The Full Poetic Collection (1/4) [Archives:2005/904/Culture]

archive
December 19 2005

Abu Al-Kalma Al-Tayyibah
The late literary and political personality Ahmed Al-Shami was not to be outdone, when he read the Egyptian literary genius Taha Hussein and Mahmoud Abbass Al-'Aqqad discuss the past history of Arabic literature and not cite the insurmountable contributions of Yemeni literature. He responded with a long dissertation on the subject, to which both the latter acknowledged as indeed a shortcoming they overlooked.

Yemeni literature basically centers on poetic output and theological material that spans the long history of Yemen. On the poetic side, one can find great literary works that are broken down into two classifications: The classical mode and the local Humainy mode. The classical mode is that which fully complies with the linguistic and grammatical structure of the Arabic tongue, which is easily understandable throughout the Arab World.

Most of the scholars of Yemen enjoy versatility in both kinds of poetry, but the amount of output is further multiplied by the contributions of those who may not have necessarily gone through the grind mill of traditional or formal education of any sort. Much of Yemeni songwriting also comes from the Humainy mode, as well as national patriotic songs that appeal to the grass roots significantly. Also, a lot of political commentary would fall into this. Many of the current great contributors of Humainy poetry include Mohammed Al-Mansour, Abdullah Hashim Al-Qibsi, Abbass Al-Muta'a and many others. The first one is noted for being able to put down the many local expressions into an anthology of poems that depict the spoken idioms and expressions of the people of Sana'a, Dhamar and other areas. Humainy poetry is also noted for its highly vocal political commentary, much of it composed into songs that are widely circulated among the grass roots population on cassette tapes, recorded with or without the approval of the Ministry of Culture. Among these are the songs of Mohammed “Abu Nassar” , Mohammed Murshid Najee and others.

The author of the work under discussion here recently passed away and is well known for his versatility in both the classical tongue and local Humainy content. It should be noted that the Humainy poetry is well structured, rhythmic and easily memorized by the general population, even if they were unable to learn to read and write.

The book under discussion spans some forty years of poetic output and includes impressions of both rural and urban life in Yemen, in both pre and post Revolutionary times (before and after 1962).

The book is anthology of poems written by the author in both the classical and traditional local dialects of Yemen. It comprises several love poems, nationalistic and patriotic songs, general impressions of Yemeni rural life, especially of the Tihama area, Hajjah area and around the periphery of Sana'a.

The book also contains impressions of the author of other lands beyond the borders of Yemen and even includes a mix of Arabic and English usage that the author manages to bring together in a satire of Yemeni and English verbosity, which is structurally difficult to achieve.

In addition the anthology contains poetry of advice to his children, the political amalgamations of the country as well as general impressions made to his friends and his love about the situation in the country over the span of his life, including early impressions about Yemeni unification.

The book itself is a collection of several previous publications, which include purely Humainy poems and purely classical poems. Each section is prefaced by a leading literary personality, who has known the author well or has a good knowledge of the author's history and/or literary style. These include Abdul-Salam Abbass Al-Wajeeh, Alwan Mahdi Al-Gailani, Ahmed Naji Ahmed

We will devote each issue to a discussion of a particular section as they were written in different time frames and under different circumstances.

The author did not fail to express his strong deeply rooted Shiite convictions and praise for many notable Shiite martyrs, including the originator of the Zeidi sect and political antagonist to repression, Zeid Bin Ali, who is mercilessly executed by the Umayyad in the Second Century after the Migration of the Prophet Mohammed to Medina. In addition the poems go beyond the borders in highlighting the martyrdom of the son of Hussein Nasrullah of Hezbollah, who is killed by the Israelis at the age of 19. In the latter the author showed his disdain at the way the Israelis were glorifying themselves in this achievement.

The author's simple outlook towards life in general is clearly evident throughout the book's collection and his praise of the simplicity of rural life in Yemen is not to be missed, noting how much moral gratification should be realized in the outlook that Yemenis have shown even in their simple farming life. The hardships of life in Yemen are also given good coverage throughout the anthology.

We will delve into the details of this magnificent writer in the following four issues, looking at his impressions in different fields.
——
[archive-e:904-v:14-y:2005-d:2005-12-19-p:culture]