#abu al-qasim al-shabbi

[malaisequotes]

“I am a sad stranger in the world of sorrow. No one bears a tenth of what I feel. So bitter is my grief, yet when my soul screams, my very own body can hear nothing.”

The Strange Grief by Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi

[jordanianroyals]

Portraits of Rajwa Al Saif at her henna party, 22 May 2023. Upon entrance, Rajwa is showered with petals & bakhoor. The Saudi bride to be wears dons a white traditional dress with golden silk threads by Saudi designer Honayda Serafi.

Speaking to Al Arabiya, Serafi said that, through the dress, she wanted to “tell the story of this love and to merge between Saudi and Jordanian identities in terms of fashion and culture.” Serafi added that it was also important for her to portray Al Saif’s character and personality through the design which was rooted in history.

Al Saif’s dress is inspired by the traditional thobe of the Najd region which Serafi wanted to execute with a modern take. The dress and overlay resemble the union between Saudi Arabia and Jordan that is happening through this wedding where Serafi noted that she incorporated the seven-pointed star that adorns the Jordanian flag and which reflects the seven Quran verses of Al-Fatiha.

“I also took the palm tree symbol from Saudi Arabia which represents the nerve of life, vitality and giving,” Serafi said, adding that the dress also includes poetry written by Tunisian poet Abu Al-Qasim al-Shabbi. “I am very happy and proud to be part of this historic event,” she added. (x)

[opencommunion]

Hosni Radwan, 1980 Arabic: ولا بد القيد ان ينكس English: The chains must [inevitably] break (A famous line from Tunisian poet Abu Al-Qasim Al-Shabbi's The Will to Life)

[ID: A poster illustration depicting a keffiyeh hanging out of a barred prison window. The window frame is cracked and the bars are in the process of transforming into leafy green shoots, with the keffiyeh's pattern extending onto them. The background is a brown-orange-yellow gradient, with orange Arabic text at the top. /end ID]

[farmerbebop]

On this blog you'll probably never find any serious analysis of The Prisoner by me, but here's Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi's "To the Tyrants of the World".

[jardindefruits]

Incense drifted from flowers on the moon's quiet wings...

Abu Al-Qasim Al-Shabbi translated by Lena Jayyusi and Naomi Shihab Nye, from ‘The Will of Life’, Arabic Poems

[ukdamo]

The Will to Life

Abu Al-Qasim Al-Shabbi

If, one day, the people wills to live Then fate must obey Darkness must dissipate And must the chain give way And he who is not embraced by life’s longing Evaporates into its air and fades away Woe to one whom life does not rip from the slap of victorious nothingness Thus told me the beings And thus spoke their hidden spirit. The wind murmured between the cracks Over the mountains and under trees: —If  to a goal I aspire, I pursue the object of desire and prudence obliviate Neither the rugged canyons will I shun Nor the gushing of the blazing fire He who doesn’t like to climb mountains Will forever live among the hollows The blood of youth in my heart roars And more wind in my chest soars So I hearkened, and listened to the thunders’ shelling The winds’ blowing and the rain’s falling And Earth said to me—when I asked her, “O mother, do you hate humans?” “Among all the people I bless the ambitious And those who taking risk enjoy Those who don’t keep up with time I curse And I curse those who lead the life of a stone. The universe is alive; it loves life And despises the dead, no matter how great they are The horizon doesn’t embrace dead birds And bees don’t kiss dead flowers. Were it not for the motherliness of my tender heart These holes would not have held the dead Woe to those whom life has not ripped From the curse of victorious nothingness!” On one of those autumn nights, With sorrow and boredom burdened, I got drunk on the stars’ light And sang to sadness, until it too was drunk And I asked darkness: “Does life bring back Youth to what it had withered?” Darkness’ lips did not speak And the dawn’s virgins did not sing The woods told me with tenderness Lovely, like the fluttering strings, “Come winter, foggy winter, Snowy winter, rainy winter, Dies the magic, the branches’ magic, The flowers’ magic, and the fruits’ magic The magic of the soft and gentle evening The magic of the luscious and fragrant meadow Branches fall along with their leaves And flowers of a dear and blooming time The wind plays with them in every valley, The flood buries them wherever it goes And all die like a marvelous dream That in a soul shone and disappeared The seeds that were carried remain A reservoir of a bygone beautiful era A memory of seasons, a vision of life, And ghosts of a world steadily vanishing; Embracing, while it is under the fog, Under the snow, and under the mud, Life’s untedious spirit And spring’s scented green heart; Dreaming of bird songs, Fragrant flowers and the flavors of fruit. As time goes by, vicissitudes arise, Some wilt, and others live on. Their dreams become wakefulness Wrapped in dawn’s mystery Wondering, “Where’s the morning fog? Where’s the evening magic? and the moonlight? And the mazes of that elegant bed? The singing bees and the passing clouds? Where are the rays and beings? Where is the life I am waiting for? I’m thirsty for light over the boughs! I’m thirsty for the shade under the trees! I’m thirsty for the spring in the meadows Singing and dancing over the flowers! I’m thirsty for the birds’ tune For the breeze’s whisper, and the rain’s melody! I’m thirsty for the universe! Where is existence? When will I see the anticipated world? It is the universe, behind the slumber of stillness In the tunnels of the great awakenings” It took only a wing flap Till her longing grew up and triumphed The Earth shattered those above her And saw the world’s sweet images Came spring with its melodies With its dreams, its fragrant juvenescence And spring kissed her on the lips kisses That return the departed youth And said to her: you have been given life And through your treasured progeny immortalized Be blessed by the light, and welcome Young age and life’s affluence. He whose dreams worship the light Is blessed by the light wherever he appears Here you have the sky, here you have the light And here you have the blooming dreamy soil Here you have the undying beauty And here you have the wide and glowing world, So swing as you like over the fields With sweet fruits and luscious flowers Whisper to the breeze, whisper to the clouds Whisper to the stars and whisper to the moon Whisper to life and its longings, To the charm of this attractive existence Darkness revealed a deep beauty That kindles imagination and thought inspires And over the world extends a marvelous magic Dispatched by an able magician The candles of the bright stars illumined The incense, the flowers’ incense perished A soul of singular beauty flickered With wings from the moon’s luminosity Life’s holy hymn resounded In a temple dreamy and enchanted And in the universe it declared: Aspiration Is the flame of life and the essence of victory If to life souls aspire Then fate must obey.

