Table of Contents

Thanks and Acknowledgments Introduction A Book of Multiple Beginnings Prologue The First Human Beings, Their Sons and Amazon Daughters Hanno the Navigator (Carthage, c. sixth century B.C.E.) from The Periplos of Hanno Callimachus (Cyrene, 310-c. 240 B.C.E.) Thirteen Epigrammatic Poems Mago (Carthage, pre-second century B.C.E.) from De Agricultura Lucius Apuleius (Madaurus, now M'Daourouch, c. 123-c. 180 C.E.) from The Golden Ass, or Metamorphoses Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus (Carthage, c. 160-c. 220 C.E.) from De Pallio (The Cloak) from Scorpiace (The Scorpion) Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus (Carthage, early third century-258 C.E.) from Epistle to Donatus Lucius Lactantius (Cirta?, c. 240-Trier?, c. 320 C.E.) from De Ave Phoenice Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis (Saint Augustine) (Thagaste, 354-Hippo, 430 C.E.) from Confessions from De Doctrina Christiana from De fide rerum invisibilium from Psalmus contra partem Donati Blossius Aemilius Dracontius (Carthage, c. 455-c. 505 C.E.) The Chariot of Venus De Mensibus (Months) The Origin of Roses Luxorius (Carthage, sixth century C.E.) [They say, that when the fierce bear gives birth ...] Premature Chariot First Diwan A Book of In-Betweens: Al-Andalus, Sicily, the Maghreb Prologue Anonymous Muwashshaha Some Kharjas Ibn Hani al-Andalusi (Seville, c. 934-Barca, Libya, 973) Al-Jilnar Extinction Is the Truth ... Ibn Darradj al-Qastalli (958-1030) from Ode in Praise of Khairan al-'Amiri, Emir of Almeria from Ode in Praise of al-Mansur al-'Amiri, Emir of Cordoba Abu Amir Ibn Shuhayd (Cordoba, 992-1035) from Qasida (I) Cordoba from Qasida (II) "As he got his fill of delirious wine" Gravestone Qasida Yusuf ibn Harun al-Ramadi (d. c. 1022) Hugging Letters and Beauty Spots Silver Breast Gold Nails The Swallow O Rose ... Yosef ibn Abitur (mid-tenth century-c. 1012) The "Who?" of Ibn Abitur of Cordoba Hafsa bint Hamdun (Wadi al-Hijara, now Guadalajara, tenth century) Four Poems Samuel Ha-Levi ibn Nagrella, called ha-Nagid, "the Prince" (Merida, 993-Granada, 1055) Three Love Poems War Poem Ibn Hazm (Cordoba, 994-Niebla, 1064) My Heart from The Neck-Ring of the Dove FROM "AUTHOR'S PREFACE" OF FALLING IN LOVE WHILE ASLEEP Wallada bint al-Mustakfi (Cordoba, 994-1091) Six Poems Ibn Rashiq (Masila, Algeria, c. 1-Mazara, Sicily, c. 1064) from Lament over the Fall of the City of Kairouan Ibn Zaydun (Cordoba, 1003-1071) Fragments from the Qasida in the Rhyme of Nun Written from al-Zahra' Salomon ibn Gabirol (Malaga, c. 1020-Valencia, c. 1058) The 16-Year-Old Poet from The Crown of Kingdom Al Mu'tamid ibn Abbad (Seville, 1040-Aghmat, 1095) To Abu Bakr ibn 'Ammar Going to Silves To Rumaykiyya Ibn Hamdis (Noto, Sicily, 1056-Majorca, 1133) He Said, Remembering Sicily and His Home, Syracuse Ibn Labbana (Benissa, mid-eleventh century-Majorca, 1113) Al-Mu'tamid and His Family Go into Exile Two Muwashshahat Moses ibn Ezra (Granada, c. 1058-c. 1135) Drinking Song Song Al-A'ma al-Tutili (b. Tudela, c. late eleventh century-d. 1126) Water-Fire Muwashshaha Ibn Khafadja (Alcita, province of Valencia, 1058-1138) The River Yehuda Halevi, the Cantor of Zion (Toledo, 1075-Cairo, 1141) from Yehuda Halevi's Songs to Zion The Garden Ibn Quzman (Cordoba, 1078-1160) [A muwashshaha] The