In My Library: The Diwan 'Qurban'

Last month there appeared, by Miss Thurayya Malhas, the diwan 'Qurban' — a charming collection of pure poetry that springs from the very self, and comes forth free and unfettered, untouched by any external influences.

The author of 'Qurban' has another diwan of verse, 'The Wandering Hymn,' which appeared a little over two years ago. Both diwans have a detached mystical coloring, unique in its particular style, in its departure from the familiar, and in its taking a new and original path in phrase, in manner, and in production. Nor is this any wonder, for the diwan 'Qurban' was produced by the artist Miss Salwa Rawda, known likewise for her new artistic bent, and it is adorned with her drawings in abstract art, which harmonize in every way with the prose poems in which the author soars — breaking loose from all the ties that bind her to her mother the earth — toward the world of the greatest Creator, and takes refuge in Him alone.

There may be in the diwan 'Qurban' a call to a negative withdrawal from the world; but it is a noble mystical call, prompted by indignation at the corruption of society and the evil of its course, and by a sincere desire for total escape from it, and for union, in thought and in spirit, with tolerant, tender nature, and with the One God who is the source of all goodness, truth, and beauty.