ILYA ABU MADI: THE PROFILE OF A FAMOUS MAHJAR

(ÉMIGRÉ) POET OF MODERN ARABIC LITERATURE:

By

BADMUS, Murtada Adegboyega,

Department of Religious Studies,
University of Ado-Ekiti,
Nigeria
Email: mfavours@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
Largely self taught, Ilya Abu Madi is perhaps the most famous poet as well as an
outstanding littérateur of the literary period known as Mahjar (émigré) in Modern Arabic
literature. His life and works bear testimony to this because virtually none of his
contemporaries could be said to have surpassed his achievement in the fields of Modern
Arabic literature i.e. prose and poetry, especially the Mahjar category. This work
therefore presents Abu Madi’s life and works as well as his contributions to the
development of Mahjar branch of the Modern Arabic literature. The works begins by
giving the definition of the word Mahjar as it affects Modern Arabic literature and
followed by the factors that led to emigration of poets and literary figures to the ‘new
worlds’. Following then is the presentation of the life and works of our man, Ilya Abu
Madi while his contribution to the field of Modern Arabic literature concludes the work.

Introduction
Mahjar, the noun form of the verb hajara etymologically means emigration, exodus or
massive movement of people from one place to another but when it comes to its technical
usage in Arabic literature, it connotes a literary movement or better put, a literary school
that evolved among Syrian emigrants to the ‘new worlds’ especially the United States and
North America due to oppressive rulership of the Ottoman Caliph, Sultan Abdul Hamid in
the last quarter of nineteenth and early twentieth centuries which led to socio-political as
well as economic problems.1 It is on record that as soon as the emigrants settled down in
the various place they migrated to, they thought it right to establish their own literary
circles. This was as a consequence of the natural instincts in the Arabic and their leaning
towards poetry. This is evidence in the famous saying among the Arabs which says that
poetry is the register of the Arabs. As a result, two prominent literary circles emerged.
They are Rabitatul Qalamiyyah (The Pen League) and ‘Usbatul ‘Andalusi. The two
literary circles of Modern Literature contributed in no small measure to the development
of what is now known as émigré Arabic literary school of Modern Arabic literature.2
Additionally, the name Syria in this work is not restricted to what is nowadays
Syria rather; it extends to nowadays Lebanon, Syria or what is known today as occupied
Palestine. This is so because; in the past and precisely before the coming of the
colonialists all of them were known and called by the name Syria. However, most of the
members of Ar-Rabitah, as mentioned above are from Lebanon and they belong to the
elite group and they are as well of Maronite Christians.
 The most prominent Hijrah in the history of Arab Islamic civilization is that
which Prophet Muhammad and his followers embarked upon from Makkah to Yathrib
later known and called Madinah in the year 622 C.E.
Besides this, there were series of immigrations taken by the Arabs to India,
Indonesia, Africa and later to Australia, Framce, Britain, Germany and the United States
of America, all of which were not termed Hijrah but rather Rihlah, meaning journeys or
adventures. In short, the Syrio-Lebanese emigration was termed Mahjar because, the
immigrants were all literates as mentioned above and they all belong to the elite class.
This afforded them the opportunity of uniting their ranks in the foreign land and they
used the opportunity to their advantage by forming themselves into a formidable literary
group through which they send relief materials to their relatives and friends at home as
well as fighting for freedom from the Ottoman’s oppression.
In view of the above, three major factors have been identified for the massive
exodus of Syrio-Lebanon Arabs to foreign lands for refuge as well as for looking for a
better living condition which was hampered by the Ottomanic dictatorship. They are
political, economic, and historical factors.
Historically, Syrio-Lebanon Arabs are known from time immemorial for their
adventurous life and deep business activities round the world. They are famous for
having established colonies on the coast of White Sea in the middle of North Africa
centuries B.C. From the ongoing, the consciousness of Lebanese Arabs in traveling flows
like blood in their veins.3
