Customer Reviews

The Walled Garden of Truth: The Hadiqa

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The title of this book is misleading. Not only is it limited to the first of the seven books of the Hadiqa, but even that book is abridged mercilessly. It is a loose collection of short phrases quoted out of context, selected by the translator Mr. Pendlebury. As such, it reveals more about the views of the translator himself than about those of Sanai. The only thing worth reading is the 20-some page introduction to Sofu poetry, but even then, it is overpriced. Stay clear of that book. Try, instead, to find Major Stephenson's translation entitled "The first book of the Hadiqa: the enclosed garden of truth", which has an honest title for an accurate, unabridged translation of the first book only. I believe Stephenson's book is out of print, I could only find a copy in the library.

Very little of what Sanai wrote has been translated. Pendlebury did an excellent job at assimilating excerts of Sanai's poetry into a easily readible fashion for Westerners in The Walled Garden Of Truth. At times the poetry definately doesn't flow smoothly from one stanza to a next but that is only because of difficulties in matching the Persian with the English in passages left out. Pendlebury's goal was to make this book as 'clear' as possible not as 'thick'. This book, while less complete, is much more clear and easier to understand than Major Stephenson's much more sporadic attempt at the Hadiqa. So its a matter of funtcion, if you are looking for a complete book of Sanai's read Stephenson's translation of the Hadiqa which will leave you trying to make meaning of far too much grammar or Pendlebury's easily transmissible and understandable, but shorter, translation here. I prefer the latter.

Sanai's book is a message to man or a seeker after knowledge to abandon his foolish ways and turn towards his Maker. The content and language is brilliant and I'am lucky I was exposed to this material. I hope if you are at all interested in Sufi studies that you will give it a shot.

Regarding the issue of excerpting "out of context," it must be pointed out that the publisher, Octagon Press, is a major promoter of classic texts that were recommended as teaching materials by the late Idries Shah, a renowned Naqshbandi sufi. Clearly, they feel that Pendlebury's excerpts are useful.

I read once that Sanai can be considered a balance to the study of Rumi, or even an antidote for people who see Rumi primarily as a source of effusive Lover/Beloved passages. Sanai is more pointed and direct but equally compassionate and brilliant. He emphasizes not only devotion and purity of heart but also clarifying one's perception to transcend duality.

Permit me to quote a small segment of Pendlebury's translation which is perhaps as significant in this era of mistrust between religions as it was 850 years ago:

"If you want the mirror to reflect the face,
hold it straight and keep it polished bright;
although the sun does not begrudge its light,
when seen in a mist it only looks like glass;
and creatures comelier than angels even
seem in a dagger to have devils' faces.
Your dagger will never tell you true from false;
it will never serve you as a mirror."

This book contains a very good extract of the original translation in english, but, it's not the complete text, although the reader can get the essence of the text and some aspects of sufism, with a very good explanation in very simple words, you can read it again and again, as all the sufi texts, with each reading you can find more and more aspects.