhadt that Abiu

31 R. Riuh al-quds, p. 113-14 (translated by Austin in Sufis, p. 121). 32 See p. 68-69 of the edition/translation of V. Cornell, cited in n. 38 below. 33 In Futfihdt, I, 9 (24); IV, 498 (28), et aL 34 See K al-Tafawwuf ild nga1 al-ta.sawwuf (Rabat: 6ami'at Muhammad al-Hamis,

Kullryat al-Adab wa-l-'Ulum al-Insaniya, 1984), p. 319.



IBN AL-cARABI'S "CINQUAIN" (TAIMIS) 71

Madyan "passed beyond (daraga) in 589 [= 1 193]".35 In an article written by Addas since the publication of her biography she argues compellingly for accepting the earlier date, apparently accounting for most of the data as represented in the Futfihdt (and other Akbarian writings).36 But the question remains: Does Ibn al-'Arab!'s representation really reflect the unvarnished truth? What, in fact, do the Sayh al-uy ih and Sayh al-Akbar have in common-and how do they differ?

Very superficially, their social backgrounds were loosely similar. Abiu Madyan was born and raised in a rural settlement near Seville, where Ibn al-'Arab! would spend most of his formative years one or two gene- rations later. Both also eventually resided in the great academic center of Fez. They even had one particular early experience in common: Each had been enlisted for a brief time during his adolescence in a Berber-dominated gund-ya, a standing, salaried army corps made up of expatriate Andalusians who would be especially answerable to the foreign ruling-elite.37 This fact is indicative of the profound social up- rooting that the Andalusians had been undergoing since the last quarter of the preceding century when the Moroccan Berbers first massively

3 Vol. IV, p. 195 (1. 2). I say "seems" because the verb is ambiguous and the line in question is rather peculiar, being an extension of a chapter-heading (perhaps origi- nally a marginal interpolation by the author). Osman Yahia was the first to insist on this variant death-date for Abiu Madyan (see Histoire et classfication, p. 495).

36 See her "Abiu Madyan and Ibn 'Arab!" in Mu.yiddin Ibn 'Arabt: A Commemorative Volume, S. Hirtenstein and M. Tiernan, eds. (Shaftesbury, Dorset: Element Books, 1993), p. 175-76. In principle, I would be more inclined to credit Ibn al-'Arabi's testimony than that of his near-contemporary, al-Tadili, whose work, at least in the form that we now have it, is not really distinguished by scholarly objectivity. But, then again, neither is Ibn al-'Arabi always content with mere objectivity when the subjective truth is more to his point.

Even if the earlier obiit is accepted, our suspicions of Ibn al-'ArabVs motives as already expressed remain, along with others that we do not have time to address here. For example, unless I am mistaken, it cannot be proven textually that the ambulatory Ibn al-'Arab! did not cross over to North Africa prior to 589/1193 (when he was in Ceuta [Sabta])-nor is it even probable that he did not do so before his twenty-ninth year. It is possible that he had already met gayb al-Mahdawi (perhaps in Fez or even Bejaya) before venturing to Tunis for the first time in 590/1194 to stay with him at his home.

Finally, acceptance of the earlier death-date raises other problems. For instance, in Futzihatt, IV, 76 (17), Ibn al-'Arab! claims to have encountered in Fez in 593/1196-97 "the pole of the time" who, elsewhere, is identified as a certain man with a withered hand (see Sufis, p. 152-53)-but, ex hypothesi, this would be only three years after Abiu Madyan was supposed to have assumed the title on his death-bed in Tlemcen.

37 Aba Madyan's service was with the Andalusian gund in Almoravid Marrakesh and Ibn al-'Araby's with the comparable body later maintained by the Almohads in their regional capital of Seville (see p. 59-64 of "New Evidence", cited in n. 28, above).



72 GERALD ELMORE

intervened in Iberian affairs. By the time of Ibn al-'Arabl the political and economic situation had improved in many ways, however, and, for one reason or another, the younger Sfifl's youth and upbringing were very much more fortunate than had been the case with his elder com- patriot, who never really acquired a thorough education and, so, would always remain uncomfortable with books.

This is reflected both in Abiu Madyan's relatively sparse accom- plishments as an author38 and, also, in his rather uncritical devotion to the writings of major authorities, such as the Ri'aya li-huquq al-Lah of Harit b. Asad al-Muhasibi (d. 243/857) and, especially, the Ihya' 'ulum al-dn of Imam al-Gazzali (d. 505/111 1 For his part, Ibn al-'Arabi's references to the YHuat al-Isldm's "Revivification" are more notable for their comparative scarcity,40 while in one place in the Futzhdt al-Gazzall and al-Muhasibi "and others of their ilk" are dismissed as purveyors of a rather insipid doctrine.41 Both Sfiis drew upon vital traditions deriving from their great predecessor and martyr-patron, Abui l-'Abbas Ibn al-'Arif (d. 536/1 141),42 whose name evokes the prestige of the so- called Almerian school of tasawwuf and hadft.43 Another shared influence was that of the acclaimed collection of Prophetary traditions, the Sunan of Aba 'Isa al-Tirmidi (d. 279/892), which was favored by a back-to- the-basics (usul) movement of scholars, pietists and Stifts in the Magrib

3 Represented in his writings as recently edited and translated by Vincent Cornell in The Way of Abui Madyan: Doctrinal and Poetic Works of Aba Madyan Shu'ayb ibn al- .Husayn al-Ansdri (Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1996), to which study I am indebted, by the way, for most of what follows concerning Abui Madyan's literary and historical remains and effects. In n. 35 (on p. 16) Cornell has summed up his position vis-a-vis that of Addas regarding the relationship (such as it was) between Abul Madyan and Ibn al-'Arabi. My own position as argued here is somewhere between theirs (see below).

