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Is There a Way? Poem by Uthman Dan Fodio

Beginning the Prayer by Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore

From The Soft Rope We Are by Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore

From the Soft Rope We Are by Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore

The Logic of Love in Muhammad Iqbal and Rabindranath Tagore – Talk by Dr. Hina Khalid

Poetry Book Reading: Peace Be Upon Us by Iljas Baker

Peace Be Upon Us by Iljas Baker

Poetry Book Reading: Scud Missile Blues by Amal Kassir

The Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore Ecstatic Poetry Prize 2024

Friends that were… a poem by Amir Khusrau

Amir Khusrau - Friends that were

“I have turned away from all creation” by Rabia al-Adawiyyah

A poem by Rabia al-Adawiyyah

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Many Sufi poets of West Africa were charismatic, m

Many Sufi poets of West Africa were charismatic, multilingual, multidisciplinary scholars, warriors and mystics who composed poetry in Arabic alongside local West African languages. Many were leaders in the fight against colonialism, and were also considered saints in their own time, renewers of the faith (mujaddids) and spiritual poles (qutbs) of their epoch.

Being able to write well in verse was seen as the sign of a scholar and it was used for everything from making teaching materials more memorable to writing letters, recording events and elegising those who had passed away.

Arabic poetry in West Africa was influenced by the poetic traditions of classical Arabic poetry from the Arabian peninsula and Andalusian poetic forms. It also drew from local oral African poetic and singing traditions, which were themselves in turn influenced by the Arabic poetry being recited and composed in the region.

Poetic virtuosity is highly regarded in West African traditions of writing verse, with challenging forms and rhyme schemes being adopted to display the poet’s skill, such as acrostic poems, internal rhyme schemes, and the mono-rhyme of the traditional qasidah ode. Much poetry also has a devotional aspect and includes prayers, quotes from the Quran and sunnah and stories from the Prophet’s lifetime, and is composed to be recited out loud rather than to just be read.

In the on-demand video on Sufi Poets of West Africa in our poetry membership, we delve into poetry by West African Sufi poets Uthman Dan Fodio, Nana Asma’u, Amadou Bamba and Ibrahim Niasse, also exploring the influence of West African devotional and poetic traditions on the development of the Blues and Gospel singing.

You can join the poetry membership for £5.99/month. Link in bio @lotetreepress

Uthman dan Fodio opens one of his most famous and

Uthman dan Fodio opens one of his most famous and widely recited poems, Al-Dāliyya, written in 1772 (1188AH) when he was just twenty years old, by expressing his longing to visit the Prophet’s tomb in Medina. It is said that he wrote the poem when he was not allowed to accompany those going on a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina.

This month our focus is on West Africa in our poetry membership, delving into poetry by West African Sufi poets Uthman Dan Fodio, Nana Asma’u, Amadou Bamba and Ibrahim Niasse, and also exploring the influence of West African devotional and poetic traditions on the development of the Blues and Gospel singing.

You can join us in the poetry membership for £5.99/month. Link in bio @lotetreepress.

Entries for the Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore Ecstatic P

Entries for the Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore Ecstatic Poetry Competition close 15th December midnight EST. Find more details about how to enter, the prize and judges @sukina_noor and @barakablue in our bios @ecstaticexchangepoetry and @lotetreepress.

Just a few days left to enter the Daniel Abdal-Hay

Just a few days left to enter the Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore Ecstatic Poetry competition. The deadline is midnight on 15th December EST. You can enter using the links in our bios @ecstaticexchangepoetry and @lotetreepress.

Last few days to enter the Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore

Last few days to enter the Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore Ecstatic Poetry Competition. Link in bios @lotetreepress and @ecstaticexchangepoetry to enter. Deadline for entries: 15th December midnight EST.

