In My Library

Before me lies a collection of books, large and small; their number and the variety of their subjects oblige me not so much to examine them with the searching eye of the woman critic as to make them known to my gracious lady readers and set them before them:

Among the theatrical and fictional books is "A Handful of Wind" by Said Takieddine, brought out by Dar al-Ilm lil-Malayin. Alongside the farce from which the book takes its title — a farce in which the author achieved a large measure of theatrical and artistic success, into which he poured a spirit drawn from the amorous stage and into which he put much of his lightness of spirit — we find a number of short stories peopled with characters from Lebanon, living in a faraway land and leading a life that is partly of here and partly of there. The book also contains some letters revolving around criticism and literature.

In the series of popular books brought out by the Arab Publishing House there were a number of story collections. Some are old Arab tales cast in a new mold, such as "Legends of the Arabs in the Thousand and One Nights," which contains four stories — "A Youth in Search of His Father," "The Meeting," "The Man Who Was Killed Four Times," "The Young Man with the Severed Hand" — and "Tales of the Arabs," which likewise contains four: "Ikrima al-Fayyad," "The Vizier Ja'far in His Revels," "al-Abbas," "Emir Mundhir." Some are modern Arab stories, such as "The Dove of the Valley" by Rashad al-Maghribi Darghouth, prefaced with an introduction by Dr. Taha Husayn, and "Were It Not for the Loaf" by Nasim Nasr; each holds a handful of modern stories that take Lebanon as the source of their events, their characters, and their spirit. Some are stories of love among the celebrated lovers, such as "Casanova" by Qadri Qalaji and "Great Men Who Loved" by Hasan Lutfi. And there is a narrative account of the work of espionage in the Arab East during the First World War, entitled "The Arabs and the Allies."

It may be said of all these books, and of the other books issued by the same Arab Publishing House, that they were written and published for the people, and that they aim to satisfy its passion for reading and its love of stories. It is to be hoped that this step will prove a rung on a ladder, by which the people will afterward rise to the reading of a higher literature, so that the publishing house may then set the books of that literature before it.

Among the books of poetry is an elegant English volume, a translation of certain verses and passages from "Clouds" by Riyad Maalouf, published in Brazil under the title Clouds. In the book are a few sweet poetic fancies and images, and artistic similes such as none but the poets among poets can invent — and they are not many.

Among the books of thought is "Whither?" by Fayez Sayegh, one of the publications of Dar al-Kitab. I say among the books of thought, and it does not occur to me to call it a political book

or a party book, because the author was careful in it to draw a picture of the intellectual and spiritual struggle standing between him and the leader of the party of which the author had been a pillar. He proceeds to analyze the psychological developments through which the party's leader has passed, and the changes these produced in his view of freedom in thought and religion, until he draws out a clear picture of the final attitude the latter came to hold toward freedom of opinion.

Among the biographies is "Robespierre" by Qadri Qalaji, the fourth link in the "Champions of Liberty" series issued by Dar al-Ilm lil-Malayin under the author's supervision. The book is distinguished — beyond the historical facts it holds about its subject, about his age, and about the great Revolution in which he had so long a hand — by charm of description, smoothness of phrase, and a narrative brought close to the reader's mind. Another book, "al-Husayn ibn Ali" by Hasan Lutfi, has been issued by the Arab Publishing House; in it the author chronicles al-Husayn and his age, taking care to cast it in a simple mold and in the form of a story, so that the book may be easily read and taken in by the ranks of the people.

Among the books of remembrance is "Pictures and Remembrance" by Salma Sayegh, a large book which the author composed in Brazil, before her return to Lebanon, and which was published there. It contains numerous chapters, now joined to one another, now standing apart; but what binds them all together is that they are pictures the author plucks from her own life — to chronicle, as a woman of letters chronicles, certain men and women of letters; to acquaint us with the history of the women's renaissance in Lebanon and its achievements in its first stages; to speak of woman's mission and the duties laid upon her shoulders; and to touch from time to time upon politics — all in the easy, graceful style that has distinguished the author and made her one of the literary women of the generation.

Among the social books are two small volumes, likewise issued by the Arab Publishing House: "The Road to Happiness" and "The Successful Marriage," both by Farid Najjar. They treat, in a simple manner that is free of affectation as it is free of depth, the common social problems which the two books' titles betray.

And before me, last but not least, is a special number of the magazine al-Kitab, published by Dar al-Ma'arif in Egypt, devoted to the subject of beauty. In it are the studies bearing on the philosophy of beauty, on its effect upon the soul and in the school, on its values and elements, and on its manifestation in nature, in plants, in woman, and in ornament. It contains a number of art plates and pictures of beautiful women, as well as some stories and poems. I cannot but praise this turning toward beauty at a time when our concerns had all but carried us away from beauty, so that we nearly lost our way in a material world and forgot that "beauty is truth, truth beauty," as Keats said. I must also say that, for all my admiration of the magazine's studies, I came away saying that one look at a painting or a statue, one reading of a poem, one hearing of a melody, awakens in me more of beauty and of the taste for it, and verifies its philosophy for me and shows its effect, beyond anything all the writings of the philosophers and scholars can do.