Crow Abraham ibn Ezra (1089-1164) "I have a garment" Abu Madyan Shu'ayb (Sidi Boumedienne) (Cantillana, 1126-Tlemcen, 1198) You Will Be Served in Your Glass Hafsa bint al-Hajj Arrakuniyya (Granada, 1135-Marrakech, 1190) Eight Poems Ibn Arabi, al-Sheikh al-Akhbar (Murcia, 1165-Damascus, 1240) "I believe in the religion of love" "O my two friends" The Wisdom of Reality in the Words of Isaac Abi Sharif al-Rundi (Seville, 1204-Ceuta, 1285) Nuniyya Ibn Said al-Maghribi (Alcala la Real, 1213-Tunis, 1274) The Battle Black Horse with White Chest The Wind Abu al-Hassan al-Shushtari (Guadix, 1213-Damietta, 1269) My Art But You Are in the Najd Desire Drives the Camels Abraham Abulafia (Saragossa, 1240-Comino, c. 1291) How He Went as Messiah in the Name of Angel Raziel to Confront the Pope from The Book of the Letter from Life of the World to Come: Circles Ibn Zamrak (Granada, 1333-1393) The Alhambra Inscription The Oral Tradition I Prologue Kabyle Origin Tale: "The World Tree and the Image of the Universe" from Sirhat Banu Hilal (I) Sultan Hassan el Hilali Bou Ali, the Taciturn Over Whom to Weep Who Is the Best Hilali Horseman? Chiha's Advice Bouzid on Reconnaissance in the Maghreb Four Tamachek' Fables The Greyhound and the Bone The Lion, the Panther, the Tazourit, and the Jackal The Billy Goat and the Wild Boar The Woman and the Lion Kabylian Song on the Expedition of 1856 Tuareg Proverbs from the Ahaggar Second Diwan Al Adab: The Invention of Prose Prologue Ibn Sharaf al-Qayrawani (Kairouan, c. 1-Seville, 1067) On Some Andalusian Poets On Poetic Criticism Ibn Rashiq al-Qayrawani (also al-Masili) (Masila, Algeria, c. 1-Mazara, Sicily, 1064) from Al-'Umda: "On making poetry and stimulating inspiration" Al-Bakri (Huelva, 1014-Cordoba, 1094) from Kitab al-Masalik wa-'al-Mamalik (Book of Routes and Realms) Abu Hamid al-Gharnati (Granada, 1080-Damascus, 1169) from Tuhfat al-Albab (Gift of the Spirit) DESCRIPTION OF THE LIGHTHOUSE OF ALEXANDRIA CHAMBER MADE FOR SOLOMON BY THE JINNS Ibn Baja (Avempace) (Saragossa, 1085-Fez, 1138) from The Governance of the Solitary Al-Idrisi (Ceuta, 1099-Sicily, c. 1166) from Al-Kitab al-Rujari (Roger's Book) Ibn Tufayl (Cadiz, c. 1105-Marrakech, 1185) from Hayy ibn Yaqzan, a Philosophical Tale Musa ibn Maimon, called Maimonides (Cordoba, 1138-Fostat, 1204) from The Guide for the Perplexed Ibn Jubayr (Valencia, 1145-Egypt, 1217) from The Travels of Ibn Jubayr: Sicily Ahmad al-Tifashi (Tiffech, Algeria, 1184-Cairo, 1253) from The Delight of Hearts Ibn Battuta (Tangier, 1304-Marrakech, 1369) from Rihla: Concerning Travels in the Maghreb Ibn Khaldun (Tunis, 1332-Cairo, 1406) from The Muqaddimah, an Introduction to History "THE CRAFT OF POETRY AND THE WAY OF LEARNING IT" "POETRY AND PROSE WORK WITH WORDS, AND NOT WITH IDEAS" Sheikh Nefzaoui (b. Nefzaoua, southern Tunisia-d. c. 1434) from The Perfumed Garden THE NAMES GIVEN TO MAN'S SEXUAL ORGANS THE NAMES GIVEN TO WOMAN'S SEXUAL ORGANS Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi (Leo Africanus) (Granada, c. 1488-1554) from Travel Diaries WHY THIS PART OF THE WORLD WAS NAMED AFRICA THE MANNER AND CUSTOMS OF THE ARABS INHABITING AFRICA ON FEZ A Book of Mystics Prologue Abu Madyan Shu'ayb (Sidi Boumedienne) (Cantillana, 1126-Tlemcen, 1198) The Qasida in Ra The Qasida in Mim Abdeslam ibn