Hafez Ibrahim (Arabic: حافظ إبراهيم, Ḥafeẓ Ibrāheem ) (1872–1932) was an Egyptian poet, called (Arabic: شاعر النيل, Shāiʻer Al-Neel ), means the Poet of the Nile. He was one of several poets that revived Arabic poetry during the latter half of the 19th century. While still using the classical Arabic system of meter and rhyme, these poets wrote to express new ideas and feelings unknown to the classical poets. Hafez is noted for writing poems on political and social commentary.
He was born on a ship floating in the Nile near Dairout, which is a city in Asyut District. His father was Egyptian, and his mother was Turkish. Both died when he was young. Before his mother died, she brought him to Cairo. There, he lived with his poor uncle, a government engineer. His Uncle later moved to Tanta, where Hafez went to school. Hafez was touched by his uncle's poverty; after a time, he left his uncle. ِ After this, Hafez spent some time living on the Tanta streets. He eventually ended up in the office of Muhammed Abu Shadi, who was one of the 1919 revolution leaders.
Many poems were written by Hafez, for example:
Albasoka Al-deema' Fawq Al-deema', ألبسوك الدماء فوق الدماء (They have dressed you the blood over blood).[1]
Ya Saidy wa Emami, يا سيدي و إمامي (O, My Mister and my Imam).[1]
Shakrto Jameela Sonekom, شكرت جميل صنعكم (I've thanked your favor).[1]
Masr Tataklam 'an Nafseha, مصر تتكلم عن نفسها (Egypt talks about herself).[1]
Le Kes'a An'em behe mn Kes'a, لي كساء أنعم به من كساء (I've a dress, and what an excellent dress).[1]
Qol lel ra'ies Adama Allah Dawlatahu,قل للرئيس أدام الله دولته (Tell the President, May Allah eternized his state).[1]
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Ahmad Syauqi dilahirkan di daerah Alhanafi Kairo pada 16 Oktober 1868 M. Darah campuran yang ada pada dirinya berasal dari Arab, Turki dan Yunani. Darah Arab ia dapatkan dari ayahnya yang berasal dari suku Kurdi, sedangkan Ahmad Halim sang kakek (bapak dari ayahnya) berasal dari Turki yang kemudian menikah dengan Tamraz, seorang dara Yunani. Silsilah yang gado-gado ini berpengaruh kuat pada karakter sastra Syauqi, dimana Arab dan Yunani terkenal dengan syair dan para sastrawannya.
Banyak anekdot yang selalu dituangkan penulis sejarah seni dan budaya untuk memberi gambaran betapa intimnya keluarga Syauqi dengan para petinggi Istana: Sewaktu kecil, mata Syauqi sakit. Syauqi kecil tidak dapat melihat ke bawah. Pada suatu hari sang nenek membawa Syauqi kecil mengunjungi Ismail (Penguasa Mesir pada waktu itu). Melihat mata Syauqi yang tidak dapat melihat ke bawah, Ismail mengambil beberapa butiran emas kemudian menaburkannya di atas permadani. Seketika pandangan Syauqi 'turun' ke bawah, lalu berusaha mengumpulkan dan bermain dengan butiran emas. Melihat tingkah polah Syauqi itu, Ismail memberi saran kepada sang nenek agar mengobati cucunya seperti yang ia lakukan. Sang nenek menjawab, "Obat seperti ini tidak dapat saya jumpai kecuali pada apotik paduka".
Cerita ini menunjukan kecerdasan neneknya yang memang berasal dari Yunani dengan jawaban yang nyastra.
