 Front cover of Memoirs of a Dervish | |
| Author | Robert Irwin |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Autobiography, memoirs |
| Publisher | Profile Books, London |
Publication date | 14 April 2011 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 288 pp. |
| ISBN | 978-1-86197-991-9 |
Memoirs of a Dervish: Sufis, Mystics and the Sixties is a 2011 autobiography by Robert Irwin, a British historian, novelist, and writer on Arabic literature.
In the summer of 1964, the author left behind the popular culture of the "Swinging Sixties" in England, a time when many were journeying to the East in search of spiritual enlightenment. In the book, he contrasts that hippie subculture with the "bombs and guns and [Sufi] mysticism" [1] which he encountered on his own travels in Algeria. [2] [3] [4]
In the Financial Times , Rory MacLean writes that the author "has given retrospective shape to his youth and formed a true story that will last forever, or at least until the pages of this wonderful, bittersweet memoir crumble into dust." [2]
Steve Jelbert writes in The Independent that "the sheer strangeness of Irwin's quest [...] impresses. [3] He goes on to say that "Irwin's witty, casually erudite tribute to his clever, naïve youth shows that there are no short cuts to wisdom. But it often comes with age." [3]
Mick Brown, writing in Literary Review is of the opinion that "Irwin brilliantly conjures the mood of the late Sixties, with its blind innocence, fanciful enthusiasms and blissful music." [5]
In the New Statesman , John Gray writes that "Robert Irwin begins one of the most delightfully diverting explorations of the byways of memory to have appeared in many years - and one of the most profound" [4] and finds "the core of the book [to be] a sincere spiritual search, recounted with rare candour and arresting insight." [4]
Writing in The Spectator , Anthony Sattin finds the book "a more enlightening type of memoir" than what he sees as the current fad of the "misery memoir". [6] Sattin describes the work as "haunting" and goes on to say that the book "conveys with power and eloquence the writer's gratitude for having nourished the spiritual side of life and his disapproval of the way that many Muslims today interpret the Qur'an." [6]
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life.
Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, also known as Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī, Mevlânâ/Mawlānā and Mevlevî/Mawlawī, but more popularly known simply as Rumi, was a 13th-century Persian poet, Hanafi faqih, Islamic scholar, Maturidi theologian and Sufi mystic originally from Greater Khorasan in Greater Iran. Rumi's influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions: Iranians, Tajiks, Turks, Greeks, Pashtuns, other Central Asian Muslims, as well as Muslims of the Indian subcontinent have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has been described as the "most popular poet" and the "best selling poet" in the United States.
Sufism, also known as Tasawwuf, is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ritualism, asceticism and esotericism. It has been variously defined as "Islamic mysticism", "the mystical expression of Islamic faith", "the inward dimension of Islam", "the phenomenon of mysticism within Islam", the "main manifestation and the most important and central crystallization" of mystical practice in Islam, and "the interiorization and intensification of Islamic faith and practice".
The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya is a Sufi order that originated in Konya and which was founded by the followers of Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet, Sufi mystic, and Islamic theologian. The Mevlevis are also known as the "whirling dervishes" due to their famous practice of whirling while performing dhikr. Dervish is a common term for an initiate of the Sufi path; whirling is part of the formal sema ceremony and the participants are properly known as semazens.
The Chishtī Order is a tariqa, an order or school within the mystic Sufi tradition of Sunni Islam. The Chishti Order is known for its emphasis on love, tolerance, and openness. It began with Abu Ishaq Shami in Chisht, a small town near Herat, Afghanistan, South Asia about 930 AD.
Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (tariqah), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persian and Turkish (derviş) as well as in Amazigh (Aderwish), corresponding to the Arabic term faqīr. Their focus is on the universal values of love and service, deserting the illusions of ego (nafs) to reach God. In most Sufi orders, a dervish is known to practice dhikr through physical exertions or religious practices to attain the ecstatic trance to reach God. Their most popular practice is Sama, which is associated with the 13th-century mystic Rumi. In folklore and with adherents of Sufism, dervishes are often credited with the ability to perform miracles and ascribed supernatural powers. Historically, the term Dervish has also been used more loosely, as the designation of various Islamic political movements or military entities.
Sufi whirling is a form of physically active meditation which originated among certain Sufi groups, and which is still practiced by the Sufi Dervishes of the Mevlevi order and other orders such as the Rifa'i-Marufi. It is a customary meditation practice performed within the sema, or worship ceremony, through which dervishes aim to reach the source of all perfection, or dharma. This is sought through abandoning one's nafs, ego or personal desires, by listening to the music, focusing on God, and spinning one's body in repetitive circles, which has been seen as a symbolic imitation of planets in the Solar System orbiting the sun.
