'AISHAH AL-BA'UNIYAH: Life & Poems Translation & Introduction Paul Smith 'Aishah al-Ba'uniyah (1457 - 1517) came from the village of Ba'un in the south of Syria. Her family were well-known and respected religious scholars and poets. She surpassed her father and brothers in her poetry, scholarship and renown. As a young woman she went to Mecca where she had a vision of Prophet Mohammed. All her family were Sufis connected to the Qadir'iyah order. She had two spiritual masters Jamal al-Din Isma'il al-Hawwari and Muhyi al-Din Yayha al-Urnwari. The first she praised in her famous qasida. Her...

TWO GREAT ARABIC SUFI POETS IBN AL-FARID & 'AISHAH AL-BA'UNIYAH Their Qasidas in the Rhyme of 'T' Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Umar Ibn al-Farid, an Egyptian poet (1181-1235), is considered to be the undisputed master of Islamic mystical or Sufi poetry into Arabic. He is considered not only to be a poet but a Perfect Master (Qutub) a God-realised soul... and it is his journey to unity with God that he reveals in probably the longest qasida (ode) in Arabic (761 couplets), his famous The Mystic's Way or Qasida in the Rhyme of 'T'. 'Aishah al-Ba'uniyah (1457 - 1517) came from the...