Daniel Moore
Encyclopedia
Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore is a U.S. poet
, essay
ist and librettist
. In 1970 he embraced the Sufic tradition of Islam
and changed his name to Abdal-Hayy (eventually merging it with his birth-name). Since then he has become known for spiritually-informed works such as Ramadan Sonnets (1996) and The Blind Beekeeper (2002), and Hamza Yusuf
, as well as Mohja Kahf
, among others, have referred to him as "American Islam's poet laureate". In early adulthood Moore traveled widely, living in Morocco, Spain, Algeria, and Nigeria as well as in Santa Barbara in the United States. In 1990 he moved his family to the American city of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania
, where they still reside and where he is active in local literary and spiritual activities.
of City Lights Books, San Francisco, in 1964. Manuscripts of these poems won the Ina Coolbrith Award for poetry and the James D. Phelan Award. From 1966 to 1969, Moore wrote and directed ritual theater for his Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company
in Berkeley, California
. City Lights also published his second book, Burnt Heart: Ode to the War Dead, in 1972.
In 1965, Moore lived in Boston's North End and worked at odd jobs to sustain himself and his wife of that time. He appeared on the radio reading his poems, and translated essays by Antonin Artaud, under the tutelage of his friend, poet and editor, David Rattray. He was also acquainted with the Boston poet John Wieners. He returned to San Francisco, and then to Mexico, where he suffered a serious car accident and was bedridden for a month and a half with a broken pelvis and chipped socket of his right elbow. Returning to Berkeley, he became involved in the cultural world of that time, and inspired one night by the very name that came to him, The Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company, and sensing a visionary need to bring his poetry into a spatial and theatrical dimension, he inaugurated the sacred theater company. At this juncture in American cultural history, the so-called literary and drug-culture of San Francisco became increasingly energized in the climate of the anti-war movement. He wrote and directed two major productions which were presented at night (with few exceptions) by torchlight in an outdoor amphitheater in North Berkeley, at Hinkel Park, and attended by large numbers of people, always free of charge (a book of the texts and photographs is in preparation for publication as of 2010).
In 1970, about six months after the disbanding of The Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company, Moore met Ian Dallas, aka Abdal-Qadir Shaykh Dr. Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi in Berkeley, and entered Islam in the Sufi Shadhiliyya Tariqat of Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib
, of which Abdal-Qadir was then the muqaddem, or deputy. Moore was given the name Abd al-Hayy, and began traveling extensively in Europe
and North Africa
, living for a time in Nigeria
, and in Andalusia
, Spain
, where he was a participant in the Islamic Renaissance there in the mid and late 70s, a movement that is still growing today (2009). He also spent time with his family in Blanco, Texas, in the community of Shaykh Fadhlallah Haeri and Imam Da'ud, but left it with his family and moved to Santa Barbara, California, aided by his long-time friend, Hakim Archuletta, who was also an actor in Moore's sacred theater company and who presently offers lectures on Wisdom Healing all over the world.
Regarding Moore's poetic work, Lawrence Ferlinghetti
wrote of this period: “Moore [became] a Sufi and, like Rimbaud, renounced written poetry.” But after ten years of not writing while traveling and under the tutelage of Shaykh Abdal-Qadir, Moore “renounced” his renunciation and published three books of poetry in Santa Barbara, California
in the 1980s: The Desert is the Only Way Out, The Chronicles of Akhira, and Halley's Comet. He also organized poetry-readings for the Santa Barbara Arts Festivals and wrote the libretto for a commissioned oratorio by American composer Henry Brant
, entitled Rainforest (available on CD in the Henry Brant Editions), which had its world premiere at the Santa Barbara Arts Festival on April 21, 1989.
Since 1990 Moore has lived in Philadelphia with his wife, Malika, and two children, now grown, and has participated in Fringe Festivals with poetry and music, and local poetry readings, as well as traveling to England, Cairo, Marrakech and universities in the United States to present his poetry.
