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Symbol & Archetype: A Study of the Meaning of Existence
Every religious tradition or metaphysical worldview involves a system of powerful symbols, most of which bear common meanings across cultures, continents, and time. This volume, complete with a 9th century Quranic manuscript, explores the significance of the most recurrent symbols and archetypes in human history and elaborates a compelling theory for why symbolism plays such an essential role in human life. The work explores certain basic aspects of symbolism in relation to the Divinity, the hierarchy of the universe, the function of human faculties and qualities, the human condition, natural objects, works of art, and the final end—all with reference to the great living religions of the world, and in particular to Christianity and Islam.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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About the author
Martin Lings
112 books469 followersMartin Lings was an English writer and scholar, a student and follower of Frithjof Schuon, and Shakespearean scholar. He is best known as the author of a very popular and positively reviewed biography, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, first published in 1983 and still in print.
Lings was born in Burnage, Manchester in 1909 to a Protestant family. The young Lings gained an introduction to travelling at a young age, spending significant time in the United States due to his father's employment.
Lings attended Clifton College and went on to Magdalen College, Oxford (BA (Oxon) English Language and Literature). At Magdalen he was a student of C. S. Lewis, who would become a close friend of his. After graduating from Oxford Lings went to Vytautas Magnus University, in Lithuania, where he taught Anglo-Saxon and Middle English.
For Lings himself, however, the most important event that occurred while he was at Oxford was his discovery of the writings of the René Guénon, a French metaphysician and Muslim convert and those of Frithjof Schuon, a German spiritual authority, metaphysician and Perennialist. In 1938 Lings went to Basle to make Schuon's acquaintance and he remained Frithjof Schuon's disciple and expositor for the rest of his life.
In 1939 Lings went to Cairo, Egypt in order to visit a friend of his who was an assistant of René Guénon. Not long after arriving in Cairo, his friend died and Lings began studying and learned Arabic.
Cairo became his home for over a decade; he became an English teacher at the University of Cairo and produced Shakespeare plays annually. Lings married Lesley Smalley in 1944 and lived with her in a village near the pyramids. Despite having settled comfortably in Egypt, Lings was forced to leave in 1952 after anti-British disturbances.
Upon returning to the United Kingdom he continued his education, earning a BA in Arabic and a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London). His doctoral thesis became a well-received book on Algerian Sufi Ahmad al-Alawi (see Sufi studies). After completing his doctorate, Lings worked at the British Museum and later British Library, overseeing eastern manuscripts and other textual works, rising to the position of Keeper of Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts 1970-73. He was also a frequent contributor to the journal, Studies in Comparative Religion.
A writer throughout this period, Lings' output increased in the last quarter of his life. While his thesis work on Ahmad al-Alawi had been well-regarded, his most famous work was a biography of Muhammad, written in 1983, which earned him acclaim in the Muslim world and prizes from the governments of Pakistan and Egypt. His work was hailed as the "best biography of the prophet in English" at the National Seerat Conference in Islamabad.[2] He also continued travelling extensively, although he made his home in Kent. He died in 2005.
In addition to his writings on Sufism, Lings was a Shakespeare scholar. His contribution to Shakespeare scholarship was to point out the deeper esoteric meanings found in Shakespeare's plays, and the spirituality of Shakespeare himself. More recent editions of Lings's books on Shakespeare include a Foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales. Just before his death he gave an interview on this topic, which was posthumously made into the film Shakespeare's Spirituality: A Perspective. An Interview With Dr. Martin Lings.
Lings was born in Burnage, Manchester in 1909 to a Protestant family. The young Lings gained an introduction to travelling at a young age, spending significant time in the United States due to his father's employment.
Lings attended Clifton College and went on to Magdalen College, Oxford (BA (Oxon) English Language and Literature). At Magdalen he was a student of C. S. Lewis, who would become a close friend of his. After graduating from Oxford Lings went to Vytautas Magnus University, in Lithuania, where he taught Anglo-Saxon and Middle English.
For Lings himself, however, the most important event that occurred while he was at Oxford was his discovery of the writings of the René Guénon, a French metaphysician and Muslim convert and those of Frithjof Schuon, a German spiritual authority, metaphysician and Perennialist. In 1938 Lings went to Basle to make Schuon's acquaintance and he remained Frithjof Schuon's disciple and expositor for the rest of his life.
In 1939 Lings went to Cairo, Egypt in order to visit a friend of his who was an assistant of René Guénon. Not long after arriving in Cairo, his friend died and Lings began studying and learned Arabic.
Cairo became his home for over a decade; he became an English teacher at the University of Cairo and produced Shakespeare plays annually. Lings married Lesley Smalley in 1944 and lived with her in a village near the pyramids. Despite having settled comfortably in Egypt, Lings was forced to leave in 1952 after anti-British disturbances.
