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...