In My Library

In my library I have many kinds of books — poetry, literature, sociology, and philosophy — and this modest page will not hold them all; some of them require deep and thorough study, but I am obliged to content myself with this quick survey of "my library."

Omar Abu Risha is a poet with many admirers and lovers in the Arab countries, and he enjoys this fame with a great deal of merit and right, for this poet has given new colors in poetry, in which there is beauty and art, and in which there is imagination. And Omar Abu Risha as a poet, it would seem, has a pride he does not like to surrender; indeed it stands out, clear of line, in this new collection, whose title is "Poetry by Abu Risha." And in this title there is more pride and defiance than in all his first collection, "Poetry."

The trait of pride and defiance in poets is a very familiar one; people have known it since the days of Abu al-Tayyib al-Mutanabbi, since the days of Shawqi, and since the days of al-Akhtal al-Saghir. And this pride may be commendable in poets...

Speaking of al-Mutanabbi and Shawqi, we find the poet Abu Risha influenced to a far degree by these two poets: he loves their sumptuous openings and their clamorous words...

In this collection there is poetry that has all the strength and harmony of poetry; and there is in it also ordinary poetry, which the means of genuine, pure poetry do not obey. And the strange thing in Abu Risha's poetry is that the human heart, with its deep pains and its growing joys, does not do its work in these poems; it is as though the poet did not wish to bend over his heart and make it speak its pains and its joys, and as though he wished to alight only upon the high summits. If we have a word to say, we say it with sincerity, love, and appreciation for the poet Abu Risha, and this word is that in his first collection, "Poetry," he is sounder in temper, purer in color, more harmonious, and stronger in feeling...

And we do not know what the poet will say, he who has denied his whole past, refusing to acknowledge that he had any poetry before this collection.

Among the books of verse is the diwan "al-Nawafil," by the poet Georges Saydah, printed at the Syrian-Lebanese press in Buenos Aires... In its outward appearance there is a sweet elegance that gladdens your eyes in this beautiful cover and this elegant simplicity. And in the diwan there is some beautiful poetry, in which the poet breaks loose after his beautiful imaginings and gives images of freshness and splendor, as we see in his poem "The Plain and the Mountain."

The diwan abounds in the poetry of occasions, parties, and banquets; yet even in these poems the poet is distinguished above others by that beautiful spirit which accompanies his verse.

The poet Georges Saydah was born in Damascus, and he holds an eminent place among the poets of the Mahjar. He printed this diwan in support of the Palestine question, and placed it at its disposal — a great sentiment, which is by itself a poem among the most eloquent of poems, and the purest.

* In the series "Yesterday and Today," composed by Messrs. Georges Chehla and Chafic Juha, there has appeared the second story of this series, "The Story of Numbers." In it is the story of man and number: how man arrived at reckoning by comparison before he learned to count upon his fingers; and in it is the hand-reckoning that was man's first acquaintance with arithmetic... and the history of numerals among the peoples... and how the letters of the alphabet were used by the Phoenicians to denote numbers, and the problem of the Roman numerals... And in it is the story of the Indian numerals, and how these numerals passed to the Arabs, and how these Indian numerals made their way to the West. And in the book are pictures that make it easy for the reader to grasp the information correctly.

Soon to appear in this series: "The Story of the Clock."

Ilya Ehrenburg is a Russian man of letters whose literary fame spread in the last war, and he is known for his powerful style and his beautiful symbols. This man of letters visited the United States, and when he returned to his country he brought out a book on what he had seen there... They are reflections holding much that is curious and much that is serious — not only for the great Russian writer, but for everyone who does not know that huge, roaring, heedless world, the United States...

What pleases you in this little book are these observations on the life of the American people, which the writer finds lives a comfortable but odious life. And the writer speaks to you

of the mentality of the American people, and finds it a shallow mentality; and in the spiritual field the American's spirituality appears to him poor... And when he speaks of worships, he finds that the most widespread of all worships is the worship of the dollar...

There is no doubt that Ilya Ehrenburg, in speaking of what he saw in the United States, was influenced on the one hand by the European mentality, which finds everything in America out of the ordinary, and on the other hand by the Marxist spirit, which sees in America a stronghold of world capitalism; and in this he cannot strip himself of partiality...

The book is a curious one, worth the reading; in it are deep and telling insights, and an ability in the understanding of souls, and charm.

It was translated into Arabic by Mr. Wasfi al-Bunni, and appeared in the publications of the magazine "al-Tariq."