Upon returning to the United Kingdom he continued his education, earning a BA in Arabic and a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London). His doctoral thesis became a well-received book on Algerian Sufi Ahmad al-Alawi (see Sufi studies). After completing his doctorate, Lings worked at the British Museum and later British Library, overseeing eastern manuscripts and other textual works, rising to the position of Keeper of Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts 1970-73. He was also a frequent contributor to the journal, Studies in Comparative Religion.
A writer throughout this period, Lings' output increased in the last quarter of his life. While his thesis work on Ahmad al-Alawi had been well-regarded, his most famous work was a biography of Muhammad, written in 1983, which earned him acclaim in the Muslim world and prizes from the governments of Pakistan and Egypt. His work was hailed as the "best biography of the prophet in English" at the National Seerat Conference in Islamabad.[2] He also continued travelling extensively, although he made his home in Kent. He died in 2005.
In addition to his writings on Sufism, Lings was a Shakespeare scholar. His contribution to Shakespeare scholarship was to point out the deeper esoteric meanings found in Shakespeare's plays, and the spirituality of Shakespeare himself. More recent editions of Lings's books on Shakespeare include a Foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales. Just before his death he gave an interview on this topic, which was posthumously made into the film Shakespeare's Spirituality: A Perspective. An Interview With Dr. Martin Lings.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 8, 2015
Over the past year or so, maybe longer, it seems that books come to my attention exactly when they’re supposed to. Perhaps it’s simply the way I’m digesting material right now, I don’t know. I do know that it’s becoming more difficult to write about reflections on many of my readings as what I put down never seems to adequately convey what I’m feeling or seeing. And that is all these “reviews” are: reflections.
“The language of symbolism is universal” (77) says Martin Lings. In my own progression, I have become enamored with this concept of symbols. I believe that – consistent with universal truth – we are all striving for very similar things in life, we simply use different languages to express them. So many of the problems in the world are based on misunderstanding of languages, or to take it even deeper, we place too much importance on the languages themselves. Languages are only names after all, they’re not the actual object of pursuit, the goal.
Symbols provide a sort of path, a set of guideposts, as Lings says the ultimate purpose of symbols is the return to the source. This book is based on symbolism in the light of traditionalism in the sense that so many symbols are not as obvious as they might have been in past centuries, but for the esoteric minded individual are still there to be seen, pointing to the return, the source that we are all capable of finding, no matter the language we might use. It’s a profound little book, one that is as eloquently written as can be expected from Martin Lings, and that uses diverse representations to express the non-dualistic truth in the symbols of religion, particularly Christianity and Islam.
“The language of symbolism is universal” (77) says Martin Lings. In my own progression, I have become enamored with this concept of symbols. I believe that – consistent with universal truth – we are all striving for very similar things in life, we simply use different languages to express them. So many of the problems in the world are based on misunderstanding of languages, or to take it even deeper, we place too much importance on the languages themselves. Languages are only names after all, they’re not the actual object of pursuit, the goal.
Symbols provide a sort of path, a set of guideposts, as Lings says the ultimate purpose of symbols is the return to the source. This book is based on symbolism in the light of traditionalism in the sense that so many symbols are not as obvious as they might have been in past centuries, but for the esoteric minded individual are still there to be seen, pointing to the return, the source that we are all capable of finding, no matter the language we might use. It’s a profound little book, one that is as eloquently written as can be expected from Martin Lings, and that uses diverse representations to express the non-dualistic truth in the symbols of religion, particularly Christianity and Islam.
January 5, 2014
"A man should therefore understand," (symbols), "not only because he has to live in the herebelow but also above all because without such understanding he would fail to understand himself..."
It is less about assigning or imposing meaning, it is more about being open to what is revealed to us, as affirmed in the Qur'an, "We shall show them Our signs on the horizons and in themselves." [XLI:53]
Eloquent and succinct. His books are always thin but rich and complete in content. One of my favorite authors :)
It is less about assigning or imposing meaning, it is more about being open to what is revealed to us, as affirmed in the Qur'an, "We shall show them Our signs on the horizons and in themselves." [XLI:53]
Eloquent and succinct. His books are always thin but rich and complete in content. One of my favorite authors :)
October 3, 2022
A litle drag but in depth anlysis of the Archetypes from the Islamic ideology. Checks out.
July 1, 2022
One of its kind commentary on Symbolism and archetypes through religion lens. Authored by his excellency Martin Lings, also known as Abū Bakr Sirāj ad-Dīn.
A #great #read and recommend if anyone wants to understand the importance symbolism and it's meaning in life.
A #great #read and recommend if anyone wants to understand the importance symbolism and it's meaning in life.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews