Ivan Aguéli (born John Gustaf Agelii) (May 24, 1869 - October 1, 1917) also named Sheikh 'Abd al-Hadi Aqhili upon his acceptance of Islam, was a Swedish-born author, artist and Sufi metaphysician. As a devotee of Ibn al-Arabi, his metaphysics applied to the study of Islamic esoterism and its similarities with other esoteric traditions of the world. He was the initiator of René Guénon into Sufism. His art was a unique form of miniature impressionism where he used the blend of colours to create a sense of depth and distance. His unique style of art made him one of the founders of the Swedish contemporary art movement.
Childhood and Youth
Ivan Aguéli was born as John Gustaf Agelii in the Swedish small town of Sala in 1869 as the son of the veterinary Johan Gabriel Agelii. Early on in his youth he began showing an exceptional artistic talent and a keen interest in religious mysticism.
Between the years 1879-1889 he conducted his studies in Gotland and Stockholm.
In 1890 he adopted the name of Ivan Aguéli, possibly under the influence of the writings of Fjodor Dostoyevsky and August Strindberg. The same year he travelled to Paris where he became the student of the Symbolist painter Émile Bernard. Bernard was a close friend of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin.
Before Aguéli returned to Sweden the same year, he made a detour to London where he met the Russian Anarchist scholar Prince Kropotkin. [1]
Attending art school in Stockholm, he was taught by the Swedish artists Anders Zorn and Richard Bergh.
It was during this time of his youth that Aguéli later on claimed that he was repeatedly visited in his dreams by the turban clad image of the Sufi Saint Ibn al-Arabi who personally invited him to Islam and Sufism. [2] Records kept at the Swedish Royal Library in Stockholm, also indicate that it was now that he for the first time borrowed a Swedish translation of the Holy Koran (the exact date being on the 11 March 1892). [3]
Not only did he start reading about Islam, but Aguéli also began openly displaying Oriental character traits. At one famous occasion when visiting the exclusive café Du Nord in Stockholm he persuaded all his friends to settle down on the floor, to the great surprise of the waiters. [4]
By the end of the year 1892 he returned to Paris where he was drawn into the city's political turmoil. In 1894 he was arrested for association with anarchists and sentenced to 4 months in the Mazas prison. While in Mazas, Aguéli used his time to study the Koran and Oriental languages. Within months of his release in 1895, he left France for Egypt where he lived until 1896 when he returned to Paris. [5]
It was later on in Paris between 1898-1899 that Aguéli finally converted to Islam and adopted the name 'Abd Al-Hadi.
Sri Lanka
In 1899 he moved to Colombo in today's Sri Lanka where he was enrolled in an Islamic madrasa "in order to study the influence of Islam on other nations than the Arab..."[6]. However, due to monetary difficulties, Aguéli was forced to return to Paris in 1900. [7]
Sufism
In 1902 Aguéli again moved to Cairo. There, he became one of the first Western Europeans to be officially enrolled at the Al-Azhar University where he studied Arabic and Islamic philosophy. [8]
Living a life in utmost poverty, adopting Arab dress and learning perfect Arabic, Aguéli soon won many friends amongst the Egyptians and was initiated into the Shadhiliyya Sufi order by the great Egyptian Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman Ilaysh al-Kabir who had been a close friend of the Algerian Sufi Shaykh Emir Abdel Qadir. Shaykh Ilaysh also gave him the title Muqaddim of Europe. This title would be of utmost importance during his future travels in Europe. Shaykh Ilaysh also used to call Aguéli Muhyiddin (one of Ibn al-Arabi's names). [9]
Regarding Ibn Al-Arabi, Aguéli would later write "I had read his books before I knew Arabic, I had seen his face before I knew his name...".
Aguéli also stated "Maybe you remember that I studied Swedenborg? Then I found Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi and Laotzu. He who merely studies one of these two, will not read anything else. Our orientalists neither know Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi's true place in Sufism, nor Sufism's place in Islam."
Il Convito
Together with the Italian doctor and fellow-convert Enrico Insabato he founded and contributed to an Italian magazine published in Cairo (1904-1913) named "Il Convito/An-Nadi". As a protest to the French rule in Algeria and Sudan, the magazine was written in Italian. The aim of this publication was to help bridge the cultural gap between Christian Europe and the Islamic world. However, the political agenda of the magazine and its opposition to the British rule of Egypt meant that it was branded as anti-colonial and subsequently closed down by the British administration.