Politically, Syria fell under the rulership of Ottoman Turk’s Sultan Abdul Hamid
who ruled with highhandedness and subjected citizens under his empires to political
subjugation; lack of freedom, maltreatment and no respect for human dignity were the
order of the day. People were frequently thrown into detention, many were either
defamed, detained and some were even hung to death for offenses that could have
ordinarily been attracted with lesser punishment. This is one of the major reasons why
Lebanese at first resulted to jetting out of their country to Egypt and other African
countries. However, the deep colonial operations going on in many parts of Africa during
this time did not help the matter and finally, a larger percentage of the emigrants had to
turn to the United States of America and other North American countries. 4
In line with this, Nasib ‘Aridah, one of the famous poets of the émigré stock has
this to say in his Hikayatu Mahjar Suriyy (The narration of the experiences of Syrian
emigration)
‫غريبا من بلد الشرق جئت بعيدا عن حمى الحباب عشت‬
‫فكانت لي كأحسن ما اتـخذت‬ ‫تخذت أمريكا وطنا عزيز‬
‫كما جاءوا مع القـــدام جـئت‬ ‫ أنـي‬،‫أتاها للـغنى غيري‬
‫ فنلـــت‬،‫مع الحــريــة المثــلى‬ ‫ولكني طلبت بها حياة‬
Meaning:
I have come a strange man from the Middle East
Far away from the passion of my beloved ones where I lived
I have chosen America as my beloved country
And it has proven to be good for me as I have taken her
Many people before me have come to her for wealth acquisition
And that is why I have also come like others (my predecessors)
But unlike others, in addition I have come to request for a comfortable life
Full of unequalled freedom, and this I have achieve.
Resulting from the political factor is the economic factor which arisen from the
people’s abandonment of farming which could have assisted in serving as raw materials
and ready-made food for the masses. This lend to widespread hunger, suffering,
starvation and it impacted untold hardship on the populace.
In addition, heavy taxation was imposed on the masses on every belongings and
possessions including garments to the extend that it got worse to a situation where not
more than one member of a family cannot go out at a time. They have to exchange one
sealed garment because they could not afford to get more than one garment sealed for the
whole family to indicate tax payment.5
In addition to the above listed factors, other factors include unhindered freedom
of migration provided by the authority of the United States. Residential and employment
opportunities opened to emigrants knew no limit though there were occasions for
religious, race and tribal sentiments. None of these were however not used to determine
entry and exit of emigrants.
Another factor is tendency for individual Syrians to have a change of environment
most especially for people who have lived under oppressive government. It could be
deduced from the fact that they had it rough with Ottoman Turk’s leadership that they
might want to change environment to witness firsthand the civilization and technological
advancement going on in the United States during this period.
Finally, Anis al-Muqdisi summed up the socio-political situation in Syria around
this period in his word when he remarked:
‫ وكان الباعـث الكـبر على المهاجرة اختلل الحوال القتصـادية فـي السـلطنة العثمانيـة‬...
‫ وثقلت‬،‫ ودروس العلم‬،‫ حتـى تضعضـع المـن وسـادت الفوضـى‬،‫بفسـاد الحكومـة السـتبداية‬
‫العيشة‬

ILYA ABU MADI

Self directed and optimistic, Ilya Abu Madi could be regarded as the greatest poet
of ar-Rabitah, or in another assessment, the best-known Arab poet of the modern Arabic
literary age. Scholars differ in citing the exact date of birth this great literary figure of this
era. Some agreed he was born in the year 1889. Others claimed 1891 and 1893 while
Abdul’Alim Al-Qabani concluded in between 1883 and 1885. The basis of his conclusion
was deduced from the written works of Ilya Abu Madi himself in his first few years in
Egypt. The said writings reflected socio-political tones embedded with well-selected
dictions beyond the reach of a young person of ages between ten and thirteen or even
fifteen. At these early ages, reliance on memorization and reported information rather
than self-composed work is expected.
However, all sources attest to the fact that our man, Ilya Abu Madi hailed from the
village of al-Muhidithah in Lebanon. No further fact about his ancestral lineage could be
found in pages of books and various research works carried out on him.

