In Society — "Abqar" in Its Second Edition

★ We have received from the well-known Mahjar poet Mr. Chafic Maalouf his rare gem "Abqar" in its second edition. The poet vowed to himself to bring out his book as a work of art, in which the mold would not lag behind the matter it carries. And so the massive book — which runs to 350 pages of large format and thick paper, and whose verses are all written out by hand — is a garden worthy of the flowers it contains.

The poet prefaced his epic with a long introduction running to 140 pages, in which he included studies in mythology on the beliefs of the Jahiliyya and the legends of the Arabs, and their counterparts among other nations, insofar as they bear on the subject of the book.

He has added new cantos to the matter of the first edition, so that the number of verses in it is now double what it was, and the cantos now number twelve, divided into 42 sections.

On page 8 of this issue we have reproduced the poem "Umayya's Dream," which appears in the canto "An Idle Dream." The poet took its matter from the "Aghani."