3 See 7he Way of Abu Madyan, p. 4-5, 18-21 and 27-29. 40 Nevertheless, I would opine that the work of al-Gazz5lf had a more determinate

effect on the formation of the Shayb al-Akbar's education than that of any other single author. Ibn al-'Arabi's attitude toward the great Mu.yt l-d?n of the fifth/! 1th century was, I think, one of respectful and resolute emulation.

41 See Futiuhdt, I, 590 (14-15). 42 See Way, p. 5, 12 and 21; and Quest, p. 53-54 and 90. 43 As Cornell points out (p. 12-13), part of Abui Madyan's initial attraction to Bejaya

may have been the fact that it had become a safe harbour for many Almerian mer- chants and scholars fleeing the increasing Christian incursions into eastern Andalusia. Addas perhaps stresses too much the distinction between the "Almexian" and "Bejayan" schools of Siifism (in Quest, p. 59-61). Abui Madyan certainly made genuine contact with what we might call "indigenous" North African (sci., Berber) $uifism via Abui Ya'za, but he himself remained thoroughly Andalusian, while his school was essentially Arab North- African.



IBN AL-'ARABI'S "CINQUAIN" (TAHMIS) 73

who sought to detoxicate had-t study of the derivative, or "casuistic", elaborations (rfii') of unreformed Malikite fiqh."

We are indebted to Vincent Cornell's recent publication, 77ze Way of Abu Madyan, for providing critical editions and translations of several treatises and poems attributed to the Say4 al-uia4h in manuscripts dat- ing from the eleventh/17th to the thirteenth/19th centuries.45 A brief perusal of the contents of these writings immediately suggests what may well have been the real reason for Ibn al-'Arabi's staying away from Abii Madyan's zawiya in Bejaya. Taking the Biddyat al-murid [The Aspirant's Beginning] as representative,"6 the basic prescriptions of the North African school were repentance (tawba), asceticism (zuhd), service to a qualified master (hidmat al-sayh)47 and paying visits to other masters (zydrat al-ma!dyi4)48-that is to say, "poverty and obedience". The very first line of the manual stipulated that "the first thing necessary for the aspirant is companionship with a master (pu4bat al-kay4)",49 and, thereafter, fasting, hunger (g'u'), poverty and renunciation are the bur- den of the main body of the text.

Now, Ibn al-'Arab! had no objection to poverty; not only had he already formally renounced all ambition to possess the things of this world by the age of twenty, he had even given up sex and any inter- est in women.50 Obedience to a master, however, was another matter.

44 See Dominique Urvoy, Le Monde des ulemas andalous du VIXI' au V1IIXIII' sicle: Etude sociologique (Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1978), p. 139 (cited in Way, p. 7). The second literary effort that Ibn al-'Arabi lists in the Fihrist of his own books is an abridge- ment of al-Tirmidi's Sunan which he called Musannaf (see A.E. Affifi, "The Works of Ibn 'Arab! in the Light of a Memorandum Drawn Up by Him", in 7The Bulletin of the Faculy of Arts, Alexandria Universiv 8 [1954], p. 194, no. 2).

4 The book is cited in n. 38, above. See, also, 'Abd al-Halrm Mahmud, ?ayk al- suyi2b, Abiu Madyan al-Gawt: .Haydtu-hu wa-mi'rdgu-hu ild 1-Lah (Cairo: Dar al-ga'b, 1973; a second edition was issued in 1985). In the second section of this article I will briefly comment on the provenance of these manuscripts.

46 Although the Biddya is patently not the work of the master himself, but rather of one of his disciples (perhaps Abiu Muhammad $alih al-Magiri [d. 631/1234], as M.B.A. Benchakroun suggests in La Vie intellectuelle marocaine sous les Mirinides et les Wattasides [Rabat, 1974], p. 440), there is no reason to doubt that it accurately reflects the per- spective of Abus Madyan.

47 Service to the sayh was not merely expedient, it was mandatory: "Service is oblig- atory to one who manifests sainthood (wal&ya)" (Way, p. 103). The "taking on/imita- tion of a teacher" (iti/dd al-ustdd) is made the third prerequisite (after following the Qur'an and Sunna) for proper Siift conduct (see ibid., p. 87).

48 Extravagant claims are made in the Biddya for the benefits of visiting $uifi masters (see Way, p. 68-69), and, as we saw earlier (n. 32), failure to do so was set down to diabolical causes.

49 Way, p. 55. 5 See p. 65-67 of "New Evidence" (cited in n. 28).



74 GERALD ELMORE

It is all too obvious that Ibn al-'Arabi's genius would not allow him to willingly submit to any human authority for any length of time, and there is really no evidence that he ever did so, despite the many cour- teous, and even laudatory, notices bestowed upon this or that ififi ayb in such works as the Riuh al-quds and Al-Durra al-fa4bira,5' and sporadi- cally throughout the Futiuh&t. Indeed, referring to his Mawaqi' al-nugum, a fairly lengthy tract written down in the space of eleven days under Divine inspiration, he later boasted that it was "a noble book which substitutes for the sayh in the matter of instructing the disciple (tarbfyat

al-murd)"T.2 Ibn al-'Arabi's frequently "ambiguous" relations with his masters will not be hard to account for in the light of this pronounce- ment.53 For such a student the problem is finding teachers with a game- some sense of humor!

Even if the Say4 al-suyiuh himself had been able to appreciate the calling of this future Sayh al-Akbar, it is doubtful that his students would have been so magnanimous, steeled as they were to the rigors of hunger and obedience set forth so solemnly in the Bidayat al-murid by a later epigone of the school of Abiu Madyan. Finally, it is not without rele- vance that the Bidaya sets a very high premium on "orthodoxy" and the avoidance offalse Safi's, either of the libertine or the free-thinking variety. The passage by which the pretensions of the second kind of charlatan is exemplified is written precisely in the rhapsodic rhymed- prose (sag') style of Ibn al-'Arab! (especially characteristic of his earliest works composed in the Magrib) and would, indeed, appear to be a direct quote from a page of the Doctor Maximus of Unveiling:

When sins are dispelled and the Unseen revealed, non-entities annihilate and Lights and Secrets radiate, when darkness is cast off and [all] sense-objects disappear,

then will the clear Portents [of the End] appear! For on that Day shall we by Unveiling's Eye surely see, and in the state of Attribution will be our Self-revelation,

5' See Histoire et class4ication, r.g. no. 105; and the introduction to Sufs, p. 17-20. This and the biographical component of the Riuh al-quds make up the subject-matter of Austin's Sufis of Andalusia.

52 Futaiht, IV, 263 (26). The main verb isyztinT 'an (which is misprinted in the 1911 edition). In vol. I of the Futuihdt he had written of the Mawdqi' that "it is able to dis- pense with the teacher (al-ustdd); rather, the teacher is in need of it. For, among teachers, there are the elevated and the more elevated, and this book derives from the most elevated station that the teacher can attain unto" (p. 334, 11. 17-18).

5 See Quest, p. 64-68 and 90-91, where Addas addresses the ambivalent nature of Ibn al-'ArabV's relationship to his teachers.



IBN AL-'ARABIS "CINQUAIN" (TAIJMIS) 75

while we partake of the food and drink of Existence, bearing witness to Things Unseen in their Transcendence.54

Abiu Madyan's Qpafda and Ibn al-'Arabi's Ta4mfs

If I am not mistaken in identifying the implicit object of the Bidaya's critique as Ibn al-'Arabi, the attitude could hardly be more unjust, since indications are that the many popular works of the Sayh al-Akbar were a primary vehicle of Abiu Madyan's own repute outside the Magrib. Even the writings attributed to the North African master may eventually be found to owe their survival, at least in part, to adherents of Ibn al- 'Arabi's school working in the Ottoman period.55 The earliest known manuscripts of Abiu Madyan's hikam are evidently to be found in Turkey.56 But even earlier than those, as a matter of fact, are the scores of sayings ascribed to him which are scattered throughout the volumes of the Futz2hdt al-makkFyah and Muhddarat al-abrar. Are these genuine quota- tions, instances of Abui Madyan's teachings? Yes and no, I believe.

To begin with the Muhaddara: This rather unusual adab compilation- unique, at least, among the books of Ibn al-'Arab! --is devoted entirely to belles-lettres, which, in Arabic, denotes a fine literature which is more broad in its refinement than "high", one in which style and entertain- ment predominate over substance and edification. Made up of poems, proverbs, exhortations, anecdotes and tales of prophets, saints, sages and sovereigns, the only passages devoted frankly to the author's usual pre- occupation with S$ufiT metaphysics are those waqa'i' (visions) in which gayb Abiu Madyan is portrayed as holding forth on subjects such as the secret-essence (sirr) of life and the spiritual energy (himma) of the heart57 before such illustrious preceptors-turned-suppliants as Imam al-Gazzali, Abu! Yazid al-Bistami and Abui Thlib al-Makkl. As 'Abd al-Rahman Badawi suggested, these discourses obviously reflect the trademark

54 From the Biddyat al-munid, edited in Way, p. 85. 5i Such as, for example, Muhammad Qutb al-Din al-Izniki (d. 855/1451), a dis-

ciple of Mulla 1-Fanari, Muhyi I-Din Muhammad al-Iskilibi (d. 920/1514), and the Sayb al-Isldm, Ibn Kamdl (d. 950/1543), etc. The survival of the K. tial' al-na'layn of the Algar- vean rebel-muid, Abii 1-Qasim Ibn Qasi (d. 546/1151), is probably due entirely to Ibn al-'Arabi's extensive commentary thereon (see Histoire et clasjfication, r.g. no. 681).

56 In Istanbul I examined a copy of the Uns al-wahzd wa-nuzhat al-munid [= Min Kalem Abi Madyan] in Ms. Fatih 5375 (ff. 88-91), which is dated 959/1552, over a century earlier than Cornell's oldest source cited for the same work. The codex (described by Yahia in "Mission en Turquie: Recherches sur les manuscrits du soufisme", Revue des etudes islamiques, 1958, p. 36) also contains some verses by Ibn al-'Araby.

5 See Muhddara, vol. I, p. 324-25 and 496-97 (for references to editions, see n. 5,



76 GERALD ELMORE

"wcg-df" ideas of Ibn al-'Arab!, artfully "dressed down" into a simpler speech suitable to Abul Madyan.58 The Egyptian editor of the Muh&dara has pointed out the resemblance between these imaginary conferences of SRfifs and the episodes of the maqamat genre of Arabic literature, with the character of Abiu Madyan here filling the role of Abu: Zayd al-Sariigi in al-Harirl's "Assemblies" 59

But, although the contrived disquisitions of the Muhadara are (delight- fully) pure fiction, the same cannot be said of the sayings preserved in the Futfihdt. There can be no reasonable doubt that these are authentic recollections of the master's associates to Ibn al-'Arab!, and no recon- struction of Abui Madyan's doctrine can be considered complete without an exhaustive and systematic assessment of this material. This I have not done, but here I will give a tentative idea of these sayings gleaned from a random selection. None of them are to be found in Cornell's edition,60 but all could be shown to be consonant with what is presented there. For example, the director of souls' balanced view of sacrifice is reflected in this memorable precept:

Among the signs of the sincerity (sidq) of the aspirant's desire is his flight from mankind; and among the signs of the sincerity of his flight from mankind is his being present for the Real; and among the signs of the sincerity of his being present for the Real is his returning to mankind.6'

The same sense of wise moderation is evident elsewhere:

The trace (ros7n) of servanthood must remain so that delight in Lordship might take place.6'

Abu6 Madyan used to say to his followers: "Make manifest to people the conform- ance (muwdfaqa) among you, even as [other] people make a show of their difference. And manifest what blessings God has bestowed on you, [both] external (that is, miraculous acts) and internal (that is, gnoses)".61

The aspirant (munfd) wil not be an aspirant until he finds in the Qur'an all of that to which he aspires.64

above). Addas points this out on p. 177 of her "Aba Madyan and Ibn 'Arab'" (cited in n. 36).

