Sacred love poems of the Mideast have been known to strategically present spiritual guidance and love towards God. Jalal-ad Din Rumi and Judah Halevi are both poets of the Mideast that address God in their writing as a divine creature that provides guidance. Even though both poets come from different religious backgrounds, Rumi focusing on Islam and Halevi on Jewish faith, both the poets illustrate a love toward God in their respective pieces. This can be further seen in Rumi’s, “The Wine Everlasting”, and one of Halevi’s Hebrew poems (15). Although Rumi and Halevi similarly portray the communities’ efforts to be closer with God and their love for him, Rumi’s poem is more focused on facts and reasoning whereas Halevi’s poem centralizes on blind …show more content…
Rumi states, “while they soul is drunk with mere date wine, thy spirit hath not tasted the genuine grapes. For the token of thy having seen that divine Light is this, to withdraw thyself from the house of pride,” (Rumi). Rumi suggests that in order to become closer with God and see the divine light, one much taste the genuine grapes, a divine drink, and withdraw himself from his prideful, ego-self. That is when man will become genuinely humble. He will be full of wisdom and will be more connected with the earth. This process of letting go of one’s self or the undoing of individuality in order to recognize god is called Fana. Likewise, Rumi also states, “When those Egyptian women sacrificed their reason … They were filled with wisdom of the world without end,” (Rumi). Rumi further presents an example of Fana, where these Egyptian women sacrifice their reasoning and doubt to devote themselves to God’s love and beauty. After they gave up any doubt, they were full of wisdom and were able to become closer with God. The Egyptian women gave up there will and ego-self, in blind devotion to God, similar to Halevi’s Hebrew poem (15). Both these specific poems address a blind faith and devotion to God; however, the second half of, “The Wine Everlasting”, Rumi places authority on sight and reasoning unlike Halevi’s Hebrew poem which is entirely based on blind faith and no
The poem “The Beginning of the Song that Diverts the Heart” has an ancient origin and was translated by Michael Fox who has practical experience in literature and thought about the Hebrew Bible. He likewise works in Egyptian writings, which are similar to the origin of the poem "The Beginning of the Song that Diverts the Heart." Moreover, he got a Ph.D. in Egyptology, Semitics, and Bible from the Hebrew University. Additionally, he is right now a Professor of Hebrew at the University of Wisconsin. Originally, the poem has a basis of painting depicted on the walls by the early Egyptian artisans. From the works of art on the walls inside the old tombs, we can set up that essentially nude women
Writing Women's Worlds is some stories on the Bedouin Egyptian people. In this book, thwe writer Lia Adu-Lughod's stories differ from the conventional ones. While reading, we discover the customs and values of the Bedouin people.
Many authors have employed the religious beliefs of their cultures in literature. The deities contained in Homer’s Odyssey and in the Biblical book of Exodus reflect the nature of the gods in their respective societies. Upon examination of these two works, there are three major areas where the gods of the Greek epic seem to directly contrast the nature of the God of the Israelites: the way problems are solved, the prestige and status that separates the divine from the masses, and the extent of power among the immortal beings.
Literature shows us the changes of our society from time to time. It also gives us an idea about people, culture, politics, gender traditions, as well as an overall view of previous civilizations. As a part of literature, poetry introduces us to different cultures with different perspectives. Ancient Egypt and ancient China may differ in terms of culture, politics, economic stability, tradition, or even in religious belief. However, in poetry, especially in love lyrics both Egyptian and Chinese poems portray common area of describing women, social attitudes toward love, sexuality and the existence of romance or selfishness in relationships. . If we look at the Egyptian poem “My god, my Lotus” and the Chinese poem “Fishhawk”, we will see both poems have similarities in describing relationships. Also, they have the similarity of imagining the lovers and their expression of love toward each other. However, both poems have some significant differences in terms of representing female sexuality, gender disparity and the display of love.
In the short story “Araby,” James Joyce uses religious and biblical allusions to portray a young narrator’s feelings about a girl. Through these allusions, readers gather an image of the narrator’s adoration of his friend’s, Mangan’s, sister. James Joyce’s allusions to the Bible and religion relate to the idolized image the narrator has of a girl.
The lyric poems in the ancient times are presented in the first person point of view. Since lyric poetry expresses the personal and emotional feelings of a speaker, Sappho’s poems, Abu Nawar’s verses, Egyptian poems, and Neo-Christian Aztec poems explore the emotions of the speakers as they describe their culture, lifestyle, and tradition. These verses depict the passion, love, and perspectives of the ancient civilizations
The author addresses the issue of virginity, sexuality, marriage, divorce, body image, and religion. Satrapi’s opens with the matriarch of the family, grandma the opium addict and her youthful stories. Embroideries argued the feminist perspective of agency between the patriarchy traditions of the Iranian culture and the female body. I focus my respond to common thread throughout the book, agency verses tradition. Satrapi presents thirteen-year-old Parvine, who is told she has to marry a 69 years old man, General Mafakherolmolouk.