Mashish Alami (Beni Aross region, near Tangier, 1163-1228) As-Salatal-Mashishiyah (The Salutation of Ibn Mashish) Ibn Arabi, al-Sheikh al-Akhbar (Murcia, 1165-Damascus, 1240) Our Loved Ones Lords of Love "Gentle now, doves" "Who is here for a braveheart" Abu al-Hassan al-Shushtari (Guadix, 1213-Damietta, 1269) Layla Othman Ibn Yahya el Sherki (Sidi Bahlul Sherki) (Tetouan region, seventeenth century) from Al-Fiyachiya Ahmed Ibn 'Ajiba (Tetouan region, 1747-1809) Qasida Maxims Mystical Poetry from Djurdjura Tell Me, You Saints from Everywhere Those Who Remember Know It What Dwelling Did I Raise in Ayt-Idjer Bird, Soar Up into the Sky Two Shawia Amulets Amulet against Poison and Poisonous Animals Amulet to "Unknot" Headaches and Neuralgias Third Diwan The Long Sleep and the Slow Awakening Prologue Sidi Abderrahman el Mejdub (Tit Mlil, early sixteenth century-Merdacha, Jebel Aouf, 1568) Some Quatrains Sidi Lakhdar Ben Khlouf (Mostaganem region, sixteenth-seventeenth century) from The Honeycomb Abdelaziz al-Maghraoui (Tafilalet, 1533-1593/1605) from A Masbah az-Zin (O Beautiful Lamp!) from Peace Be upon You O Shining Pearl! Mawlay Zidan Abu Maali (d. Marrakech, 1627) "I passed ..." Al-Maqqari (Tlemcen, c. 1591-Cairo, 1632) On Those Andalusians Who Traveled to the East Al-Yusi (Middle Atlas, 1631-1691) from Al-Muharat [TWO SEASONS] [THE CITY AND THE COUNTRY] Ahmed Ben Triki (Ben Zengli) (Tlemcen, c. 1650-c. 1750) from Tal Nahbi (My Pain Endures ...) from Sha'lat Niran Fi Kbadi (Burned to the Depths of My Soul!) Sid al Hadj Aissa (Tlemcen, 1668--Laghouat, 1737) A Borni Falcon Song A Turkli Falcon Song Al-Hani Ben Guenoun (1761-1864) from Ya Dhalma (O Unfair Lady!) Sidi Mohammed Ben Msaieb (d. Tlemcen, 1768) from O Pigeon Messenger! Mohammed ben Sliman (d. Fez, 1792) The Storm Boumediene Ben Sahla (Tlemcen, late eighteenth-early nineteenth century) from Wahd al-Ghazal Rit al-Youm (I Saw a Gazelle Today ...) Mostefa Ben Brahim (Safa) (Boudjebha, Sidi Bel Abbes province, 1800-1867) Saddle Up, O Warrior! Mohammed Belkheir (El Bayadh, south of Oran, 1835-1905) Melha! Moroccan Exile Exiled at Calvi, Corsica Si Mohand (Icheraiouen, At Yirraten, c. 1840-Lhammam-Michelet, 1906) Three Poems from Si Mohand's Journey from Maison-Carree to Michelet Mohamed ibn Seghir Benguitoun (Sidi Khaled, c. 1843-1907) from Hiziya Sheikh Smati (Ouled Djellal, near Biskra, 1862-1917) Mount Kerdada Mohamed Ben Sghir (Tlemcen, late nineteenth century) Lafjar (Dawn) Ya'l-Warchan (O Dove) Abdallah Ibn Keriou (Laghouat, 1869-1921) "Oh you who worry about the state of my heart" Hadda (Dra Valley, southern Morocco, late twentieth century) The Poem of the Candle A Book of Writing Prologue Archaic Kufic Script Polychrome Maghrebian Script Maghrebian Script Maghrebian Cursive Script Andalusian Cursive Script Al-Qandusi A Bismillah The Word Paradise Maghrebian Script: The Two Letters Lam-Alif Maghrebian Mujawhar Script Fourth Diwan Resistance and Road to Independence Prologue Emir Abd El Kader (Mascara, 1808-Damascus, 1883) My Spouse Worries I Am Love The Secrets of the Lam-Alif Mohammed Ben Brahim Assarraj (Marrakech, 1897-1955) Poem I Poem II Tahar Haddad (Tunis, 1899-1935) from Muslim Women in Law and Society Jean El Mouhoub Amrouche (Ighil Ali, 1906-Paris, 1962) Adoration of the Palm Trees Abu al-Qasim al-Shabi (Tozeur, 1909-Tunis, 1934) Life's Will Mouloud Feraoun (Tizi Hibel, 1913-Algiers, 1962) from Journal, 1955-1962 Emmanuel Robles (Oran, 1914-Boulogne-Billancourt, 1995) from Mirror Suite Edmond Amram El-Maleh (Safi, 1917-Rabat, 2010) from Taksiat Mouloud Mammeri (Taourirt Mimoune, Kabylia, 1917-Ain Defla, 1989) from L'Ahellil du Gourara: Timimoun Mostefa Lacheraf (Sidi Aissa, 1917-Algiers, 2007) from Country of Long Pain Mohammed Dib (Tlemcen, 1920-La Celle-Saint-Cloud, 2003) from Ombre Gardienne GUARDIAN SHADOW 1 GUARDIAN SHADOW 2 GUARDIAN SHADOW 3 DAWN BREAKS THE CRAZED HOUR NURSERY RHYME A VOICE Bachir Hadj Ali (Algiers, 1920-1991) Dreams in Disarray Oath Jean Pelegri (Rovigo, 1920-Paris, 2003) Open the Pebble Nourredine Aba (Ain Oulmene, 1921-Paris, 1996) from Lost Song of a Rediscovered Country Mohammed Al-Habib El-Forkani (Tahannaout, 1922-Rabat, 2008) "In a miserable world" "My yesterday pursues me" Frantz Fanon (Fort-de-France, 1925-Bethesda, Maryland, 1961) from On National Culture Jean Senac (Beni Saf, 1926-Algiers, 1973) Dawn Song of My People News in Brief The July Massacres Malek Haddad (Constantine, 1927-Algiers, 1978) The Long March Kateb Yacine (Guelma, 1929-Grenoble, 1989) Nedjma, or The Poem or the Knife from Nedjma Ismael Ait Djaafar (Algiers, 1929-1995) from Wail of the Arab Beggars of the Casbah Anna Greki (Batna, 1931-Algiers, 1966) The Future Is for Tomorrow Even in Winter Henri Krea (Algiers, 1933-Paris, 2) from Le Seisme au bord de la riviere Clandestine Travelers The Oral Tradition II More Kabylian Origin Stories The Origin of Shooting Stars The First Eclipse The Origin of Menstruation The Magic Grain: A Tale Kabyl Proverbs Songs Children's Rain Song "O night lights of Jew Town": A Song of the Hara from The Adventures of the Jew The Bride Who Was Too Large The Tail of the Comet More Riddles and Proverbs Satirical Nomad Poem Saharan Gharbi{ths}/{ths}Western-Style Anonymous Nomad Songs from Sirhat Banu Hilal (II): Sada Betrays Her Father for Love of Meri Fifth Diwan "Make It New": The Invention of Independence I Prologue Libya Muhammad al-Faituri (b. al-Janira, Sudan, 1930) The Story Incident The Question and the Answer Ibrahim al-Koni (b. Fezzan region, 1948) from Anubis: Dusk Ashur Etwebi (b. Tripoli, 1952) from Of Solitude and a Few Other Matters Faraj Bou al-Isha (b. 1956) Where Does This Pain Come From? Here I Am Wait Sleep Fatima Mahmoud (b. Tripoli, mid-twentieth century) What Was Not Conceivable Laila Neihoum (b. Benghazi, 1961) Melting Sun Khaled Mattawa (b. Benghazi, 1964) from East of Carthage: An Idyll Tunisia Claude Benady (Tunis, 1922-Boulogne, Hauts-de-Seine, 2) Thirst for a Country ... Struggle Al-Munsif al-Wahaybi (b. Kairouan, 1929) The Desert In the Arab House Ceremony Midani Ben Salah (Nefta, 1929-2006) In the Train with Them Noureddine Sammoud (b. Kelibia, 1932) The Eyes of My Love Salah Garmadi (Tunis, 1933-1982) Our Ancestors the Beduins Counsel for My Family after My Death Shams Nadir (Mohamed Aziza) (b. Tunis, 1940) from The Athanor Echoes from Isla-Negra Abderrazak Sahli (Hammamet, 1941-2009) Clerare Drac Moncef Ghachem (b. Mahdia, 1946) Mewall Fadhila Chabbi (b. Tozeur, 1946) The Blind Goddess Engraving Twenty-Nine Abdelwahab Meddeb (b. Tunis, 1946) from Talismano from Fantasia Muhammad al-Ghuzzi (b. Kairouan, 1949) Female