58 See his "Abui Madyan wa-Ibn 'Arab!" (cited in n. 27), p. 123-24. 59 See Mu4ddara, vol. I, p. 303, n. 2. Al-Hawli is in error, however, when he assumes

that, just because the discourses were invented by Ibn al-'Arabi, therefore the person of al-Mawriiri (not , is also imaginary.

60 But compare, for example, the sense of the first aphorism given below with that of no. 107 of the Unis al-wah4d (in Way, p. 136-37).

61 Futahdt, I, 251 (14-17), and II, 22 (24-26). See preceding note. 62 Ibid., III, 396 (24). 63 Ibid., II, 11 (31-33). 64 Ibid., III, 94 (2).



IBN AL-'ARABI'S "CINQUAIN" (TAHMIS) 77

But a more uncompromising Weltableugnung is sometimes hinted at, as when Ibn al-cArab! explains that Abui Madyan's station as qutb was epitomized in the deliberately truncated phrase from the Qur'an (VJ:91): "Say 'God'-and leave them.... "65

As we saw earlier in others texts,66 however, Abiu Madyan's favorite motto celebrated the siura named for the sovereignty (mulk) of the King of Judgment, and the same point is made in the Futahdt.67 Apropos of the Scriptural phrase, "and of knowledge We have given you little" (XV1I:85), Abfi Madyan emphasized man's wortWessness, declaring, "[Even] the little we have been given we do not have; rather, it is loaned to us. Most of it we do not acquire, for we are ever the ignorant".68 Even man's virtue is profitless to him: "Sincerity (sidq) will cease, and its owner shall enter Paradise without it. [The sincerity itself] will abide in Hell as a carnal form, or else the pride [of it] will return to some- one deserving it...."9

Elsewhere, of course, Abui Madyan's advanced familiarity with esoteric knowledge is evinced, as in his remark,

I have not seen a thing but I have seen a "B" written upon it.'?

Perhaps more characteristic of the sayh's rustic background is this earthy exhortation:

We do not care to eat dried meat; give me fresh meat!"

Probably the most interesting quote of all is the following, which Ibn al-'Arab! calls "illiterate and plebeian" (ummf '&mmf) due to Abii Madyan's gouache manner of expression, though his intent may be discerned:

The Secret-essence of life (sirr al-hayOh) pervades all existent things, for minerals coagulate by it, plants germinate by it, and animals animate by it, while each [being] in glorifying [God] utters its praise by virtue of the Secret of the perva- sion (saraydn) of life in it."

What is intriguing about this tenet is that it relates to a doctrine of spirit which is apparently alluded to in one of the passages from the

65 See ibid., IV, 141sqq., and I, 590 (13-14). 66 See nn. 14 and 17. 67 In I, 184 (4), and IV, 195 (1 & 10). 68 Ibid., I, 253 (17-18). Cf below, p. 26, Stanza 4. 69 Ibid., III, 117 (21). 7' Ibid., I, 102 (11-12) and 448 (22). 71 Ibid., 280 (28). As Addas observes (in her "Abul Madyan", p. 170), Ibn al-'Arab!

interprets this saying differently (also quoting it differently) in Futi2hdt, II, 505 (19). 72 Ibid lV, 264 (31-32).



78 GERALD ELMORE

Muhddara,73 and it may even have something to do with the animistic notion of "magnetic inspiration" (al-Thr' al-ma*n@tisa) that Badawi thought he detected in some of the stories of Abui Madyan.74 Moreover, it would appear that the same idea-or, rather, some abuse of the "power" implicit therein-is referred to by the author of the Bidayat al-murid, who ascribes the belief to a certain faction (td'zfa) of debauched Sifuis who believed that they could acquire baraka through "the life-spirit of the hearts" (4aydt al-qulfib) of women and young boys.75 That notion- and, no doubt, all of the above-was tied to an all-pervading doctrine of light (al-niur), which, as Cornell observes, was common to Abiu Madyan and many other Mag4rib masters, including his own mentor, Abiu Ya'za Yalannuir (Possessor of Light).76

Aba Madyan's "Poem Rhymed in R" (Al-Qasada al-ra'aya), the basis of the text with which the remainder of this article is concerned, has also been preserved by Ibn al-cArabi-in this case by incorporating it in a longer composition of his own devising.77 Indeed, as far as I can determine, the original verses seem only to have remained extant in the context of Ibn al-'Arabi's Tahmls, or elaboration into five-line stanzas. Before reading the latter as a whole (see translation and edition, infra), I would recommend a recitation of Abui Madyan's lyrics by themselves (they are the fourth and fifth verses78 of each stanza, indented) in order to gain a clear sense of the original poem's purport and appreciate the directness of its simplicity. As the work may speak for itself, I will offer just a few introductory remarks here, and, afterwards, some brief notes on Aba Madyan's and Ibn al-'Arabi's separate contributions, by way of comparison.

The Qaitda al-ra'aya is a kind of spiritual love-lyric of twenty-two verses in the metre of al-Basat, or, specifically, a eulogy of the Safi' brotherhood, the "poor [in spirit]" (al-fuqard') who are said to be rulers, lords and princes in the opening matla'. The real purpose of the poem is to send out a call to join the fraternity in the form of the zaw!ya, or organized mosque-school for Suifr instruction, as becomes evident in

See vol. I, p. 324-25. 7 See Badawt's "Abui Madyan", p. 121-22.

See Way, p. 94-95. 76 See ibid., p. 24-26.

See Histoire et classfication, p. 494-95, r.g. no. 748. Cornell's text and translation of Aba Madyan's poem is on p. 162-65 of Way. Strictly speaking, the piece might be more properly described as a long gazal (lyric employing love-imagery) or a nazm (in the technical sense) than as a qastda.