Pada masa Syauqi dua sistem pendidikan diberlakukan. Pertama sistem pendidikan agama yang dipelopori al-Azhar, dan kedua sistem Eropa yang berorientasi pada sains dan sastra. Syauqi memilih alternatif kedua. Setelah menamatkan Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengahnya di bawah asuhan syekh Soleh, ia melanjutkan studi di Fakultas hukum, kemudian pindah ke "fakultas Tarjamah" sehingga mendapatkan ijazah dalam bidang Seni Terjemah. Kemudian Syauqi melanjutkan studinya di Perancis untuk memperdalam ilmu hukum dan sastra Perancis. Di Perancis Syauqi mulai bersentuhan dengan sastra dan para sastrawan Eropa khususnya sastra Perancis. Ia banyak membaca dan menonton drama Perancis seperti Son of Alexandria Diamas dan Ji Di Mo Basan. Pada tahun 1894 Syauqi kembali ke Mesir. Wawasan dan pengetahuan Syauqi juga semakin bertambah saat ia habiskan empat tahun berkelana di Perancis, ia semakin menguasai bahasa Perancis dan Turki sekaligus.
Akibat campur tangan Inggris, pada saat Perang Dunia I meletus Syauqi dan para pejabat istana lainnya diasingkan ke Andalusia (Spanyol). Di pengasingan inilah Syauqi dicekam kesendirian dan kerinduan akan tanah airnya yang kemudian dituangkan ke dalam syair-syair melankolis.
Usai Perang Dunia reda, Syauqi kembali ke tanah airnya mengabdikan diri kepada bangsa dan negaranya terutama dalam bidang sastra sampai menghembuskan napas terakhir pada 13 Oktober 1932.
Tema-tema Syair Syauqi
Secara global tema-tema yang diusung syair Syauqi terbagi dua; Pertama tema-tema "kuno" mengikuti jejak para sastrawan klasik, tema ini diantaranya adalah al-madh (sanjungan), al-fakher (kebanggan), al-ghozal (rayuan), al-rosta (belasungkawa) dan al-Hikmah (kata-kata bijak) serta tema-tema lain yang berkaitan dengan etika dan estetika. Kedua adalah tema-tema kontemporer yang tidak dapat dijumpai pada syair klasik. diantara tema-tema baru tersebut adalah, pertama, Sejarah.
Tema sejarah yang Syauqi ungkapkan bukan hanya sebuah rentetan peristiwa tertentu yang sudah terjadi. Pada tema sejarah ini Syauqi menyisipkan suatu ibroh (pelajaran) yang ada pada sejarah dan peristiwa tersebut. Syauqi sendiri tahu banyak sejarah Mesir Kuno, sejarah Islam dan Sejarah Turki. Diantara kumpulan syairnya yang bertemakan sejarah adalah: Kibar al-Hawadis fii Wady el-Nil (Prahara Besar di Lembah Nil) yang menceritakan sejarah awal Mesir, Tut Akhmun wa al-hadharah (Tut Akhmun dan Peradabannya), Waqa'i al-Usmaniyah (Fakta-fakta Dinasti Ottoman) dan syair-syair sejarah Islam.
Kedua bertemakan Sosial. Kepedulian Syauqi terhadap sosial budaya dilatarbelakangi oleh gap antara kehidupan masyarakat dan istana. Kesenjangan yang menganga itu semakin mengentalkan niatnya untuk semakin menyatu dengan rakyat dan memperhatikan kalangan grass-root. Syair-syair sosial yang diangkat Syauqi bisanya berkisar tentang kemiskinan, kebodohan dan petaka penyakit yang didera rakyat Mesir. Dalam tema sosial ini kita bisa melihat judul-judul puisinya seperti: al-Hilal wa al-Sholib al-Ahmaroni (Bulan Sabit Merah dan Salib Merah), al-ilmu wa al-ta'lim wa wajibul mu'alim (Sains, Pendidikan dan Tuntutan Guru), dan lain lain.
Selain itu, –dan ini yang ketiga– kita bisa jumpai syair-syair kontemporer yang bertemakan Fukahah (Anekdot). Meski syair-syairnya yang satiris dan tak pelak membuat pembacanya tertawa geli, namun anekdot Syauqi lebih menekankan substansi humor tersebut bukan pada permainan kata-kata seperti biasa dijumpai pada karya sastrawan lain. Dalam anekdotnya, Syauqi banyak menggunakan kata-kata samaran untuk menutupi identitas seseorang yang ia tulis. Diantara tema humor dalam syair Syauqi adalah al-Asad wa wajiiruhu al-himar (Singa dan Menteri Keledai).