Quatrains for Joy Moncef Ouahibi (b. Kairouan, 1949) from Under Sargon Boulus's Umbrella Khaled Najjar (b. Tunis, 1949) Stone Castle Boxes Poem 1 Poem 2 Poem 3 Poem 4 Poem 5 Tahar Bekri (b. Gabes, 1951) From War to War from I Call You Tunisia Amina Said (b. Tunis, 1953) Child of the Sun and the Earth I Am a Child and Free Moncef Mezghanni (b. Sfax, 1954) A Duck's Speech The Land of Narrow Dreams Adam Fet'hi (b. 1957) The Blind Glassblower Cavafy's Whip Dorra Chammam (b. Tunis, 1965) from Reefs and Other Consequences Amel Moussa (b. Tripoli, 1971) A Formal Poem Love Me Samia Ouederni (b. 1980) For Tunisia Mauritania Oumar Moussa Ba (Senegal village bordering Mauritania, 1921-1998) Well-Known Oxen The Banu Eyo-Eyo Plea Peul Poem Song of the Washerwoman Tene Youssouf Gueye (Kaedi, 1928-1988) The Meaning of the Circus Assane Youssouf Diallo (b. 1938) from Leyd'am Djibril Zakaria Sall (b. Rosso, 1939) To Nelson Mandela Ousmane-Moussa Diagana (Kaedi, 1951-Nouakchott, 2001) from Cherguiya Mbarka Mint al-Barra' (b. al-Madhardhara, 1957) Poetry and I Aicha Mint Chighaly (b. Kaedi, 1962) Praise on the Site of Aftout Nostalgic Song about Life Western Sahara Bahia Mahmud Awah (b. Auserd, 1960) The Books I Have Faith in Time A Poem Is You Orphan at a Starbucks Zahra el Hasnaui Ahmed (b. El Aaiun, 1963) Voices They Say That the Night ... Gazes Mohammed Ebnu (b. Amgala, 1968) Exile Children of Sun and Wind Message in a Bottle Chejdan Mahmud Yazid (b. Tindouf, 1972) Sirocco The Expectorated Scream Enough! Limam Boicha (b. Atar, 1973) The Roads of the South Boughs of Thirst Existence A Book of Exiles Prologue --> Diaspora Mario Scalesi (Tunis, 1892-Palermo, 1922) Symbolism New Year's Gift Sunrise Words of a Dying Soldier Envoy Jacques Berque (Frenda, 1910-Saint-Julien-en-Born, 1995) from "Truth and Poetry" on the Seksawa Tribe Jacques Derrida (Algiers, 1930-Paris, 2004) from The Monolingualism of the Other, or The Prosthesis of Origin Helene Cixous (b. Oran, 1937) Letter-Beings and Time Hubert Haddad (b. Tunis, 1947) A Quarter to Midnight <-- Diaspora Paul Bowles (New York, 1910-Tangier, 1999) from Africa Minor Juan Goytisolo (b. Barcelona, 1931) Dar Debbagh Cecile Oumhani (b. Namur, 1952) Young Woman at the Terrace The Oral Tradition III Prologue Aissa al Jarmuni al Harkati (Sidi R'ghis, now Oum El Bouaghi, 1885-Ain Beida, Oum El Bouaghi province, 1946) Poem about His Country, the "Watan" Quatrain about the Jews at a Wedding Party in the "Harat Lihud" Quarter in Constantine Quatrain about the Sufi Sheikh sidi Muhammad ben Said's Young Wife Who Had Died the Night Before Two Quatrains about Human Existence Two Quatrains on the Shawia People Sung at the Olympia in Paris (1936) Poem about Education Two Lyrics from al Harkati's Recorded Songs OH HORSE BREEDER! THE SLENDER ONE Qasi Udifella (1898-1950) Four Poems Mririda N'ait Attik (Megdaz, c. 1900-c. 1930) The Bad Lover What Do You Want? The Brooch The Song of the Azria Slimane Azem (Kabylia, 1918-Moissac, France, 1983) Taskurth (The Partridge) Cheikha Rimitti (Tessala, 1923-Paris, 2006) He Crushes Me The Girls of Bel Abbes The Worst of All Shelters Kheira (b. Tunisia, c. 1934) You Who Rebel against Fate, Rise and Face What God Has Ordained Mohammed Mrabet (b. Tangier, 1936) Si Mokhtar Hawad (b. north of Agadez, 1950) from Hijacked Horizon