Nakhle, and others.
And when Mr. Marun Abboud speaks to us of these men of letters, he speaks in that unique critical style of his in which no one can keep pace with him, and with a fearless boldness, which gives his book "New and Old" a distinguished weight. In the course of these studies he acquaints us with the development of the literary renaissance in Lebanon and beyond, and with the tendencies to which it is given to flourish and endure, or to fade and go out...
The man of letters Mr. Marun Abboud, with his matchless critic's pen, is a pillar for Lebanon and the Arabs in the world of their poetry and their letters...
• "Zahw al-Ruba" (The Splendor of the Hills) is a diwan of poetry published in Damascus by the poet Mikhail Khalil Allahwerdi.
The diwan is elegantly printed and runs to 333 pages. The first 175 pages are devoted to poems composed by the poet Mikhail Allahwerdi on patriotic, social, and gnomic themes; the remainder of the book is poetic craftsmanship — the fivefold, split, or fourfold elaboration of certain well-known verses. Here is a sample of his fivefold elaboration on the two famous lines of al-Sharif al-Radi:
The Heart Turned Back
Ask not how it fares with their neighbor, how often he roamed, mad with longing, about their dwelling, for the heart still beats at their remembrance — "And indeed I stood upon their abodes, their ruins plundered by the hand of decay."
I poured out my tears upon the hills, and there sprouted their flowers; and their days were folded away, and I went on like a wretched orphan girl — "And my eye turned back; and when the ruins vanished from my sight, the heart turned back."
• "Book of the Month" — a series of monthly books issued by the Rihani House for Printing and Publishing: a collection of translated masterpieces and fresh original work, in which a select company of men of letters take part, under the supervision of Mr. Jamil Jabr. The price of each part is one Lebanese lira, with a discount for subscribers.
The first installment of "Book of the Month" has appeared: "From German Literature." There will follow in succession: from English, French, American, Turkish, Russian, Indian, and Italian literature, etc.... then masterpieces of the Lebanese, Iraqi, Egyptian, and Syrian story, the literature of the Mahjar, the letters of Gibran, Abu Risha, Omar Fakhoury, and others.
Have you read Ameen Rihani in Kings of the Arabs?
Have you read him in The Farthest Maghreb and The Heart of Lebanon?
Have you read him in Calamities, Extremism and Reform, Outside the Harem, and You Poets?
If you have perused him in all of these — and no doubt you have — then do not forget to read him also in The Modern History of Najd, or the Life of King Abdulaziz Saud, a historical masterpiece that Rihani wove with a brush dipped in myrrh and frankincense, the work of a masterful, unruly, sardonic pen. It has appeared in a handsome volume befitting the subject.
Order it from the Rihani House for Printing and Publishing, Bab Idriss — Beirut.
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Ask for "Igora" dye, and look for the Black Head, registered trademark.