The Wine of Love and Life.

• Author: Frenkel, Yehoshua
• Position: The Wine of Love and Life: Ibn al-Farid 's al-Khamriyah and al-Quysari's Quest far Meaning - Book review

The Wine of Love and Life: Ibn al-Farid 's al-Khamriyah and al-Quysari's Quest far Meaning. By TH. EMIL HOMERIN. Chicago Studies on the Middle East. Chicago: THE MIDDLE EAST DOCUMENTATION CENTER, 2005. Pp. xxvi + 60, 64. $59.95.

Ibn al-Farid is a celebrated mystic and poet who attracted attention already during his lifetime (586-632/1181-1235). Nasir al-Din al-Khui al-Qunawi mentions that during his visit to Ayyubid Egypt (in 643/1245-46) he Studied Ibn al-Farid's Nazm al-suluk ("Poem of" the [Sufi Way"). In his verses Ibn al-Farid combined topics familiar to readers of early Arabic poetry, i.e., wine, longing, and love; yet the object of these stanzas is not the dearly loved girl whose tribe has migrated, as in the early qasa'id but God.

Ibn al-Farid's fame was established during the Mamluk period. A comparative examination of medieval biographies about him illuminates the development of his image. While the early stories of his life depict him as a Sufi poet with negligible religious function, late hagiographical writings describe him as a saint, in a style common to Sufi biographical dictionaries. Tins presentation of Ibn al-Farid as a dervish graced with miraculous powers indicates the impact that his grandson (sibt) 'Ali had upon later generations of Muslim authors with his account (dibaja) of his grandfather's life.

The Mamluk centuries witnessed the reception of Ibn al-Farid's poetry in lands beyond the boundaries of the sultanate. He became a renowned Sufi poet, not only among Arabs hut also among Persians and Turks. The reception of Ibn al-Farid's elaborate poetry by multiple audiences reflects not only the networks of transmission, but also the social circumstances of the receivers. No wonder that some 'ultima' opposed the cult of Ibn al-Farid. Yet their resistance failed to stop the dissemination of his poetry.

Ibn al-Farid's fame spread even beyond the Near East. His poems attracted attention in Western Europe, and even in recent times, popular as well as scholarly interest in his verses has not diminished. All this goes to explain why one scholar has portrayed him as "by far the greatest mystical poet in Arabic literature" (A. J. Arberry. Sufism: An Account of the Mystics of Islam. 94).

In recent years Homerin has published several studies on Ibn al-Farid and his reception. The book under review makes available the influential commentary on Ibn al-Farid's '"Wine Ode" by Dawud al-Qaysari" (first half of the eighth/fourteenth...