See below for the titles in Moore's current publishing project, The Ecstatic Exchange, of his life's work in poetry.
Moore's poems have appeared in Zyzzyva
, City Lights Review, and The Nation
. He has read his poetry to 40,000 people at the United Nations
in New York at a rally for the people of Bosnia
during that war, and has participated in numerous conferences and conventions at universities (including Bryn Mawr, The University of Chicago and Duke University in 1998, the American University at Cairo, Egypt, in 1999, and the University of Arkansas
in the year 2000). His book The Ramadan Sonnets, co-published by Kitab and City Lights Books, appeared in 1996, and his book of poems, The Blind Beekeeper, distributed by Syracuse University
Press, in January 2002. He has over 50 manuscripts of poetry which make up his present body of work.
In March 2000 and October 2001, Moore collaborated with the Lotus Music and Dance Studio of New York
, performing the poetic narration he wrote for their multicultural dance-performance of The New York Ramayana, and recently revived his own theatrical project in The Floating Lotus Magic Puppet Theater, presenting The Mystical Romance of Layla & Majnun with live-action and hand-puppets. He wrote the scenario
and poetic narration and directed a collaboration between traditional Mohawk and modern dancers for The Eagle Dance: A Tribute to the Mohawk High Steel Workers, which was to be presented in New York
on September 22, 2001, postponed for a performance on March 16, 2002 at the Aaron Davis Hall in Harlem
. He has participated in The People’s Poetry Gathering of New York
, narrating a cabaret-version of The New York Ramayana at the Bowery Poetry Club and participating in a panel on The Poet in The World: Words in Community. He continues to give many public readings during the year, often accompanying himself on specially tuned zithers.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
ist and librettist
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
. In 1970 he embraced the Sufic tradition of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and changed his name to Abdal-Hayy (eventually merging it with his birth-name). Since then he has become known for spiritually-informed works such as Ramadan Sonnets (1996) and The Blind Beekeeper (2002), and Hamza Yusuf
Hamza Yusuf
Hamza Yusuf Hanson is an Islamic scholar of the Sunni tradition, and co-founder of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California, United States. He is an American convert to Islam, and is one of the signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders,...
, as well as Mohja Kahf
Mohja Kahf
-Biography:Kahf moved to the United States in 1971. Her family has been involved in Syrian opposition politics, a theme reflected in the life of her character Khadra of The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf.She received her Ph.D...
, among others, have referred to him as "American Islam's poet laureate". In early adulthood Moore traveled widely, living in Morocco, Spain, Algeria, and Nigeria as well as in Santa Barbara in the United States. In 1990 he moved his family to the American city of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, where they still reside and where he is active in local literary and spiritual activities.
Early career and conversion
His first book of poems, Dawn Visions, was published by Lawrence FerlinghettiLawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti is an American poet, painter, liberal activist, and the co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers...
of City Lights Books, San Francisco, in 1964. Manuscripts of these poems won the Ina Coolbrith Award for poetry and the James D. Phelan Award. From 1966 to 1969, Moore wrote and directed ritual theater for his Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company
Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company
The Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company was a poetic sacred folk theater group created, written and directed by poet Daniel Moore , who in 1964 published a volume of poetry, Dawn Visions, with Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Books of San Francisco...
in Berkeley, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. City Lights also published his second book, Burnt Heart: Ode to the War Dead, in 1972.
In 1965, Moore lived in Boston's North End and worked at odd jobs to sustain himself and his wife of that time. He appeared on the radio reading his poems, and translated essays by Antonin Artaud, under the tutelage of his friend, poet and editor, David Rattray. He was also acquainted with the Boston poet John Wieners. He returned to San Francisco, and then to Mexico, where he suffered a serious car accident and was bedridden for a month and a half with a broken pelvis and chipped socket of his right elbow. Returning to Berkeley, he became involved in the cultural world of that time, and inspired one night by the very name that came to him, The Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company, and sensing a visionary need to bring his poetry into a spatial and theatrical dimension, he inaugurated the sacred theater company. At this juncture in American cultural history, the so-called literary and drug-culture of San Francisco became increasingly energized in the climate of the anti-war movement. He wrote and directed two major productions which were presented at night (with few exceptions) by torchlight in an outdoor amphitheater in North Berkeley, at Hinkel Park, and attended by large numbers of people, always free of charge (a book of the texts and photographs is in preparation for publication as of 2010).