HIS EDUCATION
Unlike his contemporaries like Gibran Khalil Gibran, Mikhail Nu‘aimah and
others who had systematic education under in the missionary schools, Ilya Abu Madi was
not opportune to undergo beyond the elementary school in a systematic way. He was self-
tutored. This reflected in his answer to some question posed to him by Ustadh Qarah ‘Ali
regarding to his stay in Alexandria. Our man says:
"‫ تارة على نفسي وتارة ً في بعض الكتاب‬،‫ وفي الليل أدّرس النحو والصرف‬..."
Meaning:
“In the night, I used to teach my self Arabic Grammar, or at times I teach in some local
schools.”
Moreover, nothing beyond element education and self-tutoring did he posses. He
pictures his typical village in his poem title ‫( الطفـل والشيـخ‬The Baby And The Old
Man)in which he compared the village and city lives. Extract from this poem go thus:
‫ أتذكر من أنا؟‬...‫وطن النجوم أنا هنا حذف‬
‫ أرعنا‬،‫ فتى غريرا‬،‫ألمحت في الماضى البـــــــــعيد‬
‫جذلن يمرح في الحـــــــــــقول وكالنسيم مدندنا‬
‫المقتني المملوك ملعبــــــــة وغير الـمـقــتــــــن‬
‫يتسلق الشجـــــار ضحرا يحس والونـــي‬
‫يبريها سيوفا أوقــــــنا‬ ‫ويعـود بالغصان‬
‫مـتــيمــنا‬... ‫متــهلــل‬ ‫ويخوض في رحل الشتا‬
‫ل ينقي شّر العيـــــو ن ول يــخاف اللسنــــا‬
‫ولكم تشيطن كي يقو ل الناس عنه تــشــيطـنا‬
‫أنا ذلك الولد الــــذي دنــياه كانت ها هنــــــا‬

Here I am O’ my staring country home

Look… do you remember who I am?
Could you glance into the far past?
Of a young boy naïve, careless.
Cheerful, always happy on the farm,
Like the singing breeze.
Acquired and owned for playing,
And as well as the acquired ones,
This boy, climbing the trees,
Would neither get annoyed nor feel tired,
Gathering the branches of trees,
Sharpening them with swords, very sharp
Entering into mud of different kinds,
Overwhelmed with joy and happiness
Fearing not those who would see him ,
Nor having any fear of what they would say.
To you he was devilish so that it will be said,
Of him by people that he was devilish
I am that same boy whose
Life is here now.