Sedangkan jenis syair yang keempat, yaitu Syair Drama. Ketika itu belum ada penyair yang memperkenalkan bentuk baru ini dalam sastra Arab, namun ternyata Syauqi berhasil membuat terobosan baru tersebut. Naskah drama yang dikemas dalam bentuk syair baru dikenal Arab di zaman modern ini, dan Syauqi adalah pelopornya.
Darah Yunani yang dimiliki Syauqi rupanya telah mendorongnya menciptakan syair drama. Bukan hanya itu, ia juga banyak membaca drama-drama 'produk' Barat ketika masih belajar di Perancis. Drama yang diangkat Syauqi pada umumnya bersumber dari sejarah Mesir Kuno. Drama yang pertama kali diciptakan Syauqi berjudul "Cleopatra" yang ia tulis pada tahun 1927. Drama ini menceritakan hubungan antara kekaisaran Romawi dan kerajaan Mesir pada masa Bathelius di Alexandria yang pada waktu itu dikuasai oleh Cleopatra satu abad sebelum Masehi. (Dr Muhammad Anani, Ajmalu ma kataba Amir al-Syu'ara Ahmad Syauqi, Maktabat al-Usrah 2003).
Bukan rahasia lagi jika banyak sastrawan Barat mengangkat kisah "Cleopatra" sebagai sejarah hitam kerajaan Romawi dan Yunani, karena mereka mengilustrasikan Cleopatra sebagai wanita jalang yang menjual dirinya untuk mengadu domba antara Antonio (komandan perang Yunani) dan Actafius (sang kaisar) pada pertempuran sengit yang dikenal dengan petempuran Actiyum, yaitu perang yang berkecamuk di lautan lepas. Sebaliknya, Syauqi berhasil menampilkan sosok Cleopatra sebagai pahlawan Mesir yang cerdas dan berani, rela mengorbankan dirinya untuk membebaskan Mesir dari penjajahan Yunani.
Pengaruh Istana Dalam Syair-syair Syauqi
Di atas telah disinggung bahwa Syauqi mendapatkan kedudukan tinggi di istana pada masa Sultan Abbas. Ia sendiri diangkat Abbas sebagai penterjemah istana dan sebagai orang kepercayaanya, banyak keputusan-keputusan kerajaan diadopsi dari inspirasi Syauqi.
Masalahnya adalah kedudukan dan kepercayaan yang didapatkan Syauqi di istana membuat ia jauh dari kehidupan rakyat, dan tidak memperhatikan keadaan rakyat pada waktu itu, bahkan feeling sastranya pun banyak berkaitan dengan istana yang ia tempati. Syair-syair yang lahir ketika itu berisikan pujian-pujian terhadap kaum ningrat istana. Kebanggaannya terhadap syair pujian yang ia ciptakan dapat dilihat dalam salah satu bait syairnya:
syairul azizi ma'a bil qaliili zal laqobi
Sang pujangga kini di samping yang mulia
yang sederhana ia berjulukan nama.
Bisa ditebak, yang dimaksud "yang mulia" adalah Sultan Abbas.
Kondisi kehidupan politik Mesir yang carut marut pada masa itu sangat mempengaruhi Syauqi untuk menjadi penyair istana. Di hadapan Syauqi, istana dan kehidupannya merupakan sumber kebesaran. Saat itu seluruh jiwa dan raga Syauqi adalah milik istana. Bahkan seandainya saat itu ia tengah marah, maka marahnya sebagai ungkapan dukungan penuh terhadap istana.
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Ibrahim 'Abd al-Qadir al-Mazini (August 19, 1889 or 1890 – July 12 or August 10, 1949)[1][2] was an Egyptian poet, novelist, journalist, and translator.