Free eBook available. Link in bio @lotetreepress

Free eBook available. Link in bio @lotetreepress

Palestinian poetry festivals grew up after the Nakba in 1948 under the imposition of Israeli military rule. At a time when it was difficult to get a book in Arabic due to censorship and the shutting down of Arab printing presses, whole villages would come together to listen to resistance poets, who recorded the injustices perpetrated against the Palestinians in verse and inspired them to dream of a better future. These poets became symbols of the Palestinian struggle and often endured threats, detention, torture and imprisonment for their poetic and political activities.
A History of Palestinian Resistance Poetry explores key events in the history of Palestine and its occupation, giving context to the development of Palestinian poetry and its anti-colonial, communist, socialist, Pan-Arab and nationalist leanings. It looks at the role of poetry in rallying resistance against the British Mandate before 1948 and the hugely popular outlawed Palestinian poetry festivals that grew up in the face of Israeli military rule between 1948-1967. Features of Palestinian resistance poetry after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war are highlighted, along with the symbolism of endurance and steadfastness (ṣumūd) drawn from the natural world and Islamic spirituality.
In A History of Palestinian Resistance Poetry, verses from prominent Palestinian resistance and protest poets, past and present, are woven together with their inspiring life stories. Because Palestinian resistance poets dealt with themes of protest, defiance and revolution, risking significant repressive and punitive retaliation from the authorities, they became cultural icons and symbols of the Palestinian struggle and the injustices they faced. The poets of Palestine continue to this day to record injustices and oppression, and to inspire hope and change through their poetry and activism.

Poem by Ibn Arabi

Poem by Ibn Arabi

Sarāʾir al-Aʿyān Inner Secrets of Essences

Sarāʾir al-Aʿyān
Inner Secrets of Essences
A Muwashshah poem by Ibn Arabi
Translated by R.S. Spiker

Inner secrets of essences shine in existence for those observing
The lover incandescent in ecstasy in consequence starts wailing

By longing emaciated, by insomnia disoriented, says he:
“I no longer comprehend who had things altered when distance approached me”
Servants are bewildered when they are elected by the One and Only
Between proclamation and silence, concealment and divulgence to every being
“Justice I dispense, your avarice intense, idol-worshipping”.

All longing is hard for one who suffers the abasement of the veil
He with a heart who in youth prefers that piety prevail
His Lord will reward; while he who errs must repent and quail
Call on His beneficence, His mercy and munificence: “I am grieving,
Consumed by His absence, without a loved one’s presence, no one aiding.”

I disappeared in Allah from what is apparent to the eye of His creation
In the place of splendour “Where is where?” I cried between His station
“Inattentive you are,” he said - “have you ever spied within His essence a location?
Learn from events, from Qays’ and Ghaylan’s experience, and lives passing
longing in its magnificence - annihilation is its recompense when it encompasses a human being

How many times did they cry: “the one whom I love is I! Who am I?”
No state do I spy nor complaint justify except in love to die
I am not of those who fly from the apple of my eye once come by
Forgetfulness and negligence can find no defence among the knowing
They are not senseless to the Most Merciful’s presence - they are not unthinking

To His bower thence I entered the tree grove of companionship and closeness
Marvelling whence before me the myrtle arose in robes to impress
I bring the incense for the lover’s abode to the gathering in progress

Kharja
Hey Gardener, patience! From the garden’s fragrance start jasmine gathering
But by His benevolence Leave the myrtle’s scents for the lovers’ savouring

Join us on the 27th October at 6pm GMT for a live

Join us on the 27th October at 6pm GMT for a live online sonnet writing workshop.
With roots in the highly Arabised Sicilian court of Frederick II and likely influenced by the Andalusian Muwashshah and Zajal poetic forms, the sonnet has enjoyed enduring appeal in different languages and cultures through many centuries. In this live online workshop we will look at what makes a sonnet and how to write one, followed by time for writing your own sonnet and to share your work with other participants if you wish to. Join our poetry membership for £5.99/month to attend. Link in bio @lotetreepress

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lotetreesufipoetry

Many Sufi poets of West Africa were charismatic, m

Many Sufi poets of West Africa were charismatic, multilingual, multidisciplinary scholars, warriors and mystics who composed poetry in Arabic alongside local West African languages. Many were leaders in the fight against colonialism, and were also considered saints in their own time, renewers of the faith (mujaddids) and spiritual poles (qutbs) of their epoch.

