Fear of Fifty by Erica Jong

Fear of Fifty by Erica Jong

In 1201, Shaykh Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi arrived in Mecca. Among the many people who impressed him one drew his attention above all others: Niz m, the daughter of a prominent religious teacher. As Beatrice did for Dante, Niz m soon inspired a sequence of love poems that are Ibn 'Arabi's poetic masterpiece, Tarjum n al-Asw q (The Interpreter of Desire).

Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi was known as Shaykh al-Akbar (the Greatest Shaykh), a title given him due to his profound knowledge as a mystic, theologian, philosopher and legalist. Scholars are devoting much labour to translating and interpreting Ibn 'Arabi's voluminous prose writings, but his poetry remains little known by Western readers compared with that of his fellow Sufis, Rumi, Attar and Hafiz.

This collection reveals that with his intense feeling, vivid imagery, and the playful way he reworked the conventions of Bedouin desert poetry, Ibn 'Arabi wrote poems that deserve to be placed alongside the best of his illustrious Sufi compatriots. Keith Hill's engaging new English language versions will be welcomed not just by those attracted to Sufi literature, but by all who enjoy enchanting love poetry.

THE LOVER'S LAMENT

I wish I knew if they knew

whose heart they had captured.

I wish my heart could know

what mountain pass they travelled.

Is it through living or dying

that they have endured?

Perplexed, lovers lose the path;

lost in love, they die enraptured.

A LOVER'S PLEA

When they departed, my patience

and endurance departed,

yet that absent traveller still

lives inside my churning chest.

I asked my guides where riders

at noon make their rest.

They answered: Where desire

and absence spread their scent.

So I begged the East Wind:

Go and search through the estates,

find where in the groves they shelter,

shaded beneath their tents.

There give them greeting

from one whose life is one long lament

due to the age that, from his heart

companions, he has been absent.

Erica Jong is a celebrated poet, novelist & essayist with over twenty-five published books that have been influential all over the world. Her most popular novel, Fear of Flying, celebrated its 40^th anniversary in 2013. Never out of print, it has sold over thirty-five million copies in forty-two languages including Chinese and Arabic. Erica's latest novel, Fear of Dying, was published in 2015/2016 with many publishers all over the world. Her awards include the Fernanda Pivano Award for Literature in Italy (named for the critic who introduced Ernest Hemingway, Allen Ginsberg, and Erica Jong to the Italian public), the Sigmund Freud Award in Italy, the Deauville Literary Award in France, the United Nations Award for Excellence in Literature, and Poetry Magazine's Bess Hokin Prize (also won by Sylvia Plath and W.S. Merwin). Erica's poetry has appeared in publications worldwide, including The New Yorker, L.A. Times, The Paris Review, Haaretz, and many more. Erica lives in New York and Connecticut with her husband and two poodles.