Early life
Al-Mazini was born in Cairo, to a well-off family, but grew up in relative poverty after his father died while he was young. He registered in 1906 at Cairo's Teacher's College, despite having no great interest in teaching; he had been unable to stomach the anatomical dissections at the medical school, and the tuition at the law school was too expensive. Nonetheless, the school contributed greatly to his literary development, since in the years prior to the founding of the Egyptian University, the Teacher's College was one of the few accessible avenues for students with literary ambitions, and its students included a number who would become prominent in Egyptian literature, including Abd Al-Rahman Shukri, who became an important influence and associate of al-Mazini's. Around the same time, al-Mazini also met Abbas al-Aqqad and Muhammad al-Sibai. Al-Mazini's first literary reviews were published in publications edited by al-Aqqad, and al-Sibai introduced him to English literature and to the classical poet Ibn al-Rumi, both of which would become major influences on al-Mazini's poetry.[2]
Poet and critic
Graduating from the Teacher's College in 1909, al-Mazini taught first at the Khedivial School, and then at Dar al-Ulum, from which he resigned in 1914, after possibly having been reassigned (and assigned to teach a minor subject) due to one of his critiques offending Hishmat Pasha, the Minister of Education. From 1914 to 1918 he taught at a series of private schools, sometimes the same ones as al-Aqqad. During this period, his two collections of poetry were published, one in 1913, and one in 1917. Though influential for the Egyptian revivalist poetry of the 1910s, his poetry was accused of being too heavily based on both European and classical influences, an accusation he didn't greatly dispute; and after 1917 he published very little additional poetry.[2]
Unsatisfied with teaching, al-Mazini became a full-time journalist in 1918, writing initially for the newspaper Wadi al-Nil in Alexandria, and then for a series of newspapers with varying political perspectives, generally united only in being opposed to the Wafd Party.[2] He continued to publish literary criticism, and in 1921 co-wrote the critical work al-Diwan with al-Aqqad, which included an attack on the conservative literary establishment represented by writers such as Mustafa Lutfi el-Manfaluti and Ahmed Shawqi. Al-Mazini, al-Aqqad, and Shurki became known as the Diwan Group, which was greatly influenced by English lyric poetry, and emphasized poetry that conveyed the poet's experience and emotion,[3] as well as avoiding social and political commentary.[4]
Novelist and essayist
Al-Mazini began writing prose in the mid-1920s, and completed his first novel, Ibrahim al-Katib (Ibrahim the Writer), in 1925–26, though it didn't receive publication until 1931.[5] Upon its publication, it was considered a landmark in Egyptian literature, "probably the first novel to depend primarily for its well-recognized fame on its artistic value", rather than for its social, political, or historical views, as was common in Egyptian literature of the time.[4]
Despite the novel's positive reception, al-Mazini forsook novel-writing for political and narrative essay-writing from 1931 to 1943; some of his writings from this period were published in two collections, Khuyut al-Ankabut (Spider Webs, 1935) and Fi al-tariq (On the Road, 1937).[4] He also during that time helped found the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate in 1941, and served as its first vice-president.[1] The break in his novel-writing career may have been related to a plagiarism controversy, as Ibrahim al-Katib contained several pages from a Russian novel al-Mazini had previously translated.[4]
In 1943, he published a sequel to Ibrahim al-Katib, entitled Ibrahim al-thani (Ibrahim the Second), as well as three additional novels in quick succession.[4]
Late in life, he was elected to both the Arab Academy of Damascus and Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo.
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Abd al-Wahhab Al-Bayati (December 19 1926–August 3 1999) was an Iraqi poet. He was a pioneer in his field and defied conventional form of poetry that had been common for centuries.
