The Poem of the Sufi Way

Poem of the Sufi Way, or Nazm al-suluk, is a poem by the Sufi mystic and scholar, Shayk Umar ibn al-Farid. An exact date of the poem's writing is unknown as Umar ibn al-Farid (1181–1235 ad) is said to have written this text during the course of many years. Widely remarked as Umar ibn al-Farid's most famous work, the poem itself is one of the longest pieces of Sufi literature to date, and is still held in high regard by modern Sufi practitioners. It is 760 verses long. It is often referred to as al-Ta'iyya al-kubra (the Greater Poem Rhyming in T) to differentiate it from a shorter ode that also rhymes in t. The title can also be translated to “the Poem of Progress”.

The origins of this work are shrouded in mythology. Most accounts of the poem's construction derive from Umar ibn al-Farid's grandson, Umar ibn al-Farid in his biographical work “Adorned Proem to the Diwan” (Dibijat al-Diwan), heralding his grandfather's legacy and many of the stories surrounding it. According to Ali, Umar ibn al-Farid “would fall into deathlike trances for days, then recover and spontaneously recite verses directly inspired by God; these verses were then collected to form this long ode”. In another story related by Ali, it is said that Umar received instruction from the prophet Muhammed himself, requesting that he title it as the “Poem of the Sufi Way”, instead of the original title intended by Umar ibn al-Farid, “The Diaries of Hearts and the Gardens' Sweet Scents”.

The poem itself is designed to demonstrate a pluralistic and mystical connection to God, or Allah. Initially, the poem likens the pursuit of God's love to the pursuit of a female, written from the man's perspective. The narrator becomes increasingly humbled throughout the poem, and, after much desperation and awe, the link to the narrator's lover, or God, becomes obscured to the point of total cohesion. This felt harmony and connection on an equal level with God is characteristically Sufi, yet it is also an area of critique from Muslim orthodoxies who label such possibility of equality with God as heresy.

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