18 - 24 January 2001
Issue No.517
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 18 - 24 January 2001 Issue No.517 |
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Sufism and poetry
Of course, aside from the realism with which Western criticism has concerned itself, if there is a spiritual dimension to writing -- arising, as it would be, from the Sufi ether in which life in the East is constantly immersed -- I am certainly aware of it, yes, but that does not mean that it is intentional or premeditated.
In fact, my aim has often been one of pure, unadulterated realism, but the (inevitably poetic) dramas of life in this part of the world, the poetry inherent to Arabic and the poetry of the setting, come through in spite of me.
Ultimately, of course, one's eyes never stray too far from the realist end in view; but while one is working toward that end, meandering down the path that will eventually conclude the story to be woven -- in looking at Egypt's back streets and alleyways, the historic buildings, the architecture of time and the transformations time has wrought on the architecture -- one cannot help seeing the spirit that has always lived there, the soul that informs the body and endows it with meaning.
Perhaps this is a feature of all literature. Literature that does not rise to the level of poetry -- whether it takes the form of verse or prose -- bears no relation to literature at all.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
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