Lounis Ait Menguellet (b. Ighil Bouammas, 1950) Love, Love, Love Mohammed El Agidi (Morocco, twentieth century) "Tell me Sunken Well" Matoub Lounes (Taourirt Moussa, 1956-Tizi Ouzzou, 1998) Kenza My Soul Fifth Diwan "Make It New": The Invention of Independence II Algeria Mohammed Dib (Tlemcen, 1920-La Celle-Saint-Cloud, 2003) from Formulaires Jean Senac (Beni Saf, 1926-Algiers, 1973) Man Open Heliopolis Song of the Mortise I Like What's Difficult, Said You The Last Song Kateb Yacine (Guelma, 1929-Grenoble, 1989) from Le Polygone Etoile Nadia Guendouz Aouaouche (Algiers, 1932-1992) Green Fruit On Rue de la Lyre 1st May 1963 Assia Djebar (b. Cherchell, 1936) Poem for a Happy Algeria from Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade Malek Alloula (b. Oran, 1937) from The Colonial Harem Mourad Bourboune (b. Jijel, 1938) from The Muezzin Nabile Fares (b. Collo, 1940) Over There, Afar, Lights Rachid Boudjedra (b. Ain Beida, Oum El Bouaghi province, 1941) from Rain (Diary of an Insomniac) Abdelhamid Laghouati (b. Berrouaghia, 1943) "To embrace" Indictment Youcef Sebti (Boudious, 1943-Algiers, 1993) The Future Hell and Madness Ismael Abdoun (b. Bechar, 1945) "Faun-eye'd iceberg burn" Rabah Belamri (Bougaa, 1946-Paris, 1995) "Have we ever known" Inversed Jabbok Habib Tengour (b. Mostaganem, 1947) from Gravity of the Angel Hamida Chellali (b. Algiers, 1948) "In the days" from The Old Ones Hamid Skif (Oran, 1951-2011) Pedagogical Couscous Song Poem for My Prick Here I Am Hamid Tibouchi (b. Tibane, 1951) from The Young Traveler and the Old-Fashioned Ghost Mohamed Sehaba (b. Tafraoui, 1952) Far from Our Erg The Bird No Longer Sings I Miss Something ... Abdelmadjid Kaouah (b. Ain-Taya, near Algiers, 1954) Neck Modern Bar Majestic Tahar Djaout (Azeffoun, 1954-Algiers, 1993) March 15, 1962 Amin Khan (b. Algiers, 1956) Vision of the Return of Khadija to Opium Mourad Djebel (b. Annaba, 1967) Summer Mustapha Benfodil (b. Relizane, 1968) from I Conned Myself on a Levantine Day Al-Mahdi Acherchour (b. Sidi-Aich, 1973) In the Emptiness Return to the Missed Turn Samira Negrouche (b. Algiers, 1980) Coffee without Sugar Morocco Driss Chraibi (El Jadida, 1926-Drome, France, 2007) from Seen, Read, Heard Mohammed Sebbagh (b. Tetouan, 1929) from Seashell-Tree from Candles on the Road A Brief Moment The Missing Reader Maternal Instinct In Shackles If I Had a Friend Two Poems Mohamed Serghini (b. Fez, 1930) Poem I Poem III from Assembly of Dreams Abdelkrim Tabbal (b. Chefchaouen, 1931) To the Horse Happiness The Speech Absent Time Zaghloul Morsy (b. Marrakech, 1933) from From a Reticent Sun Mohamed Choukri (Ait Chiker, 1935-2003) from The Prophet's Slippers Ahmad al-Majjaty (Casablanca, 1936-1995) Arrival Disappointment The Stumbling of the Wind Abdelkebir Khatibi (El Jadida, 1938-Rabat, 2009) from Class Struggle in the Taoist Manner from Love in Two Languages Mohammed Khair-Eddine (Tafraout, 1941-Rabat, 1995) Horoscope Indictment from I, Bitter Ali Sadki Azayku (Taroudant, 1942-2004) Neighbor to Life The Shadows Mother Tongue Abdellatif Laabi (b. Fez, 1942) "I'm not the nomad" The Portrait of the Father The Anonymous Poet Letter to Florence Aubenas Mostafa Nissabouri (b. Casablanca, 1943) from Approach to the Desert Space Abdelmajid Benjelloun (b. Fez, 1944) The Flute of Origins, or