78 They are actually half-verses (hemistichs) of one original bayt (see below).



IBN AL-'ARABI'S "CINQUAIN" (TAUHMIS) 79

the next two lines. Half-way through the poem attention is focused on the sayh, or head of the order, whom the novice must serve and obey as God's representative. With the fourteenth verse a pivotal shift is made from the disappointing reality of the condition of Siiftsm in the contemporary world (sci., the local zaiy'a) to a longing for the ideal community, developing into love and a yearning for brotherly union which can only be ultimately fulfilled in the other world with God.

The opening verse is particularly significant. As Cornell informs us, later biographical sources suggest that charges brought against Aba Madyan to the Almohad authorities were that he interpreted the Scriptural "party of God" (hizb al-Lah)79 to be the Sifif brotherhood, and that, similar to the custom of the fitiiwa movement in the East, he often referred to his disciples as "sultans".80 The Siiflrs are also called sayyids and amirs-the latter perhaps equating the sayh with the true "caliph", the Adamic halffat al-Lahh81 as amfr al-mu'minfn (Commander of the Faithful). The significance of the latter honorific was an especially sensitive issue in the late-sixth/12th-century Magirib, as the Almohad rulers, Mu'minid heirs of the Berber Mahdi, Ibn Tuimart (d. 524/1130), had lately arrogated that title to themselves, following the innovating precedents of the earlier Si'ite Fatimids and Cordoban Umayyads. Thus, the qasrda bears testimony to the quasi-revolutionary sentiment that evidently led to its author's martyrdom in due course. That the poem in its native context was dangerous, if not "political dynamite", may be deduced from the fact that there is apparently no trace of its transmission in any locally-based manuscript source, and, as I mentioned, it seems only to have survived as part of our present Ta4mis.82

Ibn al-'Arabi's respectful treatment of the qasTda is testimonial of his profound sympathy with the Siifi cause-for which he proved to be a very effective partisan, managing to pursue a long and incredibly pro- lific career, albeit not in the Magrib. When and where Ibn al-'Arabi composed his Tahmrs is, as far as I know, indeterminable in the present state of our knowledge. There is every likelihood that information

79 Qur. 58: 22 (end). 80 See Way, p. 15. 81 See QUr. 2: 30. Cf, also, Qur. 38: 26, where the prophet, David, is called a hat-fa

in the earth. It is perhaps worth noting that traditions of David are featured very promi- nently in the Biddyat al-murid (see Way, p. 74-79).

82 Cornell's source for this poem is 'A.H. Mahmud's book (cited in n. 45, above), where it has simply been extracted from Ibn al- Arabi's Ta4mis (which is also edited there).



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relevant to the issue will one day turn up, however. Because the ta4mTs genre became so popular with Late-Classical Arabic writers,83 one must ask whether the present work might not be falsely ascribed to the Sayh al-Akbar. Mainly because of a peculiar vocabulary usage which can be attested in Ibn al-'Arabi2s writings,84 I am inclined to credit the ascrip- tion, although, notwithstanding, it is by no means certain at this point.

The ta4mis genre, very briefly, is a sophisticated variation on the form of the regular Arabic lyric couplet, whether it be a qasada or gazal (which have the rhyme-scheme, AA: BA: CA: DA, etc.). The ta4mis is a cinquain (mubammas), or poem composed of pentamerous stanzas, each of which has been built up from a couplet (= two hemistichs forming one verse) of the original poem by prefixing three new lines thereto, each additional verse rhyming with the second line of the original couplet. Hence, the new pattern of rhyme will be: AAAAA: BBBBA: CCCCA: DDDDA, etc.85 Here is a paraphrase of the last stanza of Edgar Poe's fanciful Israfel (itself a parody of Near Eastern paradigms), by way of offering at least a remote idea of the tahmfs rhyme-scheme:

If I could dwell In the Paradise of Israfel And he in my Hell, He might not sing so well, While I, too, might make Music in the sky!

Osman Yahia registers only three manuscript sources for the Ta4mfs (r.g. no. 748)86-two in Istanbul (Ms. $ehit Ali 1390/Iff. 173-176 and Ms. Haaz Mahmud 370187/ff 9b-12b) and one in Damascus (Ms. Zdhi-ya 5570/Iff. 29b-30b). There is also a transcript of the Tahmfs in the Beinecke Library at Yale University-Ms. Landberg 33A, ff. 11-12- which I have been able to consult.88 For the most part these sources are adequate, but none of them are early or based on pristine models.

83 For a brief description of the genre, see Elias J.W. Gibb, A History of Ottoman Poetry, E.G. Browne, ed. (London: Luzac, 1900-09), vol. V, p. 93.

84 Namely, the generic use of the name, Burdq, discussed below (see Comments and Companison).

85 The challenge of the ta4mrs is to make the additional material "blend naturally and gracefully with the lines to which it is prefixed; it should so harmonize with these both in feeling and in language that the whole poem appear to be the work of one and the same writer. When this is not achieved, the stanzas have a patchy look, and the result is failure" (EJ.W. Gibb, A History Of Ottoman Poetry, p. 92).

86 See Histoire et classiication, p. 494-95. 87 Formerly known as rahya Efendi 3701. I refer to it hereafter in the notes as H. 88 Hereafter in the notes, L. There is yet another manuscript of the Ta4mfs (which

I have not seen) in the British Museum. It was copied in 1064/1654 (almost the same date as L), and is briefly described by Charles Rieu in his Supplement to the Catalogue of



IBN AL-'ARABT's "CINQUAIN" (TAJIMIS) 81

Zdhiniya 557089 is very late, having been copied in 1298/1881.90 Land- berg 33A was copied in 1066/1655.91 Of the other two, which are undated, 5ehit Ali 139092 is undoubtedly the oldest, and possibly was transcribed as early as the tenth/16th century. It is partially vocalized and has a few marginal corrections. Hacz Mahmud 3701 probably dates from around the twelfth/18th century, and is perhaps the least reliable of the four manuscripts consulted here.93 A very serviceable edition of the Ta4mfs was published in Cairo in 1973 by 'Abd al-Halim Mahmuid in his study, Aba Madyan al-Gawt.94 Although Dr. Mahmuid does not name his manuscript source for this (nor for any of the other texts provided), it was evidently as good as the others I have mentioned. Cornell has edited and translated Abui Madyan's portion of the text,95 and, finally, the entire Ta4mTs was translated some time ago by 'Aisha 'Abd al-Rahman al-Tarjumana.96 In my own translation I have not felt it necessary to be very literal since I am also providing the Arabic text. I have used the archaic second-person pronoun in the older portion of the poem (italicized) to suggest some flavor of the more old-fashioned diction of Abua Madyan.