Being able to write well in verse was seen as the sign of a scholar and it was used for everything from making teaching materials more memorable to writing letters, recording events and elegising those who had passed away.

Arabic poetry in West Africa was influenced by the poetic traditions of classical Arabic poetry from the Arabian peninsula and Andalusian poetry forms. It also drew from local oral African poetic and singing traditions, which were themselves in turn influenced by the Arabic poetry being recited and composed in the region.

Poetic virtuosity is highly regarded in the West African traditions of writing verse, with challenging forms and rhyme schemes being adopted to display the poet’s skill, such as acrostic poems, internal rhyme schemes, and the mono-rhyme of the traditional qasidah ode. Much poetry also has a devotional aspect and includes prayers, quotes from the Quran and sunnah and stories from the Prophet’s lifetime, and is composed to be recited out loud rather than to just be read.

In the on-demand video on Sufi Poets of West Africa in our poetry membership, we delve into poetry by West African Sufi poets Uthman Dan Fodio, Nana Asma’u, Amadou Bamba and Ibrahim Niasse, also exploring the influence of West African devotional and poetic traditions on the development of the Blues and Gospel singing.

You can join the poetry membership for £5.99/month. Link in bio @lotetreepress

Uthman dan Fodio opens one of his most famous and

Uthman dan Fodio opens one of his most famous and widely recited poems, Al-Dāliyya, written in 1772 (1188AH) when he was just twenty years old, by expressing his longing to visit the Prophet’s tomb in Medina. It is said that he wrote the poem when he was not allowed to accompany those going on a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina.

This month our focus is on West Africa in our poetry membership, delving into poetry by West African Sufi poets Uthman Dan Fodio, Nana Asma’u, Amadou Bamba and Ibrahim Niasse, and also exploring the influence of West African devotional and poetic traditions on the development of the Blues and Gospel singing.

You can join us in the poetry membership for £5.99/month. Link in bio @lotetreepress.

Poem by Ibn Arabi

Poem by Ibn Arabi

Sarāʾir al-Aʿyān Inner Secrets of Essences

Sarāʾir al-Aʿyān
Inner Secrets of Essences
A Muwashshah poem by Ibn Arabi
Translated by R.S. Spiker

Inner secrets of essences shine in existence for those observing
The lover incandescent in ecstasy in consequence starts wailing

By longing emaciated, by insomnia disoriented, says he:
“I no longer comprehend who had things altered when distance approached me”
Servants are bewildered when they are elected by the One and Only
Between proclamation and silence, concealment and divulgence to every being
“Justice I dispense, your avarice intense, idol-worshipping”.

All longing is hard for one who suffers the abasement of the veil
He with a heart who in youth prefers that piety prevail
His Lord will reward; while he who errs must repent and quail
Call on His beneficence, His mercy and munificence: “I am grieving,
Consumed by His absence, without a loved one’s presence, no one aiding.”

I disappeared in Allah from what is apparent to the eye of His creation
In the place of splendour “Where is where?” I cried between His station
“Inattentive you are,” he said - “have you ever spied within His essence a location?
Learn from events, from Qays’ and Ghaylan’s experience, and lives passing
longing in its magnificence - annihilation is its recompense when it encompasses a human being

How many times did they cry: “the one whom I love is I! Who am I?”
No state do I spy nor complaint justify except in love to die
I am not of those who fly from the apple of my eye once come by
Forgetfulness and negligence can find no defence among the knowing
They are not senseless to the Most Merciful’s presence - they are not unthinking

