Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 November 1999 Issue No. 455
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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Monthly supplement A spirit of enchantment Last month Cairo celebrated 100 years since the publication of Qassem Amin's "The Liberation of Women". Fayza Hassan reviews the book and reflects on the model and its inspiration A new course of action The full text of Qassem AminOs concluding chapter of The Liberation of Women. Women's Voices Classical Poems by Arab Women -- A Bilingual Anthology, Abdullah al-Udhari, London: Saqi Books, London, 1999. pp240 Confronting loss Diary of a Wave Outside the Sea, Dunya Mikhail, Cairo and Leeds: Ishtar Publishing House, 1999. pp123 Novel knowledge Tashazi Al-Zaman fil Riwaya Al-Haditha (The Fragmentation of Time in the Modern Novel), Amina Rashid, Cairo: GEBO, 1998. pp194 Moveable feast Mulid! Carnivals of Faith, Photographs by Sherif Sonbol, Text by Tarek Atia, Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 1999. pp96 A regard from afar Les Couleurs de l'infamie, Albert Cossery, Paris: Editions Joelle Losfeld, 1999. pp132 Two literary journals *Journal of Arabic Literature, Volume XXX, No. 2, Leiden: Brill, 1999 *Arabic and Middle Eastern Literatures, Volume 2, Number 2, Basingtoke: Carfax Publishing Taylor & Francis Ltd, 1999 To the editor At a glance By Mahmoud El-Wardani Magazines and Periodicals: *Al-Hadatha Al-Tabi'a fil Thaqafa Al-Misriya (Dependence in Modern Egyptian Culture), Sayed El-Bahrawi, Cairo: Mirette Publications, 1999. pp233 *Fi Wada' Al-Qarn Al-'Ishrin (Farewell to the 20th Century), Ramzi Zaki, Cairo: Al-Mostaqbal Al-Arabi, 1999. pp442 *Al-Yahoud fi Misr Al-Mamloukiya (The Jews in Mameluke Egypt), Mahasen Mohamed El-Waqqar, Cairo: GEBO, 1999. pp471 *Misr wa Riyah Al-'Awlama (Egypt and the Winds of Globalisation), Mahmoud Abdel-Fadil, Cairo: Al-Hilal, 1999. pp264 *Taw'am Al-Solta wal Jins (The Twin Issue of Power and Sex), Nawal El-Sa'dawi, Cairo: Dar Al-Mostaqbal Al-'Arabi, 1999. pp257 Books: *Al-Kotob: Wughat Nazar (Books: Viewpoints), monthly magazine, November 1999, Cairo: The Egyptian Company for Arab and International Publication *Al-Arabi, a monthly magazine, November 1999, Kuwait: Ministry of Information *Mediterraneans: Voices from Morocco: a quarterly publication, winter 1999 *Ahwal Misriya (Egyptian Chronicles), a quarterly magazine, autumn 1999, Cairo: Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies *Al-'Osour Al-Jadida (New Eras), monthly magazine, issue no. 1, 1999, Cairo: Dar Sinai *Al-Hilal, monthly magazine, Oct 1999, Cairo: Al-Hilal Publishing House *Amkena (Places), an occasional publication, 1999, Cairo: Samizdat *Adab wa Naqd (Literature and Criticism), Monthly literary magazine, Oct. 1999, Cairo: Progressive National Unionist Party publications *Nour, Occasional Review of Books, Fall 1999, Cairo: Arab Women's Publishing House To see other book supplements go to the ARCHIVES index.    Illustrations courtesy of International Commitee of the Red Cross "Folk drawings and tales", Cairo, 1996

Classical Poems by Arab Women -- A Bilingual Anthology, Abdullah al-Udhari, London: Saqi Books, London, 1999. pp240

Women's Voices

The author puts us in the mood for his book by prefacing it with a little-known Prophetic Tradition: "The Prophet Mohamed, bless him, said: 'Do not approach your women like animals, but establish a link between you'. They said: 'Rasulullah, what is this link?' He said: 'The kiss'."

The book consists of poems, mostly limited to a few lines, written by women from the earliest times of the Jahiliyya (the 'Time of Ignorance' before the arrival of Islam) right up to the Andalus period. For the first time Arabic poetry is looked at through the eyes of women; we also, interestingly, see at the same time the world of men from a different angle.

In a short introduction, Abdullah al-Udhari provides a wealth of information about the Arab world in general and its poetry in particular, always seen from a fresh and original viewpoint and having little respect for the traditions of Orientalism and the tramlines along which Arabists' minds are trained.

He points out that the diwans (collections) of women poets were not accorded the same attention as men's; thus, apart from the well-known Khansa, famed for her elegies for brothers and sons, especially for her brother Sakhr, no other complete diwan by a woman is available, though some two or three anthologies of women's poetry were edited in Abbasid and later periods. (It would, incidentally, have been useful for the reader had he been provided with details of the provenance of the poems dealt with.)

In a section of the introduction headed "The Veiling and Walling of Women", al-Udhari discusses the way in which he regards woman's lot in the Arab world as having steadily deteriorated from the days of the Jahiliyya till -- in his view -- they had almost lost their freedom by the end of the Abbasid period. "The veiling and walling of the women pleased Arab rulers as it neutralised half of Arab society, and made it easier for them to sheep the other, male half," he writes.

When writing of the Andalusian (or Iberian) period, al-Udhari is critical of Arabist scholarship, accusing it of perceiving Andalusian civilisation as wholly Spanish. "It is time," he says, that "the Arabists removed their Spanish blinkers to have a full view of the Andalusian landscape... and [to] acknowledge Portugal's role in moulding the Andalusian heritage." Of Arabist scholarship in general in relation to poetry he observes that all "existing studies of Arab poetry are generalisations based on rehashed and unstudied opinions". It is a harsh judgment but not wholly unfair.

Of names known to readers of Arabic poetry, Raabi'a Al-Adwiya, the Sufi, finds a place in the anthology and surprise is expressed that her diwan has not been preserved. More attention is given to the Andalusian Wallada, famous for her love affair with Ibn Zaidun, the poet and vizier.

The book contains much that is quotable, but I shall make do with the lines of an anonymous poet who gives birth to a girl. This upsets her husband, who would have preferred a boy. He thus decides to move to the nearby house of his other wife. Seeing him on his way to the other house, she sings the following poem, which causes him to retrace his steps and stay with her and his daughter:

"Why doesn't Abu Hazm come home instead of staying in the house next door?

He's angry it wasn't a boy I bore him, but Allah knows it's not up to me.

We only take what's given to us."

This is an outspoken and controversial book that provides many moments for both enjoyment and reflection. For the reader who knows Arabic, it is interesting to see how Al-Udhari tackles the difficulties of translating poetry -- often with considerable licence but equally often with great effect.

Abdullah al-Udhari is well-qualified for the task he has set himself. Born in Taiz in Yemen, he has lived the greater part of his life in London. He was awarded a doctorate from London University for his study of early Jahili poetry and founded and edited the bilingual magazine TR, which, unhappily, no longer appears.

Reviewed by Denys Johnson-Davies

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