Silencing the Sea: Secular Rhythms in Palestinian Poetry

314 Pages·2012·3.023 MB·English

by  Khaled Furani

SILENCING THE SEA

S I L E N C I N G T H E S E A
S E C U L A R R H Y T H M S
I N PA L E S T I N I A N
P O E T R Y
K H A L E D F U R A N I
STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
STANFORD, CALIFORNIA
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
©2012 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Ju nior University.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of
Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid- free, archival- quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Furani, Khaled, 1973– author.
Silencing the sea : secular rhythms in Palestinian poetry / Khaled Furani.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8047-7646-2 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Arabic poetry—Palestine—History and criticism. 2. Arabic poetry—20th
century—History and criticism. 3. Poetics. 4. Secularism in literature. I. Title.
PJ8190.2.F87 2012
892.7'100995694—dc23 2012007600
Designed by Bruce Lundquist
Typeset by Westchester Book Group in 10/14 Minion
Section opener design by Naif Shaqqur. Calligraphy by Ahmad Zoabi. Arabic text is an
excerpt from an untitled poem by (cid:2)Abd al-Jabbār ibn Hamdīs (d. circa AD 1132–33), a
Sicilian and Andalusian Arab poet. “A horrifying [sea] whose rider would be nothing
but a transgressor / If it were not, in the Quran, a sign to wonder / Because of what they
witnessed, my eye or my ear / Continue to warn my heart about a relentless fear.”
Translation by Khaled Furani.
To the souls of my mother and grandmother,
Jamila al- Badawi Furani
and
Khadija Yaaqub Abbas
And from water we created all that lives
Quran 21:30
CONTENTS
Ac know ledg ments ix
A Note on Transliteration xi
Introduction 1
INITIATIONS
1 Secular Bewilderment 13
2 Rhythms and Rulers 21
3 Th e Land of the Poem 39
THE SONG
4 Memory for Beginnings 53
5 Metrical Discipline and Mastery 67
6 Poets for “the People” 91
THE PICTURE
7 Enough “Screaming” 111
8 Rhythmical Freedom 120
9 Modern Poets and “Conservative” People 154
viii CONTENTS
THE DREAM
10 Redeeming Prose 175
11 When Meter Melts 199
12 Th e Laity Outside Poetry’s Temple 216
Conclusions: Secular Prayers 237
Notes 251
Bibliography 277
Index 285
AC K NOW LEDG MENTS
THE TRAIL OF RESEARCH FOR THIS BOOK began over ten years ago. Dur-
ing this time, many more people have contributed to its making than my ef-
fort to acknowledge them can possibly include. My heartfelt thanks go to
them all, primarily to the poets and their families for their hospitality toward
this inquiry and the inquirer. As for several poets who have passed away in
the interim, I am grateful if this book can pass along some of their stories,
rhythms, and questions. From the quick of my heart I also convey gratitude to
Talal Asad, who conveyed to me the value of investigating one’s own igno-
rance, and whose unassuming, probing questions kindled mine for this book
and more.
Th is inquiry was also nourished by the care of scholars at numerous insti-
tutions: Barbara Aswad and Geurin Montilus at Wayne State University; Am-
miel Alcalay, Michael Blim, Marc Edelman, Louise Lennihan, Leith Mullings,
and Jane Schneider at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York;
and Steve Caton at Harvard University. In the precariousness of ethnographic
fi eldwork riddled with closures and checkpoints of military occupation in the
year 2001– 2, Inam Dagher, Abd al- Karim Abu- Kashan, and Mahmoud al-
Atshan at Birzeit University ensured that many literal and fi gurative paths
remained open. Brinkley Messick at Columbia University extended material
space and moral sustenance when those were acutely needed during the book’s
infancy. Trevor Dawes, whether at Prince ton or Columbia libraries, extended
indefatigable support in fi nding many otherwise intractable bibliographic
sources.
In navigating the deep of Arabic language and literature, I remain in-
debted to the inspiring as well as instrumental guidance of the following indi-
viduals: Sayyid al- Bahrawi, Taufi q Ben- Amour, Mahmud Ghanayim, Ferial
Ghazoul, Fathi Furani, Elias Khoury, Jeries Naim Khoury, Muhsin Jasim al-
Musawi, and the late Magda al- Nowaihi. For profi table comments on this