In 1970, about six months after the disbanding of The Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company, Moore met Ian Dallas, aka Abdal-Qadir Shaykh Dr. Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi in Berkeley, and entered Islam in the Sufi Shadhiliyya Tariqat of Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib
Muhammad Ibn al-Habib
Sayyidi Muhammad ibn al-Habib ibn as-Siddiq al-Amghari al-Idrisi al-Hasani was an Islamic teacher, author, and shaykh of the Darqawa tariqa in Morocco.-Background:...
, of which Abdal-Qadir was then the muqaddem, or deputy. Moore was given the name Abd al-Hayy, and began traveling extensively in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, living for a time in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, and in Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, where he was a participant in the Islamic Renaissance there in the mid and late 70s, a movement that is still growing today (2009). He also spent time with his family in Blanco, Texas, in the community of Shaykh Fadhlallah Haeri and Imam Da'ud, but left it with his family and moved to Santa Barbara, California, aided by his long-time friend, Hakim Archuletta, who was also an actor in Moore's sacred theater company and who presently offers lectures on Wisdom Healing all over the world.
Regarding Moore's poetic work, Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti is an American poet, painter, liberal activist, and the co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers...
wrote of this period: “Moore [became] a Sufi and, like Rimbaud, renounced written poetry.” But after ten years of not writing while traveling and under the tutelage of Shaykh Abdal-Qadir, Moore “renounced” his renunciation and published three books of poetry in Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
in the 1980s: The Desert is the Only Way Out, The Chronicles of Akhira, and Halley's Comet. He also organized poetry-readings for the Santa Barbara Arts Festivals and wrote the libretto for a commissioned oratorio by American composer Henry Brant
Henry Brant
Henry Dreyfuss Brant was a Canadian-born American composer. An expert orchestrator with a flair for experimentation, many of Brant's works featured spatialization techniques.- Biography :...
, entitled Rainforest (available on CD in the Henry Brant Editions), which had its world premiere at the Santa Barbara Arts Festival on April 21, 1989.
Since 1990 Moore has lived in Philadelphia with his wife, Malika, and two children, now grown, and has participated in Fringe Festivals with poetry and music, and local poetry readings, as well as traveling to England, Cairo, Marrakech and universities in the United States to present his poetry.
See below for the titles in Moore's current publishing project, The Ecstatic Exchange, of his life's work in poetry.
1990 onward
In 1990 Moore moved with his family to Philadelphia, where he continues to write and read his work publicly. He has received commissions for two prose-books with Running Press of that city, the best-selling The Zen Rock Garden and a men’s movement anthology, Warrior Wisdom; his commissioned book for The Little Box of Zen was published in 2001 by Larry Teacher Books.Moore's poems have appeared in Zyzzyva
Zyzzyva
Zyzzyva is a genus of tropical American weevil often found in association with palms. It is a snouted beetle. "Zyzzyva" is the last word in many English-language dictionaries....
, City Lights Review, and The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
. He has read his poetry to 40,000 people at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
in New York at a rally for the people of Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
during that war, and has participated in numerous conferences and conventions at universities (including Bryn Mawr, The University of Chicago and Duke University in 1998, the American University at Cairo, Egypt, in 1999, and the University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
in the year 2000). His book The Ramadan Sonnets, co-published by Kitab and City Lights Books, appeared in 1996, and his book of poems, The Blind Beekeeper, distributed by Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
Press, in January 2002. He has over 50 manuscripts of poetry which make up his present body of work.