First World War and Spain
Aguéli's political opinions were clearly in favour of the Ottoman cause and against the snobbery created by the colonial administration. Once, whlie living in Paris, was badly beaten by a Parisian mob for defending the Ottoman cause in the midst of an anti-Ottoman demonstration. In one of his unpublished essays he also wrote that Arabs should "not help any foreign power that is hostile to Turkey."[10] This resulted in that the British Consul-General of Egypt Lord Cromer came to suspect that he was a spy and in 1916 expelled him from Egypt to Spain. Stranded in Spain, Aguéli lacked the funds to continue back to Sweden. On October 31917 his friend and patron HRH Prince Eugén Bernadotte of Sweden sent a cheque of 1,000 Spanish pesetas to the Swedish consulate in order to help him back, but it was too late, on October 1 1917 Aguéli had tragically died in a tram accident on the outskirts of Barcelona.
Prince Eugén hence ordered the cheque to be given to Aguéli's impoverished mother, who had spent all her savings supporting her son. The Prince also commanded the repatriation and preservation of all of Aguéli's belongings left behind in Barcelona, Cairo and Paris. These belongings were kept at the archives of the Swedish National Museum of Fine arts in Stockholm.
At an exhibition in 1920 most of Aguéli's recovered painings were put on display at Waldemarsudde. After Prince Eugén and his nephew HRH Crown Prince Gustav Adolf Bernadotte (future HM King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden) had purchased their favourites, the rest were sold to a fascinated audience.
Aguéli and René Guénon
René Guénon and Aguéli began their friendship in 1907 while Guénon was the editor of La Gnose, an esoteric magazine in Paris. It was while writing numerous articles on metaphysics, Sufism and Taoism that Aguéli seems to have awakened Guénon’s interest in Islam. As a Moqaddam of the Shadhiliyya order and Shaykh Ilaysh’s personal representative in Europe it seems that he hence proceeded with initiating Guénon into Sufi Islam. The evidence that it was Aguéli who initiated Guenon (and also possibly gave him his Muslim name) is in a letter dated 1912 that was recovered amongst his possessions, drafted for an unknown source in Kairo he subsequently states:
"With regards to France, with which I mean Paris, many of our friends there have accepted Islam, such as Abdelwahid and Abdelhalim. Most of them are amongst the scholarly, educated and freethinking classes, none of whom are politicians… They have accepted Islam out of their love for the greatest Shaykh Muhuyiddin Al Arabi (may Allah grant him Mercy) and their inclinations toward the Malamatiyya order… Further we have with the aid of the Most High founded the al Akbariyya society in Paris on the night of Friday the 26th...".[11]
It is believed that the society remained highly secretive and that Guénon was not openly Muslim until later in the 1920’s when he himself moved to Cairo, following in the footsteps of his Swedish Sufi guide.
The evidence of Guénon’s attachment to Aguéli and Shaykh Ilaysh is clearly seen in his book Symbolisme de la Croix (1931) which is dedicated to Shaykh Ilaysh. It is also worth noting that Guénon's book, Orient et Occident (1924) deals extensively with Taoism and universalism which was the subject Aguéli had already touched upon as early as in 1907 in what has subsequetly become his most famous article. [12] Subsequently, many scholars have chosen to follow Aguéli's lead, such as Toshihiko Izutsu’s Sufism and Taoism: A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts which was published as late as in 1984.
"If a Sufi Shaykh one day would pick up a brush..."
Aguéli was of the belief that an artefact made by an artist had the ability of transferring the spiritual state of the artist to the spectator. In an article written in 1912 he states "...that is why no one in the West is considered cultured unless he knows the paintings of the greatest masters...". In the same article Aguéli also states that "...if a Sufi Shaykh one day would pick up a brush and paint a painting, one would merely have to view his painting in order to have a glimpse of his spiritual state of realisation...".
It has been reported that Frithjof Schuon greatly admired Aguéli, not only as a Sufi scholar but also as a great artist.