Andrew Harvey is a British author, religious scholar and teacher of mystic traditions, known primarily for his popular nonfiction books on spiritual or mystical themes, beginning with his 1983 A Journey in Ladakh. He is the author of over 30 books, including, The Hope, A Guide to Sacred Activism, The Direct Path, the critically acclaimed Way of Passion: A Celebration of Rumi, The Return of the Mother and Son of Man. He was the subject of the 1993 BBC documentary "The Making of a Modern Mystic" and is the founder of the Sacred Activism movement.
Haji Bektash Veli or Wali was a Muslim mystic, saint, Sayyid and philosopher from Khorasan who lived and taught in Anatolia. He is revered among Alevis for an Islamic understanding that is esoteric (spiritual), rational, progressive, and humanistic. Alevi and Bektashi Muslims believe the path of Haji Bektash is the path of ʿAli ibn Abu Talib, since Ali was the source of Bektash's teachings. His original name was "Sayyid Muhammad ibn Sayyid Ibrāhim Ātā". He was one of the figures who flourished in the Sultanate of Rum and had an important influence on the Turkish nomads of Asia Minor. He is also referred to as the Sultan of Hearts and the Derwish of the Derwishes. Haji Bektash Veli was a descendant of Musa Kazim, the Seventh Imam of the Athnā‘ashariyyah Shi'a Muslim sect.
Robert Graham Irwin is a British historian, novelist, and writer on Arabic literature.
Sufi philosophy includes the schools of thought unique to Sufism, the mystical tradition within Islam, also termed as Tasawwuf or Faqr according to its adherents. Sufism and its philosophical tradition may be associated with both Sunni and Shia branches of Islam. It has been suggested that Sufi thought emerged from the Middle East in the eighth century CE, but adherents are now found around the world.
Nūr is a term in Islamic context referring to the "cold light of the night" or "heatless light" i.e. the light of the moon. This light is used as a symbol for "God's guidance" and "knowledge", a symbol of mercy in contrast to Nar, which refers to the diurnal solar "hot light" i.e. fire. In the Quran, God is stated to be "the light of the heavens and the earth". Many classical commentators on the Quran compare this to God illuminating the world with understanding, not taken literally. The first and foremost to representatively stand to the concept of Nur Muhammad being the quintessence of everything was Sayyid Abdul Qadir Gilani, who described this idea in his book Sirr ul Asrar. This concept was then preached by his disciples. One of Sayyid Abdul Qadir Gilani's disciples was the Andalusian scholar Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi, who categorized nūr into different levels of understanding from the most profound to the most mundane. Shias believe nūr, in the sense of inner esoteric understanding, is inherited through the Imams, who in turn communicate it to the people.
Mīān Muhammad Bakhsh was a Punjabi Muslim Sufi and poet. Born in the city of Mirpur to a Gujjar family of the Paswal tribe, he is renowned as a great poet and Sufi scholar by the people of Punjab and Kashmir. Writing some 18 different books during his lifetime of 77 years, Muhammad Baksh is especially remembered for his romantic epic Saiful Maluk and the romantic tragedy Mirza Sahiban. Most of his work is in Punjabi, with the exception of the book Yari, written in Farsi.
Anthony Bozza is a New York City-based author and journalist who has written extensively for Rolling Stone and other magazines. He is also the author of bestselling books on Eminem, AC/DC and Artie Lange. Since 2005 he has co-authored numerous autobiographies of artists including Slash, INXS, and Tommy Lee.
Peter Michael Fuller was a British art critic and magazine editor.
Miriam Gross, Lady Owen is a literary editor and writer.
Anthony Sattin FRGS is a British journalist and broadcaster and the author of several highly acclaimed books of history and travel. He completed a literature degree at the University of Warwick and an MA in creative writing at the University of East Anglia. His main area of interest is the Middle East and Africa, particularly Egypt, and he has lived and travelled extensively in these regions.
Arguably: Essays is a 2011 book by Christopher Hitchens, comprising 107 essays on a variety of political and cultural topics. These essays were previously published in The Atlantic, City Journal, Foreign Affairs, The Guardian, Newsweek, New Statesman, The New York Times Book Review, Slate, Times Literary Supplement, The Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, The Wilson Quarterly, and Vanity Fair. Arguably also includes introductions that Hitchens wrote for new editions of several classic texts, such as Animal Farm and Our Man in Havana. Critics' reviews of the collection were largely positive.
Who I Am is a memoir by rock guitarist and composer Pete Townshend of the Who. It was published by HarperCollins in October 2012 in both book and e-book format, plus an unabridged 15-CD audiobook read by Townshend. The book chronicles Townshend's upbringing in London, the formation and evolution of the Who, and his struggles with rock stardom and drugs and alcohol. The title is a play on words, referring to the Who's hit single, "Who Are You" as well as the album of the same name.