In March 2000 and October 2001, Moore collaborated with the Lotus Music and Dance Studio of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, performing the poetic narration he wrote for their multicultural dance-performance of The New York Ramayana, and recently revived his own theatrical project in The Floating Lotus Magic Puppet Theater, presenting The Mystical Romance of Layla & Majnun with live-action and hand-puppets. He wrote the scenario
Scenario
A scenario is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the Commedia dell'arte it was an outline of entrances, exits, and action describing the plot of a play that was literally pinned to the back of the scenery...
and poetic narration and directed a collaboration between traditional Mohawk and modern dancers for The Eagle Dance: A Tribute to the Mohawk High Steel Workers, which was to be presented in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
on September 22, 2001, postponed for a performance on March 16, 2002 at the Aaron Davis Hall in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. He has participated in The People’s Poetry Gathering of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, narrating a cabaret-version of The New York Ramayana at the Bowery Poetry Club and participating in a panel on The Poet in The World: Words in Community. He continues to give many public readings during the year, often accompanying himself on specially tuned zithers.
Poetic works
- Dawn Visions (City Lights Books, San Francisco, 1964)
- This Body of Black Light (Fred Stone, Cambridge, 1965)
- Burnt Heart (City Lights Books, San Francisco, 1971)
- The Desert is the Only Way Out (Zilzal Press, Santa Barbara, 1985)
- The Chronicles of Akhira (Zilzal Press, Santa Barbara, 1986)
- Halley's Comet (Zilzal Press, Santa Barbara, 1986)
- Atomic Dance (am here books, Santa Barbara, 1988)
- Awake As Never Before (Zilzal Press, Philadelphia, 1993)
- The Quest for Beauty —illustrated by Sara Steele (Zilzal Press, Philadelphia, 1994)
- Roses, A Selection of Poems (Zilzal Press, Philadelphia, 1994)
- Maulood, a poem in praise of The Prophet Muhammad (Zilzal Press, Philadelphia, 1995)
- Mecca/Medina Time-Warp (Zilzal Press, Philadelphia, 1996)
- The Ramadan Sonnets (Kitab/City Lights Books, Bethesda/San Francisco, 1996)
- The Blind Beekeeper (Zilzal Press Chapbook, Philadelphia, 1999)
- The Blind Beekeeper, Poems (Jusoor/Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, 2001)
- Mars & Beyond (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2005)
- Salt Prayers (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2005)
- Laughing Buddha Weeping Sufi (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2005)
- Ramadan Sonnets (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2005)
- Psalms for the Brokenhearted (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2006)
- I Imagine a Lion (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2006)
- Coattails of the Saint (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2006)
- Love is a Letter Burning in a High Wind (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2006)
- Abdallah Jones and the Disappearing-Dust Caper (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2006)
- The Flame of Transformation Turns to Light/Ninety-Nine Ghazals Written in English (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2007)
- Underwater Galaxies (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2007)
- The Music Space (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2007)
- Cooked Oranges (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2007)
- Through Rose Colored Glasses (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2008)
- Like When You Wave at a Train and the Train Hoots Back at You/Farid's Book (The Ecstatic Exchange,2008)
- In the Realm of Neither (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2008)
- The Fire Eater's Lunchbreak (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2008)
- Millennial Prognostications (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2008)
- You Open a Door and It's a Starry Night (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2009)
- Where Death Goes (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2009)
- Shaking the Quicksilver Pool (The Ecstatic Exchange,2009)
- The Perfect Orchestra (The Ecstatic Exchange,2009)
- Sparrow on the Prophet's Tomb (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2009)
- A Maddening Disregard for the Passage of Time (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2009)
- Stretched Out on Amethysts (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2010)
- Invention of the Wheel (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2010)
- Chants for the Beauty Feast (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2011)
- In Constant Incandescence (The Ecstatic Exchange, 2011)
The Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company
- The Walls are Running Blood (1968)
- Bliss Apocalypse (1970)
- Bliss Apocalypse Contemporaries: 28 New American Poets (Viking Press, New York 1972)
Dar Al-Islam School, Abiquiu, New Mexico
- The Stonecutter's Dream (1988)
- The Setting Free of The Blind Princess of Zar (1989)
Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship plays
- Tayyad Sultan (1994)
- Mr Richman and The Shaykh (1995)
- The City of Sokku (1996)
- Meeting in Mecca (1997)
The Floating Lotus Magic Puppet Theater
- The Mystical Romance of Layla & Majnun (2000)
Songs, musical texts, and libretti
- Rainforest [commissioned text], an oratorioOratorioAn oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
by Henry BrantHenry BrantHenry Dreyfuss Brant was a Canadian-born American composer. An expert orchestrator with a flair for experimentation, many of Brant's works featured spatialization techniques.- Biography :...
