of Haji Abdu El-Yezdi – Sir Richard Burton
admin THE KASÎDAH I — • — The Golden Gates swing right and left; up springs the Sun with flamy brow; The dew-cloud melts in gush of light; brown Earth is bathed in morning-glow. Slowly they wind athwart the wild, and while young Day his anthem swells, Sad falls upon my yearning ear the tinkling of … Read more
THE KASÎDAH I — • — THE hour is nigh; the waning Queen walks forth to rule the later night; Crown’d with the sparkle of a Star, and throned on orb of ashen light. The Wolf-tail* sweeps the paling East to leave a deeper gloom behind; And Dawn uprears her shining head, sighing with semblance … Read more
The extraordinary tent‑shaped mausoleum of Sir Richard and Lady Isabel Burton in Mortlake has reopened to the public for the first time in more than seventy years, following a major conservation project led by Habitats & Heritage. Long sealed after mid‑20th‑century vandalism, the mausoleum has now been carefully restored, allowing visitors once again to step … Read more
Sir Richard Burton’s poem The Kasidah has several references to Sufi classical texts: “This gloomy night, these grisly waves, these winds and whirlpools loud and dread: What reck they of our wretched plight who Safety’s shore so lightly tread? Thus quoth the Bard of Love and Wine, whose dream of Heaven neer could rise Beyond … Read more
Burton was a prolific writer. A complete list of the published works of Sir Richard Burton has been compiled and can be seen on the Burtoniana site Sir Richard Burton – Published Works – Digitized Major Works Minor Works My thanks to the webmaster of the Burtoniana site for allowing me to link to this … Read more
There have been many translations of the 1001 Arabian Nights, the unique collection of tales has undergone many changes and additions since they were first fell upon in the West. Burton’s version was designed for a specific range of rather upper class connoisseurs. There were originally ten volumes with a further six supplementary volumes bound in … Read more
Idries Shah who was recognised as a leading writer and exponent of Sufism, devoted a chapter of his important work on the Sufi tradition, The Sufis, to The Kasidah and Sir Richard Burton. The chapter is entitled ‘The Higher Law’ and describes the poem as ‘one of the most interesting productions of Western Sufi literature’ … Read more
The first Sir Richard Burton book I owned was bought from a disreputable book and magazine shop on Tib Street, Manchester in 1961. It’s probably still there but more than likely rebranded as an ‘Adult Shop’. At the time I would have been twelve with a keen interest in both chemistry and the occult. The … Read more
Aleister Crowley was a notorious occultist, mountaineer and all round bete noir of late Victorian and Edwardian England. He died in obscurity in an Eastbourne boarding house in 1947. His enjoyable ‘auto-hagiography’ – ‘The Confessions of Aleister Crowley’ are dedicated to Sir Richard Burton. It may we be that Crowley modelled himself to some extent on Burton … Read more