*

Ibn al-'Arabi's "Cinquain" (Ta4mis) on a Poem by Abui Madyan97

1.) 0 Seeker of fulfilment from the pleasures of the world,98 If you would like a trustworthy Advisor to show [you]

the Arabic Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: Longmans, 1894), p. 795-96 (no. 1236/13, ff. 205b-207).

89 Hereafter, Z. 9 See f. 29b (in the colophon of a transcript of Ibn al-'Arabi's K Nusbat al-haqq). 91 See Leon Nemoy, Arabic Manuscripts in the Yale University Library (New Haven:

Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1956), p. 45, no. 291. 92 Hereafter, S. 93 There is some relation between H and Z, on the one hand, and, perhaps, between

S and the source of the Cairo edition (see next note), on the other. 94 Cited in n. 45, above. The poem is on p. 80-86.

In Way, p. 162-65. In SeW Knowledge: Commentaries on Sufi Songs (Norwich: Diwan, 1978), p. 3-5. Her

translation of this (and 'Ata' al-L-.h al-Iskandari's sarh of Abui Madyan's poem) is based on the texts provided in Mahmuld's 1973 edition (see above, n. 45).

97 In each stanza of five lines the last two are actually the hemistichs of a single verse of the original qasTda of twenty-two verses by Abiu Madyan. The first three lines (hemistichs) are the elaboration of Ibn al-'Arabi forming the ta4mfs, or "cinquain" (mubammas). The metre of the original poem and the ta4mis is al-Basit.

98 Lit., "O seeker of an object from the delights of the nether worlds".



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All that is best for you, then hear the message [I will give]: There is no pleasure in lfe but the friendship of the Poor;99 7hey are the [real] Sultans and the Sayyids and Amfrs.100

2.) A People who approve what's simple in their apparel And [their] food-the world to their thinking is of no concern, Their hearts being free of [Satanic] intimations.'0'

So be friends to them and be well-bred in their company, And leaveyour wealth behind whenever they might send you forth!

3.) Travel on their Path if you would be their follower; Relinquish your requirements; be careful to consult them In all that they may have in mind, and seek their benefits:

Seize the moment'l02 and be present, always, in their company; Know that Contentment is for him who is present [with them]. 103

4.) Be content with them and you will rise through them and arrive. If they establish you, persist; if they abolish, desist. Should they keep food from you, then fast; if they feed you, feast.

Keep silent unless thou be questioned, then just give reply: "I have no Knowledge'"-and be hidden in Unknowingness.

5.) Do not be a critic of the faults of [other] people, Even if [a fault] appear plainly to all existence. Look with the eye of Completeness, [and] blame not anyone;

See not imperfection except regarded as in thee, -A fault appearing clearly, although it be concealed.

6.) Thus shall you obtain any wish that you might hope for. Subject your lower-soul to them with all submissiveness;

Al-fuqard': the Siifi?s, the "spiritual poor" of Matt. 5: 3. Biographical sources suggest that charges brought against Abii Madyan to the

Almohad authorities included his referring to his disciples as "sultans" (see above, p. 79). The word, umard', here is possibly meant to denote the Siifis as the true Adamic "caliphs", or bulafj' al-LAh (= umard' al-mu'mintn), a title the Almohad rulers had already arrogated to themselves.

'01 Wasdwisu-hum: "their anxieties", which are caused by the Satanic tempter, who whispers (waswasa) in the hearts of mankind (see Qyr. 114: 4-5).

102 Wa-stagnimi 1-waqta: "take full advantage of the present moment", be alive to all of the reality of each integral experience.

103 Or: "who attends [their sessions]".



IBN AL-'ARABI'S "CINQUAIN" (TAtIMIS) 83

Truly, that submission does duty for courtesy:'04 Bow thine head, seeking forgiveness without hope of means, And base thysef on Justice when thou mak'st apology.

7.) If you would have a Buraq'05 from them for the Path, then keep Constantly on guard against actions that they detest, And cause your soul to persevere in willing good actions.

If a fault of thine appear, acknowledge it and make Thine apology to be for what proceeds from thee.

8.) Give them adulation, saying: "Heal with your peace-making By the salve of your pardon the wound you have inflicted!'06 I am an evil-doer; give me your unmixed Counsel."'07

Say: "Your least servant is more worthy ofyour forgiveness, But forbear and adhere to kindness, 0 ye Mendicants!"

9.) Do not fear them if you sin; their high-minded Intention'08 Is more sublime [than] that their intimacy should kill you! They are not tyrants whose authority will ever harm you:

7hf are more worthy offavor-it is their disposition; So dread not evil consequence or injuy from them.

10.) If you've set your heart on them, then tread the Path of Guidance. In that which they require of you be ever diligent; In the light of your day beware of saying "Tomorrow. ..

"Courtesy": adab (here, adab al-suhba, the courtesy due to a teaching sayh). 105 This is a reference to al-Buraq, the phantastic mount, larger than a donkey but

smaller than a horse (according to later descriptions, it was a mare with a woman's head and the tail of a peacock) with which tradition invested the Prophet Muhammad for his "night-flight" (isrd') from Mecca to Jerusalem and his mystical ascent (mi'rda) thence to the highest heavens (cf Quzr. 17: 1). The term used here is in the diminu- tive forn (burayq), indicating a due saintly subordination to prophetic prerogatives. Even so, the generic usage of the termn in Ibn al-'Arabi's writings is quite bold (see below, Comments and Comparison).