(1989) - Pilgrimage [Memoirs of a Dying Parachutist], chamber pieceChamber musicChamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
for baritoneBaritoneBaritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
and chamber orchestra by Roscoe MitchellRoscoe MitchellRoscoe Mitchell is an African American composer, jazz instrumentalist and educator, mostly known for being "a technically superb—if idiosyncratic—saxophonist." He has been called "one of the key figures" in avant-garde jazz who has been "at the forefront of modern music" for the past...
(1995) - Links [Links], piece for sextetSextetA sextet is a formation containing exactly six members. It is commonly associated with vocal or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six similar or related objects are considered a single unit....
and baritone by Henry ThreadgillHenry ThreadgillHenry Threadgill is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. Threadgill came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating a range of non-jazz genres....
(1999) - A Piece of Coal [Piece of Coal], for piano and baritone by Stephen Dickman (2001)
- The Blind Beekeeper [The Blind Beekeeper], setting for piano and baritone by W. A. MathieuW. A. MathieuWilliam Allaudin Mathieu is a composer, pianist, choir director, music teacher, and author. He studied with William Russo and Easley Blackwood, with North Indian vocalist Pandit Pran Nath for 25 years, and collaborated with Nubian master musician Hamza El Din Hamza El Din.In the 1960s, he spent...
(2003)
Commissioned works (poetry/prose)
- The ZenZenZen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
Rock Garden, A Way of Seeing with boxed miniature rock gardenRock GardenThe Rock Garden or Rock Garden of Chandigarh is a Sculpture garden in Chandigarh, India, also known as Nek Chand's Rock Garden after its founder Nek Chand, a government official who started the garden secretly in his spare time in 1957. Today it is spread over an area of forty-acres , it is...
(Running Press, Philadelphia, 1992) - Warrior Wisdom (Running Press, Philadelphia, 1993)
- The New York RamayanaRamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
—poetry narration (Lotus Music & Dance Studios, New York 2000) - The Little Box of Zen (Larry Teacher Books, 2001)
- The Eagle Dance: A Tribute to the MohawkMohawk nationMohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
High-Steel Workers —scenario, poetry text, direction and narration (Lotus Music & Dance Studios, New York 2001)
Editorial works
- The Adam of Two Edens: The Poems of Mahmoud DarwishMahmoud DarwishMahmoud Darwish was a Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet...
, as editor of various translators (Jusoor/Syracuse University Press 2001) - The Burda of Shaykh BusiriBusiriBūsīrī was an Egyptian poet who was a follower of Imam Shadhili by enrolling himself in the Shadhiliyya Sufi order. He lived in Egypt, where he wrote under the patronage of Ibn Hinna, the vizier. His poems seem to have been wholly on religious subjects...
, translated by Hamza YusufHamza YusufHamza Yusuf Hanson is an Islamic scholar of the Sunni tradition, and co-founder of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California, United States. He is an American convert to Islam, and is one of the signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders,...
with editorial assistance by Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore with Michael WolfeMichael WolfeMichael Wolfe is an American poet, author, and the President and Executive Producer of . He is also a frequent lecturer on Islamic issues at universities across the United States including Harvard, Georgetown, Stanford, SUNY Buffalo, and Princeton...
