Review

Reviewed Work(s): Heart's Witness by Bernd Manuel Weischer and Peter Lamborn Wilson
Review by: S. Vahiduddin
Source: Philosophy East and West, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Apr., 1982), pp. 221-222
Published by: University of Hawai'i Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1398724
Accessed: 06-08-2018 17:44 UTC

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221

becomes
becomes very
very
thin.thin.
The concluding
The concluding
chapter brings
chapter
out thebrings
emotional
outdimension
the emotional
of Sufism.dimension of Sufism.
The
Thewriter
writerconcludes
concludes
that the
that
gnosis
theof gnosis
God is not
ofpossible
God iswithout
not possible
love or devotion.
without love or devotion.
In
Inthe
theend
end
it must
it must
be conceded
be conceded
that Mir Valiuddin's
that Mirwork,
Valiuddin's
inspite ofwork,
its limitations,
inspitehas
of its limitations, has
an
anenduring
enduringvalue.
value.
It gives
Itinformation
gives information
which is notwhich
availableiselsewhere.
not available
Both in elsewhere.
style and Both in style and
content
content it is
ita is
good
a good
specimen
specimen
of a formof
of aSufic
formthought
of Sufic
which thought
has found favor
which in the
has found favor in the
Indian
Indian subcontinent,
subcontinent,
even ineven
circlesinwhich
circles
are wary
whichof Sufism.
are wary
In any
ofcase
Sufism.
the mystic
In any case the mystic
thought
thought andand
devotional
devotional
piety which
pietyValiuddin
whichrepresents
Valiuddin
is superior
represents
to easyissecularism
superior to easy secularism
and
andlegalistic
legalistic
fundamentalism.
fundamentalism.

S. VAHIDUDDIN

Indian Institute of Islamic Studies

Heart's Witness. Translated by Bernd Manuel Weischer and Peter Lamborn Wilson.
Tehran: Imperial Iranian Academy, 1978, Pp. 178. Price not given.

Sufism is a many splendored dome to which the best approach is through the poetry which
it inspired and the anecdotes, no matter whether they are apocryphal or authentic, which
have accumulated round the charismatic figure of the Master during his lifetime and
continued to swell even after his death. Sufic experience formulated as a doctrine can be
very misleading and may give rise to conflicting interpretations and controversies. The
monumental work of Ibn 'Arabi illustrates it very eloquently. Fortunately we have in
Awhaduddin Kirman, no theoretician of mysticism, a poet who has given expression to
his ecstatic experience in quatrains or rubd'is, a form of poetic composition with which we
have become familiar through Fitzgerald's all too free rendering of 'Omar Khayyam.
Brevity is the soul of the quatrains and surprisingly enough a ruba't can transmit mystic
experience with all its depth in a few verbal intimations. The difficulty with Kirmani,
however, is that much that is attributed to him is not his, and many other quatrains are to
be found in the works of other writers. Some of these nevertheless show the impact of his
genius unmistakably. This seems to be specially true, as it is pointed out, of the quatrains
which are given in the last section.
Kirmani was deeply influenced by the monistic thought of Ibn 'Arabi. God does not
reveal Himself unveiled but through the veil of creation. Human beauty serves as the best
medium through which the divine may reveal itself. Though the hululi or incarnationist
tendencies were imputed to him as to some other Sufis, Ibn 'Arabi did not believe in the
incarnation of the divine in human form. It is only the reflection of the "Divine Essence"
in creation which provokes ecstasy, and yet its poetic expression gave rise to mis-
understandings. But although Awhaduddin Kirmani's preference for the "beardless
youth" as the locus of divine revelation gave rise to stories which shocked his fellow Sufis,
his poetic utterances as recorded in the collection before us have nothing shocking about
them. The similarity with the Platonic vision of beauty is striking, and we cannot but agree
with Ritter that "contemplation of God's beauty in a handsome youth or boy is in the
semitic cultural context, a foreign body". Corbin's attempt to find the justification of this
practice in an alleged saying of the prophet cannot stand close analysis.

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222 Book Reviews

The translations
translations presented
presented in
in this
this volume
volumeare
arenot
notof
ofcourse
course"strictly
"strictlyliteral"
literal"but
buttry
try
t
recreate
recreate the
the experience
experience which
which inspired
inspiredthe
thepoems.
poems.ItItmay
maybe
benoted
notedthat
thatwords
wordsused
used
ini
poetry have
have their
their associations
associations and
and for
forthis
thisreason
reasonthe
thetranslation
translationofofa apoetic
poeticwork
worki
wellnigh
wellnigh impossible,
impossible, association
association of
of poetic
poeticwords
wordsparallel
paralleltotothe
theoriginal
originalcan
canhardly
hardlyb
found. Anyhow
Anyhow what
what is
is implicit
implicit in
inthe
theoriginal
originalcannot
cannotbe
bemade
madeexplicit
explicitininthe
thetranslation,
translation
as it is likely
likely to
to narrow
narrow down
down the
the vision
visionand
andgive
givea atwist
twistwhich
whichmight
mightnot
nothave
havebee
be
intended.
intended. For
For example
example while
while Shahid
Shahid(the
(thebeloved)
beloved)in
inthe
theoriginal
originalleaves
leavesopen
openthe
thespecifi
speci
cation of
of sex,
sex, the
the translators
translators have
have thought
thoughtititfit
fitto
torender
renderititasas"a"apretty
prettyboy."
boy."Yet
Yetapar
ap
from the
the limitations
limitations which
which are
are inherent
inherentin
inany
anywork
workof
oftranslation
translationthe
theskill
skillwith
withwhich
whichtht
translation
translation is
is done
done and
and success
success which
whichisisachieved
achievedin
incapturing
capturingthe
thespirit
spiritofofthe
theorigina
origin
deserves
deserves appreciation.
appreciation. The
The following
followingverses
versesshow
showboth
boththe
theSutfi
Sutfipoet
poetand
andhis
histranslators
translators
ata
their best.
best. They
They may
may serve
serve also
also as
as aafitting
fittingreply
replyto
tothe
thecritics
criticsfrom
fromhis
hisown
ownSufi
Su
brotherhood who dubbed him as incarnationist:

"My soul
the body of the
transcendent Witness,
Soul

in my breast
his bright form.
That lovely face
you call 'the one
who reveals'
is not
the Witness himself
but his dwelling place. (Page 165)

The book is warmly recommended to all lovers of mysticism and poetry.

S. VAHIDUDDIN

Indian Institute of Islamic Studies

Women in Buddhism: Images of the Feminine in Mahayana Tradition. By Diana Pau

Berkeley, California: Asian Humanities Press, 1979. Pp. x + 333.

It is indeed difficult to extract philosophical issues from social-cultural case studies an

religious texts. However, in seeking to explore the interrelationships between, and mutu
influence of, varieties of sexual stereotypes and religious views of the Mahayana Buddhis
tradition, Diana Paul's Women in Buddhism does succeed in drawing our attention t
matters of philosophical importance. Paul examines the "images" of women which arise
in a number of Buddhist texts associated with Mahayana and finds that, while ideally th
tradition purports to be egalitarian, in actual practice it often betrayed a strong misogy
nist prejudice. Sanskrit and Chinese texts are organized by theme and type, progressin
from those which treat the traditionally orthodox and negative to those which set forth a
positive consideration of soteriological paths for women. Thus, two basic leitmotif

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