The Influence of Arabic Sufism on Western Literature: A Study of Ibn al-Farid's Thought in the Works of William Blake

Abstract

The study aimed to explore the impact of Arabic Sufism on Western literature by analyzing the thought of the Arab Sufi poet Ibn al-Fāriḍ and comparing it with the works of the English visionary poet William Blake, highlighting the points of convergence in their philosophical and spiritual visions—particularly regarding divine love, unity of existence, and annihilation in the Beloved—while also clarifying the role of translation and cultural interaction in transmitting Sufi ideas from the Arab world to the West. The study employed the descriptive method to analyze Sufi concepts, the analytical method to uncover intellectual and emotional dimensions, and the comparative method to identify similarities and differences between the two Sufi experiences in their respective cultural and religious contexts. The results revealed that Arabic Sufism had a profound influence on Western mysticism, especially through core ideas such as unity, self-annihilation, and union with the Absolute. Both Ibn al-Fāriḍ and Blake expressed a mystical experience of divine love that transcends material existence toward spiritual perfection, demonstrating that the Sufi experience is a universal human phenomenon uniting spiritual visions across cultures. The study recommended expanding the scope of comparative literature to further trace the influence of Arabic Sufi thought in Western texts, encouraging in-depth research on symbolic and emotional expressions of mysticism, and analyzing Sufi imagery in Western literature to strengthen cultural and intellectual dialogue between East and West. The originality of this study lies in its novel comparative approach that combines literary, philosophical, and spiritual analysis to reveal the deep impact of Ibn al-Fāriḍ’s thought on William Blake’s mystical vision, thereby enriching literary and intellectual scholarship and affirming the universality of the Sufi experience as a bridge of human connection between civilizations.