Ali Ahmad Said Asbar (Arabic: علي أحمد سعيد إسبر; transliterated: alî ahmadi s-sacîdi l-'asbar or Ali Ahmad Sa'id) (born 1930), also known by the pseudonym Adonis or Adunis (Arabic: أدونيس), is a Syrian-born poet and essayist who has made his career largely in Lebanon and France. He has written more than twenty books in his native Arabic. The Arabic language (Arabic: ‎ translit: ), or simply Arabic (Arabic: ‎ translit: ), is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... Due to the fact that the Arabic language has a number of phonemes that have no equivalent in English or other European languages, a number of different transliteration methods have been invented to represent certain Arabic characters, due to various conflicting goals: A desire to stay consistent with traditional usage... 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ...

Early life, education, and start of career

Said was born in Al Qassabin, in Northern Syria. From an early age, he worked in the fields, but his father regularly had him memorize poetry, and he began to compose poems of his own. In 1947, he had the opportunity to recite a poem for Syrian president Shukri al-Kuwatli; that led to a series of scholarships, first to a school in Lattakia and then to the Syrian University in Damascus, where he received a degree in Philosophy in 1954. 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... Shukri al Kuwaiti Shukri al-Kuwatli (Born 1891, Damascus, Syria. ... Roundabout in Latakia Latakia (Arabic: اللاذقية Al-Ladhiqiyah, Greek:Λαοδικεία) is the principal port city of Syria. ... The Damascus University (Arabic: جامعة دمشق jāmi‘atu-d-dimashq) is the largest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The name Adonis was given to Said by Antun Saadeh, the leader of the radical pan-Syrian Syrian Social Nationalist Party. In 1955, Said was imprisoned for six months for being a member of the that party. Following his release from prison in 1956, he settled in Beirut, Lebanon, where in 1957 he and Syro-Lebanese poet Yusuf al-Khal founded the magazine Shi'r ("Poetry"). At this time, he abandoned Syrian nationalism in favor of pan-Arabism; he also became a less political writer. Antun Saadah (March 1, 1904-July 8, 1949) was a Lebanese social nationalist thinker and founder of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. ... Syrian nationalism refers to the nationalism of Syria, as a cultural or political entity. ... SSNP flag The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP, Arabic: الحزب السوري القومي الاجتماعي al-Hizb as-SÅ«rÄ« al-QawmÄ« al-Ijtimā`Ä«, often referred to in French as Parti Populaire Syrien) is a nationalist political party in Syria and Lebanon. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Beirut (disambiguation). ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Yusuf al-Khal (1917–1987) was a Syrian-born poet who has made his career largely in Lebanon; with Ali Ahmad Said (a. ... Pan-Arabism is a movement for unification among the Arab peoples and nations of the Middle East. ...

Said received a scholarship to study in Paris from 1960-1961. From 1970 to 1985 he was professor of Arabic literature at the University of Lebanon. In 1976, he was a visiting professor at the University of Damascus. In 1980, he emigrated to Paris to escape the Lebanese Civil War. In 1980-1981, he was professor of Arabic at the Sorbonne in Paris. 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Part of the Paris and La Défense skylines with from left to right: Montparnasse Tower, Eiffel Tower, and La Défense towers. ... For the civil conflict of 1958, see Lebanon crisis of 1958. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Sorbonne, Paris, in a 17th century engraving The historic University of Paris (French: Université de Paris) first appeared in the second half of the 12th century, but was in 1970 reorganized as 13 autonomous universities (University of Paris I–XIII). ...

Career

Said uses traditional Arab poetic styles to express modern views. Said proposes that poetry has two components: song and function. A poet must be judged by the causes that he champions. The poet has two sides - the "I" and the "other". The poet must represent the group.

After a trip to New York in 1971, Said wrote the poem, "The Funeral of New York" which opens:

Picture the earth as a pear
or breast.
Between such fruits and death
survives an engineering trick:
New York,
Call it a city on four legs
heading for murder
while the drowned already moan
in the distance.
New York is a woman
holding, according to history,
a rag called liberty with one hand
and strangling the earth with the other.

Said was considered to be a candidate for both the 2005 and 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature, but the awards went to British playwright Harold Pinter and Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk respectively. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nobel Prize medal. ... Harold Pinter Pinter redirects here. ... Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born on June 7, 1952 in Istanbul) is a Nobel Prize-winning Turkish novelist. ...

Bibliography

Said has written over twenty books in his native Arabic. Several of his poetry collections have been translated into English.

Poetry

• If Only the Sea Could Sleep (trans from Al-A'mul al Shi'riyya, (The Complete Works, 3 volumes) (2000) ISBN 1-931243-29-8
• The Pages of Day and Night
• The blood of Adonis;: Transpositions of selected poems of Adonis (Ali Ahmed Said) (Pitt poetry series) ISBN 0-8229-3213-X
• Songs of Mihyar the Damamscene (1960) poems available online include:
  • Not A Star
  • A Voice
  • A King is Miyhar
  • The Adoring Rock
• Take me to God

Literary criticism and essays

• An Introduction to Arab Poetics (2000) ISBN 0-86356-301-5

References

• Irwin, Robert "An Arab Surrealist". The Nation, January 3, 2005, 23–24, 37–38.

The Nation logo The Nation is a weekly left-liberal periodical devoted to politics and culture. ...

External links

• Yahoo! Directory entry for Adonis (Ali Ahmed Said)
• Encyclopedia of the Orient Ali Ahmed Said Asbar
• A life on public view Al Ahram Weekly (January 17, 2001)
• Shatz, Adam An Arab Poet Who Dares to Differ New York Times (January 13, 2002)
• Reuters Syrian Poet Adonis Seen as Nobel Contender (October 1, 2003)