HIS LIFE IN EGYPT

Due to his simple and humble lifestyle and calm nature, it is quite difficult to
come across a detailed written information about his life either by himself or by others.
Isa an-Na‘uri while making an attempt to prepare a detailed volume about Abu Madi was
to be replied by our man who turned down the request by saying the following words
about his stay in Alexandria:
‫" ليـس فـي سـيرة حياتـي مـا يسـتحق النشـر أو على القـل أعتقـد أنـا إذ ليـس فيهـا مـا ينفـع‬
" ٍ‫فصول أحد‬
Meaning:
“There is nothing worthy of being published in my life history, or in a simple way, I think
there is nothing therein that can benefit anybody”
However, the most detailed information given by Abu Madi himself about his stay
in Alexandria, Egypt, and which he personally narrated to Muhammed Qarah ‘Ali who
asked him about his stay in Egypt is contained in his words which go thus:
‫ وفي الليل‬.‫في السكندرية تعاطيت بيع السجائر في متجر عمي‬
‫ وتارة فـي بعـض‬، ‫كنـت أدرس النحـو والصـرف تارة على نفسـي‬
‫ نظمـت‬.‫الكتاتيـب وقـد أقمـت فـي الديار المصـرية أحـد عشـر عامـا‬
‫ أمــا‬:‫ ويضيــف (إيليــا) إلى هذا قوله‬،‫خللهــا ديوان مــن الشعــر‬
‫قصـــائدي الوطنيـــة فلم أودعهـــا ذلك الديوان لن ســـياسة ذلك‬
‫الزمان كانـت تعاقـب بالسـجن مـن شهـر إلى سـتة شهـر كـل مـن‬
‫قال بيتا من الشعر يشتم فيه رائحة النقد‬
Meaning:
In Alexandrian, I used to frequent my uncle’s shop where I was
his tobacco sales boy, in the evening I used to teach Arabic
Grammar as well in a Arabic School. I stayed for eleven years in
Egypt during which I wrote poems as contained in my Diwans
(anthology). He added to this by saying; but as regard my
nationalistic poetry, I did not include it in my Diwan due to the
political problem prevalent in Egypt then. Any poetry containing
political biasness attracted imprisonment of between one and six
month.
From the on-going, it could be established that he stayed for eleven years in
Egypt. He arrived there in 1900 and left in 1911. During his sojurn, he first worked as a
tobacconist with Abu Ilyas at Minal-Basal Quarters and continued with thereafter under
another master whose name we could not trace, at Qabari Quarters. It is also found out
that he worked after this with two of his uncles in their shops as Atarin Quarter before he
finally ran his own independent shop located at Umar Pasha’s gate. All along, he did not
move out the city of Alexandria.
As far as his literary activities in Egypt is concerned, he carried it out side by side
with his commercial engagement as it was pointed out in his statement earlier quoted.
To this end, a famous Egyptian writer Anthony al-Jamil once met our man writing
poetries in the shop, he was deeply impressed and later assisted in publishing the said
poetry work in his magazine, Az-Zuhur.
Abu Madi’s first literary work s appeared in his Diwan titled ‫( تذكار الماضـي‬the
memoirs of the past) in 1911, the same year he left Alexandria for the United State of
America.
In his preface to the work, he expressed his heart-felt appreciation of the good
gestures he enjoyed in Egypt as well as the intellectual gift he was bestowed with that
enhanced his literary activities. In his works, especially the earlier ones between 1900
and 1905, the socio-political as well as spiritual events that occurred in the Egyptian
society were reflected. That is why the attribution of such works to Abu Madi have been
subjected to serious criticism who held that if truly the works are his, then he must have
been born before 1889 which most writers have alluded to as his date of birth. They
equally doubted the possibility of a boy of the age between ten and fifteen years to have
composed poems with the quality, language and substance of what was recorded of him.
Suffice here are few examples of his poetic works, dates of their productions as
well as circumstances surrounding their productions:
1. Abu Madi`s poetry ‫( مصـر والشام‬Egypt and Syria) was composed in 1902 after
which he had spent a year in Alexandria and was entering the second. The choice of
words as well as grammatical accuracies in the works portrayed him a well-grown boy of
age who could have mastered the arts of poetry rather than portraying him a child of
between nine and thirteen years who at this age, mostly rely on memorization. One of the
lines of the poetry (Egypt and Syria) goes:
‫وذا عام وسوف يجيئ عام‬ ‫ي بأرض مصر‬ ّ ‫مضى عام عل‬
A year has passed since I came to Egypt,
And this is another year; another one will soon be added.