106 Lit., ". . . the malady of your wound". The poet asks for relief from the grief of remorse caused by the Sifts' call to repentance and return to the brotherhood of God's true servants.

107 The analogy of a physical/moral disease which the Sai'fs treat with the salve or potion of their absolution/advice is developed through the three preceding lines.

108 The himma (intention, aspiration, etc.) is a concentrated state of spiritual integrity which may become manifest as a mode of psychic energy bringing about apparently miraculous effects. In what follows, the point is to assure the sinner that the saints' himma is too sublime for it to ever be turned to destructive ends.



84 GERALD ELMORE

Let thy generosiy toward the Brethren be endless In body and in spirit; but if one slips, pay no mind.

11.) Speak the truth sincerely to them, do not use the profane, Because they are people of Truth-Overlords and Leaders, -And forgive each one of them who may have done you wrong.

Observe the Master carefully in [all] his States: Perhaps A trace of his approval will be shown for thy sake.

12.) Ask of him his prayer [of intercession]-you will have it; By it you'll obtain all that you hope for through his blessing.'09 Trust [in him] and recognize the right of his holiness."0

Give precedence to earnestness, and rise to his service; Maybe he will be pleased, but watch for [his] displeasure.

13.) Observe his admonition, augment his patronage, Respond to him without delay if he should summon [you]; And whisper confidentially in order to obey him,

For in pleasing and obeying him is God's pleasure. WMen he is pleased with thee, beware of giving up [his pleasure].

14.) Cleave to one whose lower-soul is one well-regulated"' in your time; for, verily, the lower-soul despairs of [the Siifls], while their craft in the world counts for little."2

Know that the Path of the Kindred"3 is [all but] efaced, And the state of him who affects it today is as thou see'st.

15.) I am entitled to their love though they remain aloof; I am in constant sorrow on account of their absence [And] my separation from them after their friendship.

When will I behold them? and wherefore shall I have sight of them Or my ear come to experience some news of them?

'09 That is, his baraka (blessing, benediction; spiritual power). "1 Hurma: "holiness, sanctity, inviolability", etc. Cf the first saying of Abui Madyan

quoted in n. 47, above. "' Musayisa (see R. Dozy, Supplement aux dictionnaires arabes [Leiden: Brill, 1881], s.v.

sdyasa). 112 The Sififs' hirfa (vocation, profession, craft) has as little to do with the social world

as it does with the nafs. 1a3 Twiq al-qawm: "the way of the Siifts".



IBN AL-'ARABT'S "CINQUAIN" (TAIMIS) 85

16.) My falling back is what prevents me from adapting to them. I left them, so blame me; I am not one who will blame them. 14

O Lord, grant me goodness that I might join them in friendship! Who is for me? And how should the likes of me jostle them Over well-springs in which I did not cause turbidiy?

17.) The calculation of their feats is beyond comprehension; Their outward forms give indication of what is within. Obedience to God in this world is their chief glory.

I love them, I offer them blandishments, I adore them With the life of my soul-especially one pary of them."5

18.) A People who by their good deeds are leaders of mankind,"6 And whose companion learns from them the ways of courtesy, While he who falls behind them has a wretched destiny.

A People noble in nature-wherever they may sit, 7he place ever remains fragrant by virtue of their traces.

19.) So love them, do not part from them, but increase in ardor. If you lag behind them, then weep in sorrow [at your loss]: A group by whom the young man"7 is attired in honor,

From their morals Suifism bestows exquisite treasures; Beautiful uni4 is theirs, delighfiul to behold!

20.) The hem of my glory in them I trailed in passion When they approved me as a servant in passion for them And their right (for as regards their passion I am not doubted).

Of my love thg are possessed, they are my friends, who are Among those who will trail the hems of gloy most proudly.

21.) In poetry I rent my heart to pieces in passion, And I besought the Lord in aspiration for them,

114 An allusion to Ibn al-'Arab!'s espousal of the Maldmf tenet that the man of God should seek the blame, or censure (maldma), of men of the world.

1' J\fafar here could possibly signify one individual or, what I think is more likely in this case, a party or group (numbering fewer than ten). Abui Madyan's reference is undoubtedly to his closest teachers and adherents.

116 At this point the order of stanzas in H and Z is 19, 21, 18, 20 and 22. 117 Al-fatd. Cornell has drawn attention to the influence of the Eastern-based-fitfiwa

movement on Siifism in the Magrib (in Way, p. 24-26 and 33, et aL).



86 GERALD ELMORE

That God might forgive me and [all] the Faithful"8 with me. My union with them shall abide in God, a place of meeting, And in Him our sin shall be pardoned andforgiven.

22.) 0 all whom the Caller embraces in our gathering, Pray to the Deity through them to wipe out [all] our sins, And pray for the Elaborator of this worthy poem!"9

Then may [God's] blessing be upon the Chosen One, our Lord, Muhammad, the best of those who fu//illed and who vowed!

Comments and Comparison

The quasi-technical terms used or alluded to by Abui Madyan in the oldest strata of the poem include the following: sultan, sayyid, amTr, faqir,

sayh, 'ubayd, 4idma, yu4ba, maglis, waqt, muhga, atar, adab, 4d1, gidd, ri.d, samt, td'a, tasawwuf; ta'alluf; tafaddul, tafatt1n., i'tiddr, i'tirdf ftihdr, igtjar, istiefar, isti4sdn, 'afiv, sajh., yul4 a4ldq, insdf; dayl al-'izz, i/w&n, abdb, taraq al-qawm, qawm kiram al-sagaya, ahl wudd-F, al-Bari, al-Lah, al-Muhtdr (Muhammad). Of these, the only very unusual usages are the first three (see above, page 82 [Stanza 1] and page 79). The original qasida of twenty-two verses could be described as a fairly typical instance of a religious gazal (love lyric) turned to the purpose of praising the Suff movement, then undergoing an incipient phase of organization in the Magrib. As a poem, its primary virtue (so far as a non-native speaker of Arabic can discover) is its sense of earnest longing and an austere honesty to purpose.

