God the All-Imaginer: Wisdom of Sufi Master Ibn Arabi in 99 Modern Sonnets with new translations of his Three Mystic Odes 27 full-page calligraphies by Shahid Alam

by Martin Bidney, Shahid Alam (Illustrator)

The works of Ibn Arabi (1165–1240) are a gift of immense value to the creative artist, for this prolific Sufi thinker tells of God the All-Imaginer, Poet of the Pluriverse. The inmost Being of the Real, the Infinite, not knowable by mortal minds, is symbolically shown in the worlds and creatures God imagines, which are metaphors. God is a poet, and only a poet can “taste” the Real via sensory emblems. The Real must be imagined.Is Ibn Arabi, then, the prose counterpart to Rumi (1207–1273), the world’s greatest mystic poet? This might be true, except that Ibn Arabi’s prose is so ingenious and heart-expanding in resourceful metaphor that even in a prose medium he, too, is a Great Imaginer.For Ibn Arabi, God is a longing Lover, whose breath of yearning was the origin of our world. Responding to His love, we increase His fullness of Being! God’s activity is one of partial, unrepeatable, extremely rapid poetic self-disclosures. He is vividly present in His Names, not Platonic “Forms” but rather Forces that call on us to embody them and so to actualize changingly the potentials in God’s Mind.Three sources helped me with the dramatic monologue sonnets I wrote for Ibn Arabi to speak. In The Meccan Revelations we learn that beliefs are they tie things together but can also tie you up. Religions are only cups giving color and shape to the water of spirit. Potential beings in God’s Mind cry out to be created, and when given birth they are wedded to Him forever, so deep is their love of embodied Being.In The Bezels of Wisdom Moses tells of Pharaoh’s compassionate wife who influenced her husband to turn to God before he died. Jesus thinks delay in answering a prayer may mean the Lord wants to hear again the voice of His beloved. In The Seven Days of the Heart we transcend the thinghood of things to feel the breath they bear of the Lover that had made them.

212 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 6, 2016

About the author

Martin Bidney is a poet, violinist, klezmer fiddler, classical chorister, and folk vocalist. Now in his ninth decade, he has published 61 poetry collections across more than twenty years of what he calls being "reWIRED" rather than retired.

His collection Wordsongs of Jewish Thought — 108 response poems written in a single uninterrupted thirteen-day period of creative fervor in dialogue with Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz's commentary on the Tanya — has been praised by Rivkah Slonim of the Rohr Chabad Center at Binghamton University as the work of a poet who fully absorbed and transformed the teachings of Hasidic mystical thought into an original, deeply musical literary voice.

A lifelong musician as much as a lifelong poet, Bidney treats every poem as a wordsong — a musical composition where words take the place of pitches, and where craft and spiritual meaning are never separate concerns.

Reviews

[Steven Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most thought-provoking introductions to Ibn Arabi's spiritual vision that I've encountered. Martin Bidney succeeds in making profound mystical concepts approachable without diluting their depth. The sonnets invite reflection rather than passive reading, and I often found myself revisiting passages long after I had put the book down. The calligraphy by Shahid Alam adds a beautiful visual dimension that complements the text perfectly. Readers interested in Sufism, poetry, or comparative spirituality will find much to appreciate here.

[Author Lift · Rating 5 out of 5]

What impressed me most about this book is its ability to bridge classical Islamic mysticism and modern poetic expression. Bidney’s sonnets capture the spirit of Ibn Arabi’s teachings while remaining accessible to contemporary readers. The recurring theme of divine imagination is explored with creativity and insight, encouraging readers to see the world through a more expansive lens. A rewarding read for anyone interested in the deeper dimensions of faith and consciousness.

[Greg B · Rating 5 out of 5]

meticulously researched and respected the original

meticulously researched and respected the original.
This is a more comprehensive book than most local authors, also I liked the analytical approach and the way content is organized.