He was born in Baghdad, near the shrine of the 12th century Sufi Abdel Qadir al-Jilani. In this respect, al-Bayati is unique among his peers, most of whom share pastoral roots. A man of the city, he lived close to the political heartbeat most of his life—one of his friends, Ahmed Abdel-Moeti Hegazi, said urban centers of "hotels and institutions, cafés and airports" were actually his temporary residences.[1] London, Moscow, Madrid and Baghdad are all represented in his poetry. He attended Baghdad University, and became a teacher after graduating from Dar Al-Mu'allimin (the Teacher's College) in 1950, the same year that he released his first collection of poems, Mala'ika wa Shayatin (Angels and Devils). In addition to teaching in public schools, al-Bayati also edited the popular and widely-circulated cultural magazine Al-Thaqafa A-Jadida (The New Culture). In 1954 he left Iraq after being dismissed from his positions because of his radical communist political views and anti-government activity, and moved to Damascus. Although he returned to Damascus at the end of his life, his early wanderings also took him to Cairo, Beirut and a number of Western capitals. Always involved in world affairs, some of al-Bayati's poems are in fact addressed to international figures such as TS Eliot and Che Guevara. Not much information is available about his personal life. Before his exile, he married, but his wife and four children are mentioned only in passing in the few available biographies. This may be because they remained in Iraq after his departure.
After spending four years living in exile in Lebanon, Syria and Egypt, al-Bayyati returned to Iraq in 1958 after a military coup d'état during which Crown Prince Abdul Illah and his nephew King Faisal were assassinated. The new republican government gave him a post in the Ministry of Education, after which he went to Moscow as a cultural attache representing the Iraqi embassy. Al-Bayati resigned from this post in 1961, but did not return to Iraq right away. He continued to live in Russia, teaching at the Asian and African People's Institute of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. He stayed in Eastern Europe, traveling often, and returned briefly to Iraq in 1964, only to move to Cairo within the year. In the mid-1970s Al-Bayati moved between Cairo, Paris, London, Madrid, Jeddah and Delphi, never staying in one place long but always returning to the Middle East. For the remainder of his life, Al-Bayati moved between his homeland and the rest of the world. "I've always searched for the sun's springs," he said, "When a human being stays in one place, he's likely to die. People too stagnate like water and air. Therefore the death of nature, of words, of the spirit has prompted me to keep travelling, so as to encounter new suns, new springs, new horizons. A whole new world being born."
Although Al-Bayati was philosophical about his wandering, it was not solely a personal choice. His communist politics made trouble for him throughout his whole life. When the pan-Arab, socialist Ba'ath Party took control of Iraq from the 'Arif party in 1968, Al-Bayati returned home only to flee a brutal campaign against liberals a few years later. He returned in 1972 to receive honors from the new government, and in 1980 was again assigned as a cultural attaché and was sent by Saddam Hussein to the embassy in Madrid. When Hussein's government invaded Kuwait in 1990, Al-Bayati left Spain and took refuge in Jordan and later Syria. In 1995, Hussein revoked his citizenship as punishment for Al-Bayati's participation in a Saudi Arabian cultural festival. Al-Bayati's difficulty with Iraq over the course of his life became the subject of much of his writing. There is a story that he once explained it by drawing comparisons between his relationship with Iraq and the story of Prometheus. "Of course," Al-Bayati said, "my relations with Iraqi governments were never conciliatory. I belong to the Iraqi people. I cannot separate myself from the people." He died in exile, apparently without any previously diagnosed illness, in Damascus on August 3, 1999.
Transliteration of the name Al-Bayati
Abd al-Wahhab's last name should not be spelled as "Al-Bayyati" (double yy), in Arabic or when being transliterated for another language, as the meaning would change and become one of "the boarder" or "the pupil of a boarding school." This is a common mistake made with the last name Al-Bayati, even in Arabic, as it is assumed to be a name whose root (ba ya ta / ب ي ت) has Arabic origins, and therefore is expected to follow the Arabic faʿʿaal / فعَّال noun type, used to denote intensity, repetition or a profession.
The name of Al-Bayati denotes one who comes from the Bayat tribe (قبيلة بيات), one of the largest Turcoman tribes in Iraq, entering the area with the Oghuz Turk migrations of the 9th–12th centuries C.E. In Iraq, although Al-Bayatis know of the tribal source of their name, it does not necessarily indicate a linguistic or cultural identity, as the Bayat tribe there is "largely Arabised, through intermarriage and linguistic assimilation."[2]
Works
Original volumes
Mala'ika wa shayatin (Angels and Devils), 1950
Abariq muhashshama, 1954
Risala ila Hazim Hikmet wa quas'aid ukhra, 1956
Al-Majd li al-atfal wa al-zaytun, 1956
Ash'ar fi al-manfa, 1957
Ishrun qasida min Berlin, 1959
Kalimat la tamut, 1960
Muhakama fi Nisabur, 1963
Al-Nar wa al-kalimat, 1964
Sifr al-faqr wa al-thawra, 1965
Alladhi ya'ti wa laya'ti, 1966
Al Mawt fi al Hayat, 1968
Tajribati al-shi'riyya, 1968
'Ulyun al-kilab al-mayyita, 1969
Buka'iyya ila shams haziran wa al-murtaziqa, 1969
Al Kitaba al Teen, 1970
Yawmiyyat siyasi muhtarif, 1970
Qasaid hubb 'ala bawwabat al-'alam al-sab, 1971
Sira dhatiyya li sariq al-nar, 1974
Kitab al-bahr, 1974
Qamar Shiraz, 1976
Mamlakat al-sunbula, 1979
Sawt al-sanawat al-daw'iyya, 1979
Bustan 'A'isha, 1989
Al-Bahr Ba'id, Asma'uh Yatanahhud (The Sea is Distant, I Hear It Sighing), 1998
Translated volumes
Lilies and Death, 1972 (trans. Mohammed B. Alwan)
The Singer and the Moon, 1976 (trans. Abdullah al-Udhari)
Eye of the Sun, 1978
Love Under Rain (Al-hubb tahta al-matar), 1985 (transl. Desmond Stewart and George Masri)
Love, Death, and Exile, 1990 (trans. Bassam K. Frangieh)
Anthologies with only works by Abd al-Wahhab Al-Bayati
Poet of Iraq: Abdul Wahab al-Bayati. An introductory essay with translations by Desmond Stewart, 1976
Abdul Wahab al-Bayati, 1979 (a short introduction and four poems, trans. Desmond Stewart and George Masri)
Anthologies with works by Abd al-Wahhab Al-Bayati and other poets
Abdullah al-Udhari, ed. and trans. Modern Poetry of the Arab World. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1986.
An Apology for a Short Speech
The Arab Refugee
The Fugitive
Hamlet
Profile of the Lover of the Great Bear
To Ernest Hemingway
Salma Khadra Jayyusi, ed. Modern Arabic Poetry: An Anthology. New York: Columbia University Press, 1987
The Birth of Aisha and Her Death
Eligy for Aisha
The Impossible
Luzumiyya
Simawe, Saadi ed. Iraqi Poetry Today, ISBN 0-9533824-6-X London: King's College, London, 2003
The Dragon
An Elegy to Aisha
I am Born and I Burn in My Love
Love Under The Rain
The Nightmare
Nine Ruba'iyat
Shiraz Moon
Three Ruba'iyat
To Naguib Mahfouz [Amman, 15 April 1997]
To TS Eliot
Transformations of Aisha: Aisha's Birth and Death in the Magical Rituals Inscribed in Cuneiform on the Nineveh Tablets
Two Poems for my son, Ali
Who Owns the Homeland?
Writing on Aisha's Tomb
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Mustafa Lutfi el-Manfaluti (1876–1924) was an Egyptian writer and poet who was born in the Upper Egyptian city of Manfalut to an Egyptian father and a Turkish mother.[1]
He memorized the Quran before the age of twelve. He studied at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. He translated and novelised plays from French, and wrote (and translated) several short stories. His most famous work is a collection of his articles under the title: el-Nazarat (Arabic: النظرات ).
One of his most notable traits is that he couldn't read or speak French. He asked some of his friends to translate the play or the book to Arabic, then he rewrote them.
Some of his books are:
Majdolin (Arabic: ماجدولين )
Al-Abarat (The Tears) (Arabic: العبرات ),
Ash-Sha'er (The Poet) (Arabic: الشاعر ),
Fee Sabeel Et-taj (For the Sake of the Crown) (Arabic: في سبيل التّاج ),
Al-Fadeela (Virtue) (Arabic: الفضيلة ).
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