Arabic Poetry Blog

وَٱللَّهُ أَخْرَجَكُم مِّنۢ بُطُونِ أُمَّهَـٰتِكُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ شَيْـًۭٔا وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ ٱلسَّمْعَ وَٱلْأَبْصَـٰرَ وَٱلْأَفْـِٔدَةَ ۙ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ  " And Allah brought you out of the wombs of your mothers while you knew nothing, and gave you hearing, sight, and intellect so perhaps you would be thankful." Reflecting on this verse, it is alluded that from nothing that we are given..

Lower your voice please!I want to hear what silence is sayingPerhaps it is saying: come!And I want to follow it  This poem reflects on the pleasure and delight that silence can offer with such a profound serenity that no matter how beautiful, a sound cannot attain. In the beginning sentence by urging others to "lower your voice" and by implying in the last sentence that the poet "want[s] to foll..

You Have Lost Wisdom I knot my hair at the backto resemble a girl you once loved.And for years,I have washed my mouth of beerbefore returning home.And I never bring up God in your presence.I have done nothing to deserve your forgiveness.You are kind, but you must have lost your senseswhen you made me believethat the world is like a girls' schooland that I have to suppress my wishesif I want to r..

Cure your slavery with patienceand prayersor so I was toldCure your oppression and memory with sleepas for meI sat under the high, thorny treesuntil they flowered  I wanted to cover today a poem that explicitly had a contrasting view with that of my prior. As stated clearly from the title, "Cure Your Slavery with Patience", the virtue of patience is continuously highlighted throughout the entire..

“Is your dad dead?” It was a naive question by my friend in third grade. A startling but seemingly reasonable one. Among the many playdates, sleepovers, open classes, I realized none of my friends ever saw my dad, only my mom. Work required my dad to move around the world for years even if that meant only my mom had to remain for my brother and me in a country that didn't speak her language, whe..

"And We have enjoined upon man, to his parents, good treatment. His mother carried him with hardship and gave birth to him with hardship, and his gestation and weaning [period] is thirty months. [He grows] until, when he reaches maturity and reaches [the age of] forty years, he says, “My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to work..

Within the masculine subjects that cover the main course of events in the Shamaneh, the character Gordafarid manifests a surprising representation of female independence and valiance, symbolizing the defiance of gender roles for Persian women throughout history. Introduced as a female heroine whose strength and courage is unmatched, Gordafarid is known to be respected by both her people and her ..

Desire preoccupies meand my eyes shine.I stuff moralsin the nearest drawer.I switch into a deviland blindfold my angelsjustfor a kiss Direct and powerful, such lines capture the intimacy of feminine sensuality and desire unbounded by any traditional norms within Arabic literature. From the first line, "desire preoccupies me", al-Massri's intentions are quite straightforward, its simplicity unado..

“I hadn't told them about you,But they saw you bathing in my eyes.I hadn't told them about you,But they saw you in my written words.The perfume of love cannot be concealed.” As one of the most widely-acknowledged Arabic poets, Nizar Qabbani's works focus around love and romance - a reason able to be found in the poet's personal life. Wissal Qabbani, the beloved sister of the poet, commited suici..

King Yima, also known as King Jamshid, has been believed in ancient Iranian myths to have been the fourth shah of the legendary Pishdadian Dynasty and also the greatest king who were to be like the sun shining upon men. Known to be immortal and the son of a solar figure, King Yima brought forth the golden age, filling the world with prosperity and nourishment while dispelling calamity and suffer..