[mjljmj]

Se un giorno

San Quirico D’Orcia Se un giorno alla gente venisse voglia di vivereallora il fato dovrà rispondere,e la notte dovrà aprirsie le catene spezzarsi,chi vivere desidera il corpo non trattienes’evapora e svanisce nel vasto cielo della vita.Gli esseri, gli esseri tutti così mi hanno detto,così mi ha parlato il loro spirito celato.In cima alla montagna, nel più segreto albero,nel mare scatenato,…

[captain-beck-antilles]

The Will of Life

Abu Al-Qasim Al-Shabbi

If, one day, the people wills to live Then fate must obey Darkness must dissipate And must the chain give way And he who is not embraced by life’s longing Evaporates into its air and fades away Woe to one whom life does not rip from the slap of victorious nothingness Thus told me the beings And thus spoke their hidden spirit. The wind murmured between the cracks Over the mountains and under trees: —If  to a goal I aspire, I pursue the object of desire and prudence obliviate Neither the rugged canyons will I shun Nor the gushing of the blazing fire He who doesn’t like to climb mountains Will forever live among the hollows The blood of youth in my heart roars And more wind in my chest soars So I hearkened, and listened to the thunders’ shelling The winds’ blowing and the rain’s falling And Earth said to me—when I asked her, “O mother, do you hate humans?” “Among all the people I bless the ambitious And those who taking risk enjoy Those who don’t keep up with time I curse And I curse those who lead the life of a stone. The universe is alive; it loves life And despises the dead, no matter how great they are The horizon doesn’t embrace dead birds And bees don’t kiss dead flowers. Were it not for the motherliness of my tender heart These holes would not have held the dead Woe to those whom life has not ripped From the curse of victorious nothingness!”