Aguéli and Swedenborg
As a teenager in Stockholm, Aguéli was introduced to the teachings of the 18th century Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg.[13] The metaphysical teachings of Swedenborg and his unitarian approach to the Christian concept of divinity made a lasting impression on Aguéli who later on whould thank Swedenborg for "bestowing upon me the mystical upbringing with which I have managed to defend myself against all kinds of Protestantism and germanisation…" [14]
Later on he also wrote the following
"I am working on a piece dealing with the secret teachings of the Orient, where one can see how many similarities there are between Swedenborg and the sacred gathering of great souls, by whom I mean the great saints and men of God who till this day guard the mortals when they leave the world and are drawn unto God. There one sees a spiritual chain stemming from the sacred teachings of the Egyptian, Assyrian and Indian temples which then continues to shine in its brightest light with the so called faqirs and dervishes and which is then ended with the Swedenborgian light, after which one is close to gazing into Eternity itself… There are many things in Swedenborg that I do not accept, and some ideas that I even repudiate and refute, but that is perhaps because I have not fully understood him, nonetheless Swedenborg is the clearest spirit that Europe has produced ever since the dawn of time…" [15]
It appears that although Aguéli was the first one to explore similarities between Sufi and Swedenborgian metaphysics, this was much later extensively written about by Henry Corbin in his book Swedenborg and Esoteric Islam (1995).
It is also interesting to note that Swedish genealogist Erik Hellerström in 1964 traced Aguéli's ancestry (through his mother's side) back to the Swedish Bishop Jesper Swedberg who also happened to be the father of Swedenborg himself. It is presumed that Aguéli throughout his life was unaware of this connection.[16]
Aguéli and Animal Rights
As the son of a veterinary, Aguéli had a very profound love for animals and he also participated in active protests.
In one famous incident in year 1900, in a bull-fighting arena in the French town of Deuil, he shot and wounded two Spanish matadors with a revolver. During the trial he vehemently defended his rights and refused to apologise. To justify his action he claimed that bullfights are "a school of cowardice and brutality, and indicate the moral decay of a nation", when countered by the prosecutor that "it is not your nation", he simply replied "It matters not, my fatherland, is the universe..." Rallying the entire French animal-rights movement he was only given a suspended sentence. [17]
During his lifetime he also developed a close friendship with the French journalist and animal-rights activist Marie Huot (1846 - 1930).
While living in Cairo, Aguéli was known for taking care of many stray street cats. It was said that he used to have up to 15 cats following him wherever he went. One of his favourite cats was a one-eyed, Cairo street-cat called "Mabruka" which he took with him on his European travels.
Once, a Swedish friend heard him say "He has not lived, who has not slept in a desert tent and heard the grunts of the camels..."
Aguéli and Art
In 1912, while living in Paris, Aguéli began writing articles on art theory and contemporary art. One of his most exceptional pieces is an article, published by Guénon in La Gnose, which deals with the Cubism of Pablo Picasso. [18] The article awakened the interest of the famous Parisian art critic Guillaume Appollinaire, who attempted in vain, to get Aguéli to cooperate with him in a series of art publications. [19]
Later, Aguéli would also attempt to arrange for his patron Prince Eugéne to meet Picasso and Matisse. [20]
At an artist's gathering in Paris, his friend Richard Bergh once made the following observation of Aguéli's enigmatic appeal.
"...there Aguéli is like the fish in water. He is an extraordinary character, sought after by all the ladies - he lives nowhere and everywhere - never wants to reveal his address, appears and disappears, dressed in a tight velvet coat and trousers as wide as bags. But the Parisian ladies love this apache-type before all others..." [21]
Another Swedish friend Karl Nordström once sarcastically remarked "...it takes many years to get Aguéli out of one's system..." [22]
Aguéli's Heritage
In Sweden, Aguéli is admired as one of its most prominent contemporary painters and his paintings are considered to be national treasures. Most of his paintings are found at the Swedish National Museum of Fine arts, the Museum of Modern Art and the Aguéli Museum.
Aguélis prominence in Sweden was clearly shown in 1969, when at the centenary of his birth, six of his paintings were printed as stamps by the Swedish Postal Service.