To His bower thence I entered the tree grove of companionship and closeness
Marvelling whence before me the myrtle arose in robes to impress
I bring the incense for the lover’s abode to the gathering in progress

Kharja
Hey Gardener, patience! From the garden’s fragrance start jasmine gathering
But by His benevolence Leave the myrtle’s scents for the lovers’ savouring

Join us on 31st August for this inspiring free onl

Join us on 31st August for this inspiring free online talk on the logic of love in Muhammad Iqbal & Rabindranath Tagore by Dr. Hina Khalid. Link in bio @lotetreepress . If you can’t attend live sign up for a ticket to receive a replay of the event. You can support our work by adding a donation to your ticket.

In this talk Dr. Hina Khalid will explore the theologies of two major philosopher-poets of the Indian subcontinent – Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) and Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). More specifically, she will focus on their understandings of love as a cosmic principle which binds the divine reality, the finite world, and the human being in dynamic and creative symbioses. We will see how, for both poets, love is not a fleeting fancy or a subjective impulse but constitutes the very heartbeat of creation itself.

Hina Khalid completed her BA, MPhil, and PhD in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Cambridge. Her doctoral dissertation offered the first comprehensive comparative study of the metaphysical and aesthetic visions of Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) and Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). She is particularly interested in the possibilities of comparative theology across Islamic and Indic traditions, and in the ways that shared devotional idioms have formed in and across the Indian subcontinent.

The Muwashshah Poetic Form of Al-Andalus We are c

The Muwashshah Poetic Form of Al-Andalus

We are currently exploring the poetic traditions of al-Andalus in our poetry membership, focusing this month on the Muwashshah, which was a popular form of poetry that influenced European troubadour poetry, also spreading to North Africa and other parts of the Muslim world where it is still sung to this day. This month we are exploring the history, context and poetic form of the Muwashshah, and looking at a devotional Muwashshah written by Ibn Arabi.

Join our poetry membership and explore the poetic traditions of the Muslim world with us!
Link in bio @lotetreepress

Instagram post 17869208772132066

Instagram post 17869208772132066

Amir Khusrau was an extraordinary figure from 13th

Amir Khusrau was an extraordinary figure from 13th century Delhi who made pivotal contributions to the development of South Asian poetic, linguistic, musical and mystical traditions. He was both a royal chronicler who wrote panegyric poetry and historical epics at the courts of successive rulers, and a devout disciple of Chistī Sufi master Niẓām ud-Dīn Awliyā, dying just six months after him and being buried next to him.

Although he frequented the courts of princes and sultans, he was interested in the circumstances and languages of the common people, and his work shows a love for the city of Delhi and the natural environment and flora and fauna surrounding it. His poetry experiments with combining the living poetic heritage of the Islamic world, which he was very well versed in, with the courtly and folk traditions of the land of his birth which lay within the Sultanate of Delhi. In this way he acted as a sort of cultural bridge, an iconic embodiment of the hugely creative cultural fusion emerging from the bringing together of the artistic heritage of South Asia and that of the Muslim world.

We explore the life and work of Amir Khusrau in the on-demand video “Amir Khusrau - the Father of Urdu Literature”, now available in our membership. Join us on our journey as we explore the poetic traditions of the Muslim world! Link in bio @lotetreepress

Amir Khusrau, born in the Delhi Sultanate in 1253,

Amir Khusrau, born in the Delhi Sultanate in 1253, is known as the Father of Urdu Literature and the Father of Qawwali. He is a cultural icon known for his legends, folktales, riddles and witticisms. His prolific poetry brought together the courtly and spiritual poetic traditions of the Muslim world with the cultural milieu of his motherland - this fusion and cultural exchange leading to new creativity and forms of expression. In this workshop we look at some of his work and then consider the possible synergism of combining our own disparate literary heritages and the multiple identities that we often straddle as Muslims in the west to write a piece of poetry representing cultural fusion.

Sign up to our membership for £5.99/month to access this workshop and more. Link in bio @lotetreepress

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