In Ibn al-'Arabi's reworking of Abiu Madyan's poem these qualities have been nullified by the very nature of the ta4mfs genre, which elab- orates the structure and attenuates the meaning-hopefully, with a view to introducing some new melopoeic rhythm or menopoeic subtlety of distinction. Through Stanzas 5-9, for example, where the original verses develop the simple idea of confessing one's unworthiness before the community, Ibn al-'Arab! has done his best to meet the challenge, but, I think, not entirely successfully (especially in Stanza 7). Stanzas 11-14, devoted to honoring the sayh, are well done, however, and 15-21, which

118 Al-mu'minina (in S). H and Z appear to read al-mudnibina (the sinners, the evil- doers [acc.]), and L and the Cairo, 1973 edition have al-muslimtna (the Muslims).

19 Lit., "and pray for the one who made the excellent original [of this poem] into a tahmts".



IBN AL-'ARABI'S "CINQUAIN" (TAIJMIS) 87

relate to the ideal brotherhood in absentia, are only somewhat less so. Ibn al-'Arab!, of course, has also employed (cognates of) many of

the same terms noted above- for example, sayyid, 'ubayd, maglis, suba, adab, td'a, qawn and tariq. Of the terminology that he has introduced, the following are the most notable: burayq, baraka, da'wa, 4urma, iirfa, himma, 'i.sba, Vra, igtihdd, ra'is,fat' and haw"'.'20 The use of baraka (blessing) and da'wa (prayer of intercession) in Stanza 12 could be seen as an effort to feature suitably Magribine concepts in the tmfs. (It is my impression that, normally, Ibn al-'Arab! seems to use the word, baraka, less frequently than other Late-Classical writers, especially in the Magrib). Another usage that may point to the Ma4ribf provenance of the poem is the Form III participle, musayisa (well-regulated, managed, conserved), applied to the soul of the worthy s.ayh in Stanza 14. As this word is only attested in Dozy's Supplrnent of all the western dictionaries that I have seen, perhaps it is a specifically Andalusian usage.

The lexical item that most compellingly points to Ibn al-'Arabi's authorship of the Tahmms is burayq (< al-Buraq) in Stanza 7. This generic, technical usage of the name for the Prophet Muhammad's fabulous mount (see note 105) is typical of Ibn al-'Arabi's penchant for appropriating terms and concepts from related fields (in this case, the Pro- phetary &ra) to serve in his vast, syncretistic mystical-metaphysical system."2' Thus, in the K al-Isfar 'an natd'ig al-asjfar, burdq is made to be a metonym for the "righteous action, or virtuous act" (al-'amal al- sdlih) which is, in some way, the ascending counterpart to the "trustworthy spirit", or Angel Gabriel.'22 In later poetic traditions, especially in the Masriq, the image of al-Buraq became conflated with other leg- endary celestial vehicles, such as the s-murg, or 'anqa' mugrib (fabulous gryphon), and the rafraf, a kind of flying cushion (see Siura LV:76),'23 and this process is probably already at work in such early Magribine writings of Ibn al-'Arabl as the K 'Anqa' mugrib, where the kerubic

120 Other terms introduced by Ibn al-'Arabi include: dunyd, wuVd, fi'l, hagis, .adr, qalb, 'ayn, kamnil, 'ayb, danb, arab, riba, dull, isd'a, gabbar, satwa, tamalluq, huda, haqq (used in the sense of both "truth" and "right"), sam4, nush, was.ya, ri'aya, nagw&a, ulfa, yald4, manfa'a, ma'tara, maJ4ara, bdtina, zdhira, tdbi, gatis, nddin, ahl sidq, mu'miniin, al-Rabb, al-Mawld, al-Ildh.

21 Some noted Ibn al-'Arabi's less innocuous practice of appropriating prophetic prerogatives for the Safi' awlyad'.

122 See Rasd'il Ibn al-'Arabf (Hyderabad, 1948), risala no. 24, p. 2 (cf p. 17, 1. 6, et al.). 123 See Annemarie Schimmel, And Muhammad Is His Messenger: 7The Veneration of the

Prophet in Islamic Piey (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1985), p. 159-75.



88 GERALD ELMORE

'anqd'-garnuq is apparently assimilated to the Angel Gabriel as the "messenger of inspiration" (furdniq al-ilham) in the opening, key-note poem.'24 Both al-Buraq and the rafraf are likened to the genuine Muhammadan saint's knowledge in Ibn al-Arabi's Tdg al-taragzm.'25

In my opinion, Ibn al-'Arabi's elaboration cannot be said to make any real improvement on Abui Madyan's qaoda, either substantively or, much less, stylistically. As poetry, the directness and simplicity of the original verses have been sacrificed largely for a vain tour de force in verbal cleverness. Even doctrinally Ibn al-'Arabi's performance does not size up to expectations, failing to take the opportunity to furnish any major new insights. For the most part, his additional lines merely fore- shadow or bolster the obvious motifs of the underlying poem, and rarely is any attempt made to give a striking new turn to any phrase or line of thought-the only real justification for the tahmFs genre, after all.

124 K. 'Anqa' mujrib ft hatm al-awliya' wa-srams a1-ma4rib (Cairo: Matba'at Muhammad 'Ali SabiIh, 1954), p. 3, v. 9. Buraq is described as Ibn al-'ArabV's "inseparable companion" in his spiritual journey on p. 65, v. 5.

25 See Rasd'il, n'sala no. 18, p. 19.



IBN AL-'ARABI'S "CINQUAIN" (TAIJMIS) 89

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Documents

Arabica Volume 46 Issue 1 1999 [Doi 10.2307%2F4057250] Gerald Elmore -- Ibn Al-ʿArabī's Cinquain (Taḫmīs) on a Poem by Abū Madyan