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The Literature of Modern Arabia: An Anthology
Gathers modern poetry, drama, and short stories by authors from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and North and South Yemen
560 pages, Paperback
First published January 4, 1988
About the author
Salma Khadra Jayyusi
27 books19 followersSalma Khadra Jayyusi (born 1926 or 1927) is a Jordanian-Palestinian poet, writer, translator and anthologist. She is the founder and director of the Project of Translation from Arabic (PROTA), which aims to provide translation of Arabic literature into English.
In 1960, she published her first poetry collection, Return from the Dreamy Fountain. In 1970, she received her PhD on Arabic literature from the University of London. She taught at the University of Khartoum from 1970 to 1973 and at the universities of Algiers and Constantine from 1973 to 1975. In 1973, she was invited by The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) invited her for a lecture tour of Canada and the US, on a Ford Foundation Fellowship, in 1973. In 1975, the University of Utah invited her to return as a visiting professor of Arabic literature, and since then she has been based at various universities in the United States.
In 1960, she published her first poetry collection, Return from the Dreamy Fountain. In 1970, she received her PhD on Arabic literature from the University of London. She taught at the University of Khartoum from 1970 to 1973 and at the universities of Algiers and Constantine from 1973 to 1975. In 1973, she was invited by The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) invited her for a lecture tour of Canada and the US, on a Ford Foundation Fellowship, in 1973. In 1975, the University of Utah invited her to return as a visiting professor of Arabic literature, and since then she has been based at various universities in the United States.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 5, 2015
And now, after nothing
and everything,
I realize I knew you,
and never knew you.
Sadly,
I continue to look for the you in you.
and everything,
I realize I knew you,
and never knew you.
Sadly,
I continue to look for the you in you.
June 3, 2019
"I spell out a dream.
I spelled out an illusion.
I read the story of her tears
page by page."
- Muhammad al-Thubaiti, from “I spelled out a Dream. I spelled out an Illusion”
"This thirsty smile on my lips
is a river of wind telling untold, untouched
tales."
- Muhammad al-Thubaiti, from “A Page from a Bedouin Notebook”
"And it is warm
when you appear in my dreams.
Your longing voice, a stoked and radiant fire … I wrap myself in your words like an ember that says:
Freedom.
I clasp my vision, reined in by the mind
curb my flowing sorrow.
Do not send me a woollen garment.
only come to me
with the dream."
- Ali al-Sharqawi, from “Warmth of Blood”
"You arrive – it is enough
that your presence is a sea,
my heart is a sail,
and there is no coastline."
- Ali al-Sharqawi, from “Presence”
"Ride, ride the horse of your despair;
Do not hark back to what you left behind.
The land you cross, love will not be there,
No fated meeting, no melodious air,
No welcome waits for you, and hope is blind."
- Ahmad al-Shami, “Defeat”
"… and I set her between yearning and madness,
between my veins and my blood’s desire."
- Hamda Khamees, “About Love and Impossible”
"Tonight you and I and the long road of poems,
and a window overlooking the end."
- Dhabya Khamees, from “Love Poems In Times of War”
"Wrap yourself in a grave-like silence
and the solitude of a melancholy night.
Tell your soul: these days, emotions are hard as wood,
and you are merely a small concern among many."
- Ali Abdallah Khalifa, from “A Window For Longing”
"I wonder what is left of me ?
The crow’s harsh call
that tears me
apart
at daybreak ?
While a flower blooms
I plant my dizzy head in mud
and smash it."
- Saad al-Humaidin, from “What Is Left Of Me ?”
"All my unrequited dreams, all my withered senses weep;
Tired of roaming through the night, now I only ask for sleep."
- Abdallah al-Faysal (1923-2007), “Love’s Wounds”
"I asked my heart that it should forgive you
You whose very existence is atonement."
- Ibrahim al-Hadrani, from “Fountain”
I spelled out an illusion.
I read the story of her tears
page by page."
- Muhammad al-Thubaiti, from “I spelled out a Dream. I spelled out an Illusion”
"This thirsty smile on my lips
is a river of wind telling untold, untouched
tales."
- Muhammad al-Thubaiti, from “A Page from a Bedouin Notebook”
"And it is warm
when you appear in my dreams.
Your longing voice, a stoked and radiant fire … I wrap myself in your words like an ember that says:
Freedom.
I clasp my vision, reined in by the mind
curb my flowing sorrow.
Do not send me a woollen garment.
only come to me
with the dream."
- Ali al-Sharqawi, from “Warmth of Blood”
"You arrive – it is enough
that your presence is a sea,
my heart is a sail,
and there is no coastline."
- Ali al-Sharqawi, from “Presence”
"Ride, ride the horse of your despair;
Do not hark back to what you left behind.
The land you cross, love will not be there,
No fated meeting, no melodious air,
No welcome waits for you, and hope is blind."
- Ahmad al-Shami, “Defeat”
"… and I set her between yearning and madness,
between my veins and my blood’s desire."
- Hamda Khamees, “About Love and Impossible”
"Tonight you and I and the long road of poems,
and a window overlooking the end."
- Dhabya Khamees, from “Love Poems In Times of War”
"Wrap yourself in a grave-like silence
and the solitude of a melancholy night.
Tell your soul: these days, emotions are hard as wood,
and you are merely a small concern among many."
- Ali Abdallah Khalifa, from “A Window For Longing”
"I wonder what is left of me ?
The crow’s harsh call
that tears me
apart
at daybreak ?
While a flower blooms
I plant my dizzy head in mud
and smash it."
- Saad al-Humaidin, from “What Is Left Of Me ?”
"All my unrequited dreams, all my withered senses weep;
Tired of roaming through the night, now I only ask for sleep."
- Abdallah al-Faysal (1923-2007), “Love’s Wounds”
"I asked my heart that it should forgive you
You whose very existence is atonement."
- Ibrahim al-Hadrani, from “Fountain”
October 13, 2015
I can't really find fault with the project: this is a much-needed sampling of contemporary short prose and poetry from the Gulf region and it's certainly comprehensive. It's just too bad much of it is uninteresting and flat. The prose is stronger. There are a decent number of good short stories here with a decent spectrum of aesthetic variation, it's the poetry that suffers much more. Given the political context of many of these writers, it's to be expected, I guess, that there might be a certain conservatism in style and an adherence to poetical form. Most of the poetry is banal, formulaic, and dull. Give it a go, though, if you like old-school style stuff, it just wasn't for me. The translations, as can be expected from Jayyusi, are great, though.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews