RUMI AND SHAKESPEARE: UNRAVELLING RUMI’S SUFISM IN SELECT SHAKESPEAREAN TEXTS THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF Doctor of Philosophy In English BY MOHAMMAD WAHEED KHAN UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF Maulana Azad Library, Aligarh Muslim University PROF. SAMINA KHAN DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH, UTTAR PRADESH INDIA 2019 Professor Samina Khan Department of English Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh Phone No: 09997398308 [email protected] Certificate Certified that the thesis entitled “Rumi and Shakespeare: Unravelling Rumi’s Sufism in Select Shakespearean Texts” submitted by Mr. Mohammad Waheed Khan for the award of the degree of the Doctor of Philosophy is an original work carried out under my supervision and has not been submitted before, in part or full, to this university or any other university. Prof. Samina Khan Date: Supervisor Maulana Azad Library, Aligarh Muslim University Department of English Aligarh Muslim University CHAIRPERSON Aligarh Phone No. 0091–571–2700920 -925 Extension No.: 1425, 1426 Email: [email protected] Certificate Certified that the thesis entitled “Rumi and Shakespeare: Unravelling Rumi’s Sufism in Select Shakespearean Texts” submitted by Mr. Mohammad Waheed Khan is an original investigation that has been independently carried out by him. It has not been submitted before to this or any other university. Chairperson Date: Maulana Azad Library, Aligarh Muslim University Department of English Aligarh Muslim University CHAIRPERSON Aligarh Phone No. 0091–571–2700920 -925 Extension No.: 1425, 1426 Email: [email protected] Certificate Certified that Mr. Mohammad Waheed Khan (Enrolment No. GE9256) has successfully completed his Ph.D. course work and passed the examination of the same held in the month of November 2016. Chairperson Date: Maulana Azad Library, Aligarh Muslim University Department of English Aligarh Muslim University CHAIRPERSON Aligarh Phone No. 0091–571–2700920 -925 Extension No.: 1425, 1426 Email: [email protected] Certificate Certified that Mr. Mohammad Waheed Khan (Enrolment No. GE9256) has successfully completed the pre-submission seminar on the thesis entitled “Rumi and Shakespeare: Unravelling Rumi’s Sufism in Select Shakespearean Texts” held on 31 August, 2019. ChairpersonMaulana Azad Library, Aligarh Muslim UniversityDate: COPYRIGHT TRANSFER CERTFICATE Title of the Thesis: Rumi and Shakespeare: Unravelling Rumi’s Sufism in Select Shakespearean Texts Candidate’s Name: Mr. Mohammad Waheed Khan COPYRIGHT TRANSFER The undersigned hereby assigns to the Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh copyright that may exist in and for the above thesis submitted for the award of the Ph.D. degree. Signature of the candidate Maulana Azad Library, Aligarh Muslim University Note: However, the author may reproduce or authorize others to reproduce material extracted verbatim from the thesis or derivative of the thesis for author’s personal use provided that the source and the University’s copyright notice are indicated. `Declaration I hereby declare that the thesis entitled “Rumi and Shakespeare: Unravelling Rumi’s Sufism in Select Shakespearean Texts” is an original investigation that has been independently carried out by me. It has not been submitted before to this or any other university. Aligarh Maulana Azad Library, Aligarh MuslimMohammad University Waheed Khan Date: Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to my Supervisor, Prof. Samina Khan, who constantly guided and supported me throughout my research work. Without her guidance and cooperation, this project could not have been possible within the stipulated time. I would like to place on record my deepest gratitude to late Prof. Masoodul Hasan who always helped me with his valuable suggestions and insightful comments. Besides this, he provided me some important books related to my topic and they helped me a lot in formulating ideas and thoughts expressed in the thesis. I sincerely pray to Allah to give him a place in Paradise. I am especially indebted to Prof. Abdur Raheem Kidwai for his continuous support and insightful comments on my topic of research. He has been a great help during the completion of my research. I am also highly obliged to the consistent support and good wishes of Prof. Mohammad Asim Siddiqui. I owe special gratitude to Prof. Jawed S. Ahmad who took extra pain for reading through the proof of the thesis and assisting me with his comments and suggestions. I also express my sincere thanks to Prof. Raashid Nehal for his valuable remarks on my thesis. I am thankful to Chairperson, Department of English and Dean, Faculty of Arts, AMU, Aligarh for their constant support at every stage of this work. I also acknowledge my indebtedness to Maulana Azad Library, and HRDC Library, AMU. Without their valuable books and journals, this project would not have been possible. I want to extend my thanks to my senior research scholars, Dr. Fatima Aleeba, and Dr. Abdul Mabood, Dr. Farhan Ahmad for helping me in this task as well as showing their extra care for my