(Sandala 2003) - State of Siege by Mahmoud DarwishMahmoud DarwishMahmoud Darwish was a Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet...
, editor of the translation by Munir Akash (2004) - The Prayer of the Oppressed Imam Muhammad b. Nasir al-Dari editorial assistance to the translation by Hamza YusufHamza YusufHamza Yusuf Hanson is an Islamic scholar of the Sunni tradition, and co-founder of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California, United States. He is an American convert to Islam, and is one of the signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders,...
(Sandala 2010)
Anthologized works
- Mark in Time: Portraits & Poetry (Glide Publications, San Francisco 1971)
- Contemporaries: 28 New American Poets (The Viking Press 1972)
- San Francisco Oracle (Facsimile Edition 1995)
- Haight Ashbury in the 60's! (CD Rom, Rockument 1996)
Works for children
- The Story of NoahNoahNoah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
, illustrations by Malika Moore (Iqra Books, Texas 1979) - The Cage-bird's Escape, illustrations by the author (Zahra Publications, Texas 1981)
- SulaymanSolomonSolomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
and the Throne of Bilqis, illustrations by Malika Moore (Zahra Publications, 1983) - Abdallah Jones and the Disappearing-Dust Caper (The Ecstatic Exchange/Crescent Series, 2006)
Notable lectures and performances
- Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, Arab Awareness Week, featured poet with Khaled Mattawa, and lecturer on modern poetry, 1998-08-17
- Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico, Islamic Symposium, featured poet and lecturer, with public reading, 1998-07-13 to 1998-07-19
- University of Illinois, Chicago, Milad an-Nanbi, Naqshbandi Foundation, poet and lecturer, 1998-08-15
- Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, Islamic Awareness Week, Featured Poet and lecturer, 1998-11-10
- University of Illinois, Champaine/Urbana IL, Islamic Awareness Week, Featured Poet and lecturer, 1998-11-14
- University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas, "Perceiving the Arab World & Islam," featured poet with Naomi Shihab Nye, poetry reading and moderator for workshops, 1999-02-12
- The American University at Cairo, Cairo, Egypt, featured poet on program of Sufi poetry in English, and lecturer on American Beat Poets, 1999-05-04
- Cabrini College, Wayne, PA, reading and performing "Millennial Prognostications", 2000-04-18
- Cabrini College, Wayne, PA, The Floating Lotus Magic Puppet Theater performance of "The Mystical Romance of Layla & Majnun," 2001-02-20
- University of Pennsylvania Museum, PA, with Coleman Barks reading Rumi, as featured reader of the poem "Waving Hello/Waving Goodbye," 2001-12-08
- The American University at Cairo, Cairo, Egypt, A Night of Rumi poems and a Night of Original Poetry, 2002-02-11
- Bryn Mawr, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, "Mystical Poetry and the Spiritual Imagination," lecture and reading, 2003-03-20
- Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, featured poet, 2003-04-24
- The College of New Jersey, Talk and poetry reading, 2003-11-07
Critical mention
- Saturday Review of Books, Kenneth Rexroth on American Poetry (1965)
- Rolling Stone, "Floating Lotus" (San Francisco 1969)
- Festival—The Book of American Musical Celebrations, segment on “Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company.“ (Collier Books, New York 1970)
- Mug Shots: Who's Who in the New Earth, article and biography. (Meridian, World Publishing 1972)
- Literary San Francisco, Lawrence Ferlinghetti & Nancy Peters. (City Lights Books/Harper & Row, San Francisco 1980)
- Saudi Gazette, "A Lone Voice," Julia Simpson’s article on the poet. (March 16, 1988)
- Ellipses Magazine, "Return of a Sufi." (Princeton, Vol V No 5 1996-97)
- The Temple, Karl Kempton’s review of The Ramadan Sonnets. (Vol 3 No 3 Summer 1999)
External links
- Official website
- http://ecstaticxchange.wordpress.com/EcstaticXchange, Moore's poetry site (includes essays, blog, YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
video and spoken word recordings]