Symbols of Mystical Ecstasy and Divine Love in the Poetry of ’A’ishah al-Ba’uniyya and W.B. Yeats: A Heideggerian Re-interpretation
Maǧallaẗ Kulliyyaẗ Al-Adāb - Ǧāmiʿaẗ Al-Fayūm May 25, 2026 Gehan Anwar Deep
Ecstasy, an inexpressible and condensed experience through which the Ultimate can be revealed, finds expression in symbolic poetry that communicates the unsaying. This comparative study traces the creative merit and mystical layers in the writings of Arab Sufi ’A’ishah al-Ba’uniyya and Irish poet W.B. Yeats, using a synthesis of Heidegger’s existentialist view of ecstasy, Jung’s concept of individuation, and Sufi theory. It investigates how both poets interpret spiritual visions through powerful poetic endeavor, blending Western and Eastern thoughts with a Sufi touch. Spiritual dimensions like transport, unveiling, illumination, and divine beauty are metaphorically interconnected with physical love symbology—wine, woman, roses, gyres—elevating the erotic to the spiritual realm and integrating gender differences in the quest for union with the Absolute.