What is Love? Reflections from the Islamic Tradition
A syllabus, not a playlist.
Description
This seminar will examine some of the most profound and influential writings about love from the Islamic intellectual and poetic traditions. Perhaps more than any other, the literary, philosophical, and spiritual traditions of Islam have been “love-centric.” In this course we will closely read and discuss various philosophies and theories of love from the mundane to the mystical.
Texts:
William Chittick, Divine Love
Nizami, Layla and Majnun
Schedule of Meetings & Readings
May 7th
Introduction
- William Chittick, Divine Love, Foreword and Preface
- Prince Ghazi, Love in the Holy Qur’an “Introduction” (Chps. 1-3) and “Stages of Love” and “Falling in Love,” (Chps. 22 and 23)
- Plato’s Symposium, In Our Time Podcast
May 14th
Love in Islamic Philosophy and Theology
- Suhrawardi, “Treatise on the Reality of Love”
May 21st
The Sufi Story of Love
Poem:
May 28th
Layla and Majnun
June 4th*
Rumi
- Chittick, “The Need for Need”
- Rustom “The Ocean of Nonexistence”
Poems:
- Rumi, Mathnawi, Intro and First Story, Moses and the Shepherd,
- Divan-i Shams: "Show your face," "Your hair is laylat al-qadr”, "Come I've lost my mind in your love"
June 11th
Ibn al-‘Arabī
Hany Ibrahim, “Ibn al-‘Arabi’s Metaphysics of Love”
Poems:
- Ibn al-‘Arabi, “Gentle now”
- Al-Shushtarī: “Layla stole my reason,” “There is no life in the camp but Layla,” “Every time I say”
- Ibn al-Fāriḍ, “Increase me in love for you,” “I hide love, but my tears reveal it,” “Pass round the remembrance of the one I love”
- Al-Harraq, “Are you seeking Layla”
June 18th
Ḥāfiẓ
- Leonard Lewisohn, “Hafiz and the Religion of Love”
- Listen: Commentary and context on “For years my heart asked”
Ghazals:
Ghazal, "Last night I saw the angels....”
“For years I pawned my book for wine,”
“For the world’s boundless suffering”
June 25th
Love of the Prophet
Ogunnaike, Poetry in Praise of Prophetic Perfection, 1-74.
Hassān ibn Thābit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcYFBTw2Sdc
Sa‘dī:
https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/sulaymanibnqiddees/2015/12/23/for-the-mawlid/
Al-Buṣīrī, Qaṣīdat al-Burda:
https://www.qasidaburda.com/
“How long have I complained of my love for you?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvIym-UWzsM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLJZcg2k_L0
Muhammad al-Majdhūb:
Ibrahim Niasse:
“Poem of the One Who Lost His Mind”
Ogunnaike, Layla Left (recording)
Amir Sulaiman: “The Lover, The Love, and The Beloved”
A working command of the vocabulary of Islamic metaphysics — wujūd, māhiyya, the gradation of being — used precisely, not loosely.
The capacity to read primary texts of Ibn Sīnā and Mullā Ṣadrā with comprehension rather than reverence alone.
An understanding of why the tradition treats metaphysics as the science of realities — and what that claim asks of the knower.
Direct exchange with Professor Nasr in open Q&A after every session — the part no book can replace.
Oludamini Ogunnaike is one of the most innovative contemporary scholars working at the intersection of Islamic thought, African intellectual traditions, and comparative philosophy. His scholarship explores the rich philosophical and spiritual traditions of West and North Africa while advancing new approaches to decolonial and cross-cultural thought. Combining rigorous scholarship with literary creativity, Professor Ogunnaike’s work illuminates the intellectual depth of African religious traditions and their relevance for contemporary conversations concerning knowledge, democracy, spirituality, and human flourishing. At Tokat, he teaches Islamic and African intellectual traditions as living sources of wisdom, inviting students to explore how diverse philosophical and spiritual traditions can illuminate contemporary questions concerning knowledge, love, and human flourishing.
