Splitting the Moon: A Collection of Islamic Poetry

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Words in praise of the tribe ( qit'ah) and lampoons denigrating other tribes ( hija') seem to have been some of the most popular forms of early poetry. If like Jesus, stripped of all and pure, you ascend to heaven's sphere, from your lantern a hundred rays will reach to light the sun itself. Many of the tales in the One Thousand and One Nights are also love stories or involve romantic love as a central theme, including the frame story of Scheherazade, and many of the stories she narrates, such as " Aladdin," " Ali Baba," " The Ebony Horse" and " The Three Apples.

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In the tawil the first line was fourteen syllables, the second thirteen, making twenty-seven in total.

Professor Joel Hayward's deep wisdom and thought are beautifully reflected in these lines of poetry. The notion of the "ennobling power" of love was developed in the early 11th century by the Persian psychologist and philosopher, Ibn Sina (known as "Avicenna" in English), in his Arabic treatise Risala fi'l-Ishq ( Treatise on Love).Muhammad was criticized in his time as “a Jinn-ridden poet,” but the Prophet understood himself not as a poet but as a thoughtful messenger of God bringing truth to the world. Despite his tough childhood and the loss of his good friend the vast majority of his work is characterised by the affirmation of life in all its beauty. Hashem stated, "Islamic art is a modern concept created by art historians in the 19th century to facilitate categorization and study of the material first produced under the Islamic peoples that emerged from Arabia in the seventh century" ( Deen). Rumi's aptitude for learning was spotted early, and as young as twelve he had been given to study some of the great mystical, ethical, mathematical and astronomical texts of the day. Indeed, even today books of his poetry are widely read, and are very easy to get hold of in English.

The Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (SAW) said, “Indeed some forms of speech are magical,” [Bukhari], and “Indeed there is wisdom in some forms of poetry,” [Bukhari], meaning that words can have a spellbinding effect and can captivate the hearts of people. If a steamer leaves with my friends on sea or land, why should I direct my complaints to the camels?The poems are by turn enlightening, enchanting, and informative; they evoke deep emotion, wonder and delight but also sadness and profound shame (which Hayward also clearly feels) at the cruelty and ignorance found within extremists who lurk at all edges of society. Islamic poetry, and notably Sufi poetry, has been written in many languages including Urdu and Turkish. The precursor to this style became the Lebanese-Egyptian poet and journalist Khalil Mutran, more in his crirical works. Dr Joel Hayward's career highlights include having being Dean of the prestigious Royal Air Force College for five years and head of a King's College London academic division for six years.