Aguéli's remains were kept in Barcelona, Spain until 1981, when he was brought back to Sweden and re-buried with Islamic rites in his hometown of Sala. In Sala there is also an Aguéli museum and a large Aguéli park dedicated to his memory.
In 2006, under the patronage of HM King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden the largest ever Aguéli exhibition was once again held at Waldemarsudde in Stockholm, this time also incorporating his Muslim heritage, with various lectures on Sufism.
Spiritually, the traditionalist teachings of René Guénon and Frithjof Schuon have been upheld in Sweden by Swedish Sufi traditionalist scholars such as Kurt Almqvist, Tage Lindbom and Ashk Dahlén.
Quotes
- My fatherland, is the universe... [23]
- Simplicity is not only the principle of all art, but of all spiritual activity whatsoever.
- Admit, that a landscape can reflect a spiritual state ... Religion is decisive for the sun in the landscape of my within. See, that is why I love monotheism and the Arabian spirit.
- Amongst the Truths of our religion [Islam] is that the world is as Allah has wished it to be. Hence you should only demand perfection of yourself... [24]
- It is almost heresy to quarrel with the Eternal. Is it not to doubt its Omnipotence and All-knowing? When I pray for mercy, it is not a remission of the punishment that I wish for, it is the spiritual life that I want to gain. Little does pain and worry mean to me, i.e. my own. For I, I do not exist. I am not. There is nothing more godless than to cry I! I! [25]
- My art will one day explain the eccentricities of my life.
- Give me only bread and water, but let me paint!
- Only in Africa, Southern India and on Gotland have I been able to perceive the horizon as a single infinite eye, which follows you everywhere, with different expressions.
- …What importance has then Cézanne's influence? He who copies Bonnat, is merely a worse Bonnat. But one cannot copy Cézanne, but only follow his way. And then one does not end up with Cézanne, but with oneself...
- I long more than ever away from this damned Europe, to some primitive country, where it is very hot and very clear, and where polemics, dialectics, rhetoric, politics and socialism are unknown diseases.
- The old authentic Arabian architectural monuments… always seem to be greater than reality… they seem to grow before ones eyes, as when wings spread out, or a fan opened.
Bibliography
Swedish:
- Gauffin, Axel, Ivan Aguéli - Människan, mystikern, målaren I-II, 1940-41. (Unrivalled study of Aguéli by the Swedish art historian A Gauffin, 500 pages in two volumes with interviews with may of his friends and including a large number of his personal letters.)
- Wessel, Viveka, Ivan Aguéli - Porträtt av en rymd, 1988. (A profound study of Aguéli's art theory and his thoughts on Islamic metaphysics.)
- Ekelöf, Gunnar, Ivan Agueli, 1944.
- Brummer, Hans-Erik (red.), Ivan Aguéli, 2006. (Texts by numerous Swedish authors, academics and art historians.)
- Hellerström, Erik; 'Släkt och Hävd'; pp. 18-34, 1964. (Map of Aguéli's ancestry.)
French:
- Abdul-Hadi (John Gustav Agelii dit Ivan Aguéli), Ecrits pour la Gnose, comprenant la traduction de l'arabe du Traité de l'unité Archè, 1988.
References
See also
External links
- ↑ Gauffin I, p.67
- ↑ Gauffin II, p.143
- ↑ Gauffin I, p.73
- ↑ Gauffin I, p.75
- ↑ Gauffin I, pp.131
- ↑ Gauffin II, p.44
- ↑ Gauffin II, pp.42
- ↑ Gauffin II, pp.121
- ↑ Gauffin II, p.143
- ↑ Gauffin II, p.136
- ↑ Gauffin II, pp.188-189
- ↑ See Ecrits pour la Gnose.
- ↑ Gauffin I, p.30
- ↑ Gauffin II, p.142
- ↑ Gauffin II, p.142
- ↑ Hellerström, pp.18-34
- ↑ Gauffin II, pp.93-98
- ↑ Gauffin, pp.218-219
- ↑ Wessel, pp.124-125
- ↑ Wessel, p.125
- ↑ Wessel, p.125
- ↑ Gauffin II, p.198
- ↑ Gauffin II, p.96
- ↑ Gauffin II, p.191
- ↑ Gauffin II, p.151