Poetry Chaikhana Blog

Ivan M. Granger February 16th, 2009

Love plays its lute behind the screen –
by Fakhruddin Iraqi

English version by William Chittick and Peter Lamborn Wilson

Love plays its lute behind the screen –
where is a lover to listen to its tune?

Every atom babbles the mystery –
Listen yourself, for I’m no tattletale!

— from Fakhruddin Iraqi: Divine Flashes (Classics of Western Spirituality) , by William Chittick / Nasr Seyyed Hossein

/ Photo by angela7dreams /

Valentine’s Day may have past, but the season of Love has just begun. We’ll resume the Lover & Beloved series soon. For today a sweet taste.

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I like the double meaning of this poem’s first couplet:

Love plays its lute behind the screen –
where is a lover to listen to its tune?

On the one hand, Iraqi is chiding the world for not producing enough lovers of God. Love is eternally calling to us with its soft music “behind the screen” of reality, but few are actually listening; lovers can’t be found.

On a deeper level, it is understood that the true lover has no substance, because he or she is utterly merged into the Beloved, God. So, even where there are lovers, there are no lovers found.

Whoever thinks Divine Love is just hypothetical, isn’t really listening. “The world has spilled Love’s secret –” “Every atom babbles the mystery –”

Listen yourself, for I’m no tattletale!

Fakhruddin Ibrahim ‘Iraqi was a fascinating figure who bridged several Sufi traditions and traveled through much of the Muslim world.

Fakhruddin ‘Iraqi was born in Kamajan near Hamadan, in what is today Iran. (The name ‘Iraqi does not refer to the modern country of Iraq, but to the local region around Hamadan.)

Tradition says that a month before his birth, ‘Iraqi’s father had a dream vision in which the greatly revered Imam ‘Ali (son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad) handed him the child and said, “Take our ‘Iraqi and raise him well, for he will be a world conqueror!”

While still a young boy, ‘Iraqi gained local fame for having memorized the entire Koran and reciting it aloud. He went on to acquire an impressive education in his teens.

This properly devout young man surprised everyone when he abandoned his community and joined a group of traveling Kalandar dervishes. Kalandar Sufis had a bohemian, some would even say heretical, lifestyle and expression of the Muslim faith.

The young ‘Iraqi eventually ended up in Multan in what is modern day Pakistan. There he received formal initiation into the Sufi way under Shaykh Baha’uddin, the head of the Suhrawardiyya Sufi Order, one of the most influential Sufi groups in the Indian subcontinent. ‘Iraqi lived in Multan for 25 years as one of the Suhrawardis, composing poetry. As Shaykh Baha’uddin was dying, he named Fakhruddin ‘Iraqi to be his successor.

When it became known that ‘Iraqi had been named head of the Suhrawardi Order, some in the order became jealous and denounced him to the local sultan who sought to have ‘Iraqi arrested.

‘Iraqi fled the area with a few close companions, and they eventually made their way to Mecca and Medina. Later they moved north to Konya in Turkey. This was Konya at the time of Rumi. ‘Iraqi often listened to Rumi teach and recite poetry, and later attended Rumi’s funeral.

Although ‘Iraqi was nominally the head (in exile) of a large and respected Sufi order, he humbly became the disciple of another Sufi master — Sadruddin Qunawi, who also lived in Konya at the time. Qunawi was the son-in-law of the recently deceased Sufi philosoper Ibn ‘Arabi. Although less known in the West today, Qunawi was perhaps the pre-eminent Sufi teacher in Konya at the time, even better known than his neighbor Rumi.

‘Iraqi was deeply devoted to Qunawi and to the teachings of Ibn ‘Arabi. It was a series of speeches Qunawi delivered on the esoteric meaning of Ibn ‘Arabi’s great works that inspired ‘Iraqi to compose his own masterpiece of commentary and poetry named the Lama’at or Divine Flashes.

When Fakhruddin ‘Iraqi died he was buried near Ibn ‘Arabi’s tomb.

More poetry by Fakhruddin Iraqi

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