«Phoenix» poetry

Dr. Parween Habib

30 May 2023

I wrote in my introduction to the book «lover of words», an anthology of Nizar Qabbani's poetry issued by Dar «Hachette Antoine Nofal» months ago: «I adored his poetry as a student, and studied by a researcher, and gave him a greeting repeatedly in the media, and tried hard to escape from his golden cage, and fly away in a different sky of freedom and creativity, let alone these selections bring me back to my first love, to the poetry of the lover of words, although I: How much I said that I did not belong to him... And I returned, how sweet it is to return to him."

Little did I know that what I wrote was like a prophecy about Qadriy's connection to Nizar Qabbani's fate, as detailed in the foreword. At the Abu Dhabi Book Fair a few days ago, a seminar was held on it entitled: "In the company of Nazik Al-Malaika and Nizar Qabbani" on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of their birth. This year is the year of Nizar Qabbani par excellence, as it also marks a quarter of a century after his passing. What is left of it? Is it true that his readability declined and interest in his poetry decreased after his death? That being the case, why would an important house like Hachette Nofal publish a four-volume anthology of his poetry?

There is a big fallacy that has darkened Nizar Qabbani, as he is not the only one concerned with the decline in readability, but it is a phenomenon that publishers have always complained about and mastered in finding reasons for: from the legacy of the Corona pandemic and the isolation it imposed on the world, to the reluctance of young people to read because of their addiction to social media products. I say with confidence that every poet at all - even those of Mahmoud Darwish's size - if we compare it with the sales of Nizar Qabbani's collections, the result will be predetermined.

Dozens of illegal editions and anthologies are published annually from his collections. It is enough to mention that Kazem Al-Sahir sang more than 40 poems for him, a number equivalent to all singers who sang his poetry in his life from Fairuz to Latifa, but it is still current, Ajram sang him three years ago the poem «To Beirut the female with apologies».

Whoever attacks Nizar Qabbani will remain, and this has happened a lot in his life, as will those who fanaticize him and defend him rightly or wrongly, as he is like every phenomenon around which always disagrees, the dear lover and the hater Al-Qali, but with a cold mind away from emotional bias, do we overlook his influence in a wide range of poets from the pillar of poetry to the "experimental" of modernity and beyond? Or do we deny that he made daily bread out of poetry in his language and images, and introduced it into the huts of simple people and the hearts of lovers? A little fairness doesn't hurt!

• Every poet at all - even those of the size of Mahmoud Darwish's mass - if we compare it with the sales of Nizar Qabbani's collections, the result is predetermined.

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