2. The elergic poetry which our man composed after the death of Muhammad
Abdul, the famous Islamic Reformer of Egypt in 1905. few of the twenty seven
line Qasidah are:
‫ولئن أفاد فأيّ قلب تصبر‬ ‫هيهات بعدك ما يفيد تصبر‬
‫إل عليك فتركه ل يشكر‬ ‫إن البكاء من الرجال مدمم‬
‫يقضي من اليأس ملم المعسر‬ ‫مرض الندى لما مرضت وكادان‬
‫وضعوك في بطن التراب وما عهدت البحر قبلك في الصفائح يذمر‬
‫يهوي ويرجو لو مكانك يقبر‬ ‫ورؤا جللك في الضريح فكلهم‬
‫لم يبلنا هذا الزمان بـــــقفد لو كان ممن بالرزيه يـ شــعر‬
Meaning:
You were patience but O` it does not have a benefit after you,
Had it been beneficial, which other soul would need to be patience.
Weeping as for men is abhorred,
Except that, abstainess from it in your case is ingratitude.
Generosity is in captivity with your illness and it will soon, be terminated by poverty
Coupled with misfortune and hopelessness
They buried you in the same earth in which,
The long-buried ones before you were equally stored.
When they all saw your eminence in the tomb they,
All wished and hoped they were buried in your place.
Nothing has so befallen us in this era like his death,
Though he himself used to be one of those who have feelings for lost
It is quite evident from the above –quoted Qasidah that such a brilliant effort
could only have been put by a more matured man than a child of between nine and fifteen
years old.
3. Furthermore, beside the literary excellence displayed, his accurate information as
reflected in his poems composed on the Russian-Japanese war which broke on 9th
February, 1904 and ended on 5th September, 1905 with a peace accord signed by
 the warring factions (countries) equally testifies to the fact that he would have
reached up to seventeen years and above then as to have collected war facts. He
described the Japanese squadron on Russia as:

‫حتى لكدت أخا لها سوارا‬ ‫حفت بهم سفن العداة واحد قت‬
‫مل الفضاء دخانها وذكــــاؤه احتجت وما يرح النهار نهارا‬
‫والجو أظلم وأكفهز أديمـــه حتى كأن على السماء ستّـــارا‬

The enemy’s war ship enclosed them in such way,

That you would think they were surrounded by a friend.
The blaze and smoke of their firing filled space,
Until it covered it to the extent that the day did not appear like the day.
The air turned darkness, a prolonged one indeed,
Until it appeared as if the curtain was drawn on the sky.

He equally described Russian’s brilliant performance, defense and fortifications during

the war as.
‫أصبــحو بعــدها بــغيـر جلـود‬ ‫أمطرتهم مدافع الروس نــــرا‬
‫دامـت الحرب أشهر كــلمــا قيل خبت نارها ذكت من جديد‬

The Russian weapons sprayed them with fire,

And they were left to become skinless,
The war lasted for months and each time,
It was said the firing have gone down it flares afresh.

How ever all these and many other works are contained in his Diwan ‫( تذكار الماضي‬the
memories of the past) in which all his works in Egypt are contained.

ABU MADI IN AMERICA

It has been stated earlier that our man left Alexandria, Egypt in the year 1911 after
ten years of his staying there and that the year marked the publication of his first volume
of verses. However, the reason for his leaving Egypt has been attributed to his inability to
fulfil his literary ambitions and open-mindedness which was not welcomed in the
Egyptian society at this time. It should be noted however that he did not migrate straight
away to America, he had a few month stay in a Lebanon his home country, according to
the account of his migration to America by Ustadh Qarah Ali.
Another reason that could be taken to be responsible for his leaving left Egypt
was the low patronage and patronship of his work. Only two of the numerous journals,
magazines and periodicals operating in Alexandria published part not even the whole of
his Diwan. It was even only one person out of the men of literary reputes in Alexandria
that commended his efforts on the completion of the Diwan before he left Egypt. This
and other reasones gave our man a serious concern to emigrate to a conducive
environment to actualize his ambitions.
Fortunately enough for him, he hardly stepped his feet into the United States of
America when the literary men over there started picked interest his works.
He settled in Cincinnati, one of the America cities in Ohio state and started to manage
with Murad Dahir Abu Madi, his brother after that long journey from Alexandria from
Beirut.
Here is a poem he composed to commemorate his arrival and to wish himself well
for a fruitful stay in America he says;
‫جـهل بـعيد الـيوم أن تـشوقا‬ ‫نفسي اخلدي ودعي الحنين فإنما‬
‫فــيها ضياء العلم كيــف تألفا‬ ‫هذي هي الدنيا الجديد فانظري‬
‫في أهلها والعيش ازهر مونقا‬ ‫إني ضمنت لك الحياة تشتهــيه‬

