Diwān al-Jadāwil of Iliyā Abū Madī

Abstract

Arabic literature mirrors the aspirations, sufferings and hopes of the Arabic people from the past to the future. In 1920, the Exiled Arab men of letters from Syria and Lebanon formed a literary guild, al-Rābiṭa al-galamiyya (The Pen League) which advocated innovation in Arabic literature to fortify their society in the struggle for liberation and progress. Iliya Abu Madi became the most celebrated poet of al-Rābiṭa; with the poetry of his third diwān (collection), al-Jadāwil (The Brooks), he cast a magnificent pearl into the treasury of Arabic literature. These poems portray the poet's views about his art, his struggle with life in the Exile and his hopes and fears for the homeland. Philosophically his poetic ideals are transmitted through a naturalistic imagry that gives a universal hue to his humanistic perspectives. It is hoped that the English translation of these poems, not previously translated from Arabic, will allow the English reader to feel and sense the universalistic world of The Brooks.