On one of those autumn nights, With sorrow and boredom burdened, I got drunk on the stars’ light And sang to sadness, until it too was drunk And I asked darkness: “Does life bring back Youth to what it had withered?” Darkness’ lips did not speak And the dawn’s virgins did not sing The woods told me with tenderness Lovely, like the fluttering strings, “Come winter, foggy winter, Snowy winter, rainy winter, Dies the magic, the branches’ magic, The flowers’ magic, and the fruits’ magic The magic of the soft and gentle evening The magic of the luscious and fragrant meadow Branches fall along with their leaves And flowers of a dear and blooming time The wind plays with them in every valley, The flood buries them wherever it goes And all die like a marvelous dream That in a soul shone and disappeared The seeds that were carried remain A reservoir of a bygone beautiful era A memory of seasons, a vision of life, And ghosts of a world steadily vanishing; Embracing, while it is under the fog, Under the snow, and under the mud, Life’s untedious spirit And spring’s scented green heart; Dreaming of bird songs, Fragrant flowers and the flavors of fruit. As time goes by, vicissitudes arise, Some wilt, and others live on. Their dreams become wakefulness Wrapped in dawn’s mystery Wondering, “Where’s the morning fog? Where’s the evening magic? and the moonlight? And the mazes of that elegant bed? The singing bees and the passing clouds? Where are the rays and beings? Where is the life I am waiting for? I’m thirsty for light over the boughs! I’m thirsty for the shade under the trees! I’m thirsty for the spring in the meadows Singing and dancing over the flowers! I’m thirsty for the birds’ tune For the breeze’s whisper, and the rain’s melody! I’m thirsty for the universe! Where is existence? When will I see the anticipated world? It is the universe, behind the slumber of stillness In the tunnels of the great awakenings” It took only a wing flap Till her longing grew up and triumphed The Earth shattered those above her And saw the world’s sweet images Came spring with its melodies With its dreams, its fragrant juvenescence And spring kissed her on the lips kisses That return the departed youth And said to her: you have been given life And through your treasured progeny immortalized Be blessed by the light, and welcome Young age and life’s affluence. He whose dreams worship the light Is blessed by the light wherever he appears Here you have the sky, here you have the light And here you have the blooming dreamy soil Here you have the undying beauty And here you have the wide and glowing world, So swing as you like over the fields With sweet fruits and luscious flowers Whisper to the breeze, whisper to the clouds Whisper to the stars and whisper to the moon Whisper to life and its longings, To the charm of this attractive existence Darkness revealed a deep beauty That kindles imagination and thought inspires And over the world extends a marvelous magic Dispatched by an able magician The candles of the bright stars illumined The incense, the flowers’ incense perished A soul of singular beauty flickered With wings from the moon’s luminosity Life’s holy hymn resounded In a temple dreamy and enchanted And in the universe it declared: Aspiration Is the flame of life and the essence of victory If to life souls aspire Then fate must obey.

[finita-la-commedia]

The universe is alive; it loves life And despises the dead, no matter how great they are The horizon doesn’t embrace dead birds And bees don’t kiss dead flowers.

Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi (1909-1934), from “The Will to Life”

[malaisequotes]

“Yet I have heard its sound in my heart, in the midst of my intoxicated youth, and ever since I have been sad at heart, singing of my sorrow, like a mountain bird...”

The Strange Grief by Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi

[the-lost-lamb]

Ti si, ljubavi, izvor moje nevolje, mojih briga, straha, svih napora moje iznurenosti, suza, patnje, mog bola, jada i mog umora Ti si, ljubavi, izvor mog postojanja, mog života, moje odbrane i snage zrak svetlosti u tami zle kobi, izvor mog mira, ushićenja, moje nade Razonodo mog srca! Otrove moje duše! Nevoljo mog života, moje izobilje! Da li si grešni plamen rasplamsan u vrtu uzdaha ili te samo nebo šalje? Sa tobom sam delio pehar tuge, a svaka molba ostade neispunjena Tvoja mi je naklonost najdraži dar, ali su mi večna briga iskušenja O, ljubavi, hoćeš li mi kazati da li si iz tame ili iz svetla rođena?

[malaisequotes]

“My grief is different from all others. It is strange in the world of sorrow. My grief is a thought that sings, but is unknown to the ear of Time.”

The Strange Grief by Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi

[malaisequotes]

“Other people’s grief is like a torch that fades and dies in the course of time, but mine is settled in my soul where it will remain till eternity…”

The Strange Grief by Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi

[finita-la-commedia]

And I curse those who lead the life of a stone.

Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi (1909-1934), from “The Will to Life”

[finita-la-commedia]

Where is the life I am waiting for ? I’m thirsty for light over the boughs ! I’m thirsty for the shade under the trees ! I’m thirsty for the spring in the meadows Singing and dancing over the flowers ! I’m thirsty for the birds’ tune For the breeze’s whisper, and the rain’s melody !

Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi (1909-1934), from “The Will to Life”

[mjljmj]

Se un giorno

Se un giorno alla gente venisse voglia di vivere, allora il fato dovrà rispondere, e la notte dovrà aprirsi e le catene spezzarsi. Chi vivere desidera il corpo non trattiene s’evapora e svanisce nel vasto cielo della vita.

Gli esseri, gli esseri tutti così mi hanno detto così mi ha parlato il loro spirito celato.

In cima alla montagna, nel più segreto albero, nel mare scatenato, ascolta il…