Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore, 75, Philadelphia poet
A memorial service and poetry reading will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 12, to mark the death last month of Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore, the Sufi poet, essayist, artist, and playwright.
A memorial service and poetry reading will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 12, to mark the death last month of Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore, the Sufi poet, essayist, artist, and playwright.
Mr. Abdal-Hayy Moore, 75, of Philadelphia, died Monday, April 18, after a lengthy battle with cancer. As the disease progressed, he wrote about it in a poem titled Fancy Dancer.
In part, the poem reads:
The cancer I've been dancing with
(and cancer's a fancy dancer)
has overcome its scruples
and wants to marry me.
I've rebuffed it once or twice now
but its piteous face puckers
and tears fills its eyes
with the thought of losing me.
A protégé of Beat poets Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsberg, Mr. Abdal-Hayy Moore first came to light in San Francisco with publication of his poetic collections Dawn Visions (City Lights, 1964) and Burnt Heart (City Lights, 1971).
Born in 1940 in Oakland, Calif., he lived in various places before settling in Philadelphia in 1990.
During the late 1960s, he founded the Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company in Berkeley, Calif., serving as producer, director, and writer of the visionary drama collective.
In 1970, he became a Sufi Muslim, embarking on a decade of devotional focus and travel throughout England, Spain, and North Africa, during which he refrained from writing any poetry in his quest for spiritual illumination and self-renunciation, his family said in a tribute. His later poetry reflected a deep and abiding faith in Islam and his dedication to Sufism, the inner mystical dimension of Islam.
He returned to California in the 1980s.
"The creative floodgates reopened," his family said in a written tribute. During the following decade, he became a central figure in the Santa Barbara poetry movement and an organizer of the Santa Barbara Poetry Festival.
As his work flourished, he published numerous books of poetry. The books were illustrated with his own drawings, and his intricate collages became the cover art.
His work appeared in various magazines and periodicals. He gave public poetry readings, which were enriched with his zither-playing. He also put on puppet shows, with handmade puppets and hand-painted scenery. The shows were clever adaptations of spiritual wisdom tales often interlaced with lampoons of current politics.
"He was a very funny guy," said his wife, Malika Moore.
After he moved to the East Coast, his full-length production of Layla and Majnun (a medieval Sufi Romeo and Juliet) was performed in New York and Philadelphia.
Mr. Abdal-Hayy Moore drew from "a wellspring of virtuosity, whether literary, visual, musical, or interpersonal," his family said.
His professional life was firmly centered around his spiritual values and practices. He served as a major literary editor for contemporary Sufi luminaries and also edited the English translations of fellow poets. His website, www.ecstaticxchange.com, has samples of his poetry.
In 2011, 2012, and 2014, he was awarded the biannual International Nâzim Hikmet Prize for Poetry in memory of the Turkish poet Nâzim Hikmet Ran.
In 2013, he won an American Book Award. In 2013 and 2014, he was listed among the 500 Most Influential Muslims for his poetry. The list is compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman, Jordan.
Poet Michael McClure said of him: "If Nobel Prizes were given for genius in theater and poetry, Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore would be a Nobel Laureate."
He and his wife, whom he said he married "in a burst of light," were together for 36 years. She recalled her husband's devout faith, personal charm, talent, and keen sense of humor.
His first wife, Shakura Mackey, died many years ago. He was then married to Gail Varsi. They divorced.
Besides Varsi and Malika Moore, he is survived by two stepsons, Mukhtar and Farid Sanders; a daughter, Salihah Moore Kirby; six grandchildren; and a brother.
The June 12 memorial will be at the Moonstone @ Brandywine Workshop, 728 S. Broad St., Philadelphia. Participants may share stories about Mr. Abdal-Hayy Moore, read his poems, or offer suitable ones of their own. The event is a vegetarian potluck dinner. Participants may bring food and nonalcoholic drinks.
Mr. Abdal-Hayy Moore was interred earlier at the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship Cemetery in East Fallowfield.
Contributions may be made to the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, 5820 Overbrook Ave., Philadelphia 19131.
610-313-8102