“…Hafiz, with Thee Alone the Strife of Song I Seek…” Impact of Islamic Mysticism on German Romanticism: The Case of Goethe
Keywords:
German poetry, romanticism, Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, literary influences, Islam, Islamic mysticism, Persian poetry, ḤāfiẓAbstract
In the present paper, I aim at outlining the impact of Islamic mysticism on the German Romanticism, especially Islamic mystical poetry of Muḥammad Shams ad-Dīn Ḥāfiẓ (d. 1390) on the work of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (d. 1832). Hereto I am focusing particularly on the perception and reception of Islam in the context of Goethe’s West-Eastern Divan, stressing thereby not only his great affection to Islamic mystical heritage and poetry, but also his fascination for the Arabic and Persian language as well as for the language of the Holy Quran. For it was precisely the aesthetic dimension of Islam, which besides its moral-spiritual aspects, inspired the creativity of this important German poet and thinker of the eighteenth century. The article then concludes with some critical remarks.References
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