The Taciturn Dance Eternity Comes Down on the Side of Love A Woman to Love as One Would Love to Revive after Death Tahar Ben Jelloun (b. Fez, 1944) from Harrouda Mohamed Sibari (b. Ksar el Kebir, 1945) From Very Far Away ... Confession Lady Night Malika El Assimi (b. Marrakech, 1946) Things Having Names Smoke Mariam The Snout Mohammed Bennis (b. Fez, 1948) from The Book of Love FOR YOU LETTER TO IBN HAZM Seven Birds Ahmed Lemsyeh (b. Sidi Ismail, 1950) Fragments of the Soul's Shadow I Miss My Self Rachida Madani (b. Tangier, 1951) from Walk through the Debris ... Mohammed al-Ashaari (b. Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, 1951) from A Vast Space ... Where There's No One Medhi Akhrif (b. Assilah, 1952) from The Tomb of Helen Half a Line Abdallah Zrika (b. Casablanca, 1953) from Drops from Black Candles from Some Prose: My Sister's Scream in Black and White Mubarak Wassat (b. Mzinda, Safi region, 1955) Balcony Innocence The Time of the Assassins Hassan Najmi (b. Ben Ahmed, 1959) The Window Couplets The Blueness of Evening The Train Yard Waafa Lamrani (b. Ksar el Kebir, 1960) Alphabet Fire A Shade of Probability The Eighth Day Ahmed Barakat (Casablanca, 1960-1994) Afterwards Black Pain The Torn Flag Touria Majdouline (b. Settat, 1960) A Minute's Speech Out of Context Ahmed Assid (b. Taourmit, Taroudant province, 1961) Prayer A Chamber the Color of Disgust Suns Mohamed El Amraoui (b. Fez, 1964) En Quelque Jerusalem Mohammed Hmoudane (b. Maaziz, 1968) from Incandescence Ouidad Benmoussa (b. Ksar el Kebir, 1969) Restaurant Tuyets This Planet ... Our Bed Road of Clouds Omar Berrada (b. Casablanca, 1978) Subtle Bonds of the Encounter: Alfred Jarry (1873-1907) / bpNichol (1944-1988) / Ibn Arabi (1165-1240) Credits Figure Credits Index of Authors

About the Author

Pierre Joris is a Professor of English at SUNY, Albany and an acclaimed translator and editor. as well as the author of many books of poetry. He is coeditor of UC Press's highly successful first two volumes in the Poems for the Millennium series. Habib Tengour is a poet, editor, translator, anthropologist, and novelist. He is editor of Oeuvres poetiques completes de Mohammed Dib.

Reviews

"This book is the most important contribution to world literature for this year... Every page shocks with different energy." -- Grace Cavalieri Washington Independent Rev 20130305 "With ingenious translations and informative commentaries, Joris and Tengour . . make palpable that this region is a wellspring of the culture we value in the West. In so doing, they restore to us missing parts of the 'cradle' of our civilization." -- Charles Bernstein Artforum 20121201 "A 'must own' item." Silliman's Blog 20130307 "Their book comes at a time when there are a slew of English titles published on the Arab world, but unlike the majority of them, this volume actually encourages cultural appreciation. I could wax rhapsodic about these poems for months." -- Alexis Coe SF Weekly 20130320 "This is a magisterial effort by two absolutely serious and accomplished poet-scholars. It is an important addition to the Poems for the Millennium series and significant in its own right, both expanding and complicating notions of the modern by introducing us to many writers we might not otherwise encounter." -- Brooke Horvath Rain Taxi 20131101