Robinson, B. A. (2008, March 30). Books of the Hebrew Scripture . Retrieved May 7, 2011, from Religious Tolerance: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_otb3.htm
Collins, John J. A Short Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007.
Throughout “Araby”, the main character experiences a dynamic character shift as he recognizes that his idealized vision of his love, as well as the bazaar Araby, is not as grandiose as he once thought. The main character is infatuated with the sister of his friend Mangan; as “every morning [he] lay on the floor in the front parlour watching her door…when she came on the doorstep [his] heart leaped” (Joyce 108). Although the main character had never spoken to her before, “her name was like a summons to all [his] foolish blood” (Joyce 108). In a sense, the image of Mangan’s sister was the light to his fantasy. She seemed to serve as a person who would lift him up out of the darkness of the life that he lived. This infatuation knew no bounds as “her image accompanied [him] even in places the most hostile to romance…her name sprang to [his] lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which [he] did not understand” (Joyce 109). The first encounter the narrator ex...
As Ghalib believed in unity of God he mentioned “we believe in the unity of God for them our message is: abandon your rituals.” Indeed, he had a very different relation with the God. Readers often found him acted like a stubborn child with the God. His poetry gave the impression of the affectionate relation with the Creator. In his poetic verses, he used complaints and suggestions as the intense expression of the deep love, for example he wrote “Dear God, if there are punishments for the sins committed, there should also be reward for the sins carved, but not committed.”Along with that, he extended the dramatic images of deep sorrow and depression and used the vivid images to his depression, for instance “the foothold Lord, for desire’s second step? I found this barren world, this wilderness of possibilities to be an imprint ...
In the novel Woman at Point Zero the author, Nawal El Saadawi, retells the life story of Firdaus, the main character, a tragic hero who rebels against the social norms within her oppressive culture seeking the same respect and prestige that is bestowed upon her male oppressors, only to be executed for her attempt to obtain the same privileges as men. This essay will demonstrate how the aspects and expectations of Egyptian culture influence Firdaus’s decisions as she struggles to be her own woman in a society controlled by dictatorial political and patriarchal structures all while exposing the evident discontentment she has with the way Egyptian society views women, and the glorification of things that go against ideal societal structures.
‘Return of the Pharaoh’ is the English version of the prison memoir of Zainab al-Ghazali. The book aims to expose to the world the cruelties and savagery she had to suffer at the hands of the Nasir regime. Zainab al-Ghazali was one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and the founder of the Muslim Ladies Group. While the Brotherhood held a pan-Islamic view and worked towards incorporating Islam as a way of life rather than a religion, the Muslim Ladies Group trained women for the same purpose and also participated in welfare and relief activities. The title of the book is extremely interesting; it reflects the utter contempt the author holds Nasir in, and vice versa. Her hatred is so strong that she calls him a “Pharaoh”, an ancient Egyptian king who declared he was God and persecuted people who believed otherwise. The title is not only attractive and intriguing, but also appropriate, for the book demonstrates many of Nasir’s qualities that bring him on par with Pharaoh himself. For instance, instead of swearing by Allah’s name as most Muslims do, Nasir’s associates swear “by (the might of) Nasir”, as if HE were their god. Nasir also believes in eliminating all opposition just like Pharaoh did. He imprisons, persecutes and eventually kills many Brotherhood members and their sympathizers. Although Muslim by name, Nasir was opposed to all those who carry the message of Islam and seek to establish it in their lives. The title could not be more appropriate, as the reader gradually finds out.
Symbolism plays a key role in the “Journey of the Magi”, it works in conjunction with the poem’s vivid imagery but is nonetheless the most important point. This poem shows the journey of three magi through tough terrain on their arduous journey. Their journey is split into three different parts, “the coming’, finding, and end” (Gish 194). Each of these parts contain an aspect of symbolism that supports the ending of an old age and the beginning of a new age.
The Prophet is a book of short essays by Kahlil Gibran on a variety of themes ranging from love and marriage to pain and death presented by a character named Almustafa. By using a variety of rhetorical devices such as metaphors, similes, and imagery, he enhances the ideas presented in each section and makes them easier for the reader to comprehend and put into practice. Although written in 1923, all of the themes are still very relevant in today’s world, perhaps even more so.