well-being during this turbulent time. My appreciation is due to my junior fellow researcher, VuzraMaulana Adil, who Azad earnestly Library, helped meAligarh in proofreading. Muslim University Special thanks are also due to my close friends, Asad Bin Saadat, Haris Bin Mansoor, Md. Firoj Ahmed and Aurangzeb Ansari who always stood beside me for any help throughout my research. They profoundly helped me in proofreading, printing and binding the thesis. Last but not least, I am much thankful to my father and mother in accomplishing this task. My family remained a constant source of inspiration throughout my professional success and personal gratification. Mohammad Waheed Khan RUMI AND SHAKESPEARE: UNRAVELLING RUMI’S SUFISM IN SELECT SHAKESPEAREAN TEXTS ABTSRACT OF THE THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF Doctor of Philosophy In English BY MOHAMMAD WAHEED KHAN UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF Maulana Azad Library, Aligarh Muslim University PROF. SAMINA KHAN DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH, UTTAR PRADESH INDIA 2019 Abstract The thesis critically examines William Shakespeare‟s select plays and sonnets to discover the probable affinities between his thoughts and the concepts of Sufism. Jalaluddin Rumi, an eminent figure of Sufism, has been selected first to carry out the study of this oriental philosophy and then to find out his possible impact on Shakespearean themes as reflected in his various plays and sonnets. But, the thesis in no way claims that this English dramatist was directly influenced by Rumi. As a matter of fact, there were historical, cultural, religious and geographical differences between these two literary figures, Rumi and Shakespeare, so, the former‟s direct influence on the latter seems to be a distant idea. Besides this, the translations of the Sufic treatises including Rumi‟s works in English as well as in other European languages were done very late in 18th and 19th century. Keeping all these facts in mind, the thesis makes its argument that though, the possibility of Shakespeare‟s knowledge of the Sufic treatise is less, his awareness of the general phenomenon of Sufism cannot be ruled out. The thesis substantiates its argument that this English playwright was well informed about the religion, culture and tradition of the Turks as he made numerous biased allusions to them in his works, then, how it was possible for him to remain unaware of this oriental philosophy of Sufism which was at its peak in the nearby Ottoman Empire during the Elizabethan England. The thesis concludes with an assertion that there is a line of similarities between Sufic notions and Shakespearean thoughts and it strengthens the argument that he was either consciously or unconsciously aware of this oriental philosophy. But, due to the political and religious differences with the Ottoman Turks, Shakespeare could not directly acknowledge its impact on him. Maulana Azad Library, Aligarh Muslim University The thesis has been divided into six chapters. While selecting Shakespeare‟s works for this study, it has been tried to take at least one representative play from each genre of his plays. His two universal tragedies, King Lear and Hamlet, his tragicomedy, The Tempest, his one of the problem plays, Measure for Measure, his last romantic comedy, Twelfth Night, and his sonnet 116 and 144 have been selected to carry out this research. 1 The first chapter has been dedicated to the study of Sufism. This chapter discusses about the definition of Sufism, its emergence and growth, and its relation with other mysticism. The chapter talks about several Sufic stations and stages. Meanwhile, it discusses about several terms related to the Sufic metaphysics. The chapter concludes with the statement that due to the destruction of lives and wealth on a large scale in the horrible two World Wars, the horror-stricken humanity has been searching for peace and calm and it finds solace in this religion of love and peace. Therefore, since 1950s, there is a surge of interest in Sufism in the West as well as in the East. The second chapter has been devoted to give an account of historical and biographical details of both the authors. It marks out the old conflict between faith and reason after the debacle of the Islamic Golden Age which extended almost five centuries from eighth to 13th century. It points out to the theological and metaphysical debates among the Islamic scholars about God and universe. Some of them, especially, Avicenna and Averroes, strongly believed that the universe is governed by the secondary causes created by the first cause, that is God. They thought that this world is regulated by some universal laws formulated by God Himself and so it functions without the direct intervention of God. But some of other scholars, particularly, Abul Hasan Al-Ashari and Al- Ghazali, vehemently opposed this idea and argued that God rules His universe through His direct intervention. The latter declared the impossibility of discovering truth and God with the help of logic and reason and emphasized that it is love which leads people to God.