The Legacy of Henry Corbin: Forough Farrokhzad

"...the Imagination (or love, or sympathy, or any other sentiment) induces knowledge, and knowledge of an 'object' which is proper to it..."

Henry Corbin (1903-1978) was a scholar, philosopher and theologian. He was a champion of the transformative power of the Imagination and of the transcendent reality of the individual in a world threatened by totalitarianisms of all kinds. One of the 20th century’s most prolific scholars of Islamic mysticism, Corbin was Professor of Islam & Islamic Philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the University of Teheran. He was a major figure at the Eranos Conferences in Switzerland. He introduced the concept of the mundus imaginalis into contemporary thought. His work has provided a foundation for archetypal psychology as developed by James Hillman and influenced countless poets and artists worldwide. But Corbin’s central project was to provide a framework for understanding the unity of the religions of the Book: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. His great work Alone with the Alone: Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn ‘Arabi is a classic initiatory text of visionary spirituality that transcends the tragic divisions among the three great monotheisms. Corbin’s life was devoted to the struggle to free the religious imagination from fundamentalisms of every kind. His work marks a watershed in our understanding of the religions of the West and makes a profound contribution to the study of the place of the imagination in human life.

Friday, February 23, 2018

Forough Farrokhzad - 1934-1967

Here is a poem by Forough Farrokhzad in a very fine translation. She is almost unknown in English and her major works are untranslated. Someone should remedy that.

The Bird is Mortal

I feel heavy-hearted
I feel heavy-hearted

I go to the terrace and
I draw my fingers upon the drawn skin of the night,
The lamps of relation are dark
The lamps of relation are dark

Nobody will introduce me
to the sun,
Nobody will take me to the sparrows' party

Remember the flight
The bird is mortal

(translation by Farshad Fouladinejad - I am grateful to him for sending me this, and the knowledge of her work).