O` my soul live a perpetual live and drop, all nostalgia and longing for home because,
Ignorance that brings about hardship has kept distance today,
This a “new world” so look ahead,
Therein for the glowing light of knowledge.
I have taken you pleasant life,
With all the inhabitants as well as a glooming and pleasant life,
Our man after a while moved down from Cincinnati to New York City and fully
engaged himself with journalism and poetry. There he came in contact with Khalil Gibran
and Mikhail Nu‘aima, as well as other emigrant poets he later became a prominent
member within his short association with them.
Ilya Abu Madi had a good time with literary activities in America contrary to his
failure in Egypt. His second volume of work ‫( ديوان إيليــا أبــو ماضــي‬The Diwan
(antology) of Ilya Abu Madi) appeared in 1919, a year before the establishment of ar-
Rabitah. Published in New York, the preface to the Diwan was written by Gibran Khalil
Gibran who after the establishment of ar-Rabitah assumed its chieftain’s (presidential)
position. He commented most importantly on the imaginative power of our man, and that
it was this power of imagination that made him great. The third volume called ‫الحداول‬
(The Brooks) containing his last known poem appeared in 1952 with its introduction
written by ar-Rabitah scribe, Mikha’il Nu‘aima.
In 1929, our man established a literary review issued fortnightly called as-Samir.
This newspaper later became one of the most successful of such periodicals of Arabic
established in America. As- Samir assumed a daily issue status later in 1936 which was
contiuously published until his death in 1957
Abu Madi’s last volume of verses (The thinkets) was published in 1940. Its
subsequent volume was post-humously published under the title (The Gold Dust and the
Earth). It is even said that a good number of his poetry works which wrote for newspaper
are yet to be reprinted.

ABU MADI`S CONTACT WITH AR-RABITAH

In 1961 when he moved from his Cicinat`s first settlement to New York City, he
joined the literary circle which was later to form Pen Association League (ar-rabitah).
Though our man was neither a founding member of ar-Rabitah, neither was he equally
present at the second meeting held in Gibran`s studio. But , the appearance of his name
on the letter-headed paper of ar-Rabitah (as would be shown in the appendices) is enough
an indication to show his membership and prominence.
 Unlike many other members of ar-Rabitah, he had a strong ground in the Arabic
language and its literary traditions. This is not however, unconnected with the fact that he
used his formative years in Egypt as well as his aclamatisation with the Egyptian
intellectual weather which all could have been responsible for his general attitudes.
However, his contact with ar-Rabitah did not completely change him, he managed to
retain his independent personality, he did not allow the personality of Gibran , the
president and chieftain of ar-Rabitah with his extreme views against traditionalism in
literary Arabic writing to completely influence him. He even thereafter though very
infrequent used the traditional metric Qasidah forms of writing.
Moreover, hi earlier public natured poems, political comments and contemporary
events characterized with declamation and optimistic note though not completely
disappeared but due to the influence of his new literary associates now in America, was
replaced with subjective poetry with much quiter, meditative and philosophic attitudes.
This is gradually grow into less audible and at times doubt, uncertainty and even despair.
In essence, with the powerful writings of our man, he was regarded even by his
contemporary member of ar-Rabitah as the best and greatest poet (as stated in Gibran`s
preface to his second Diwan) not only of ar-Rabitah but even of the Mahjar school of
Modern Literary Arabic.

THE THEMES OF ABU MADI`S WRITINGS

Though, the theme of the Mahjar poets are always looked at, on a general note but
singling out Ilya Abu Madi, one would discover he delved into the twin branches of
Arabic Literature: poetry and prose though he wrote more of poetry works than prose.
Moreover, the themes of Abu Madi’s includes ‫( مدح‬Euology), ‫( رثاء‬Elergy),
‫( غزل‬Amorous love poem) ‫( تهنئة‬Congratulatory messages) and ‫ قصيدة‬Qasidah (Ode)
forms.
However, in this attempt, the themes of his works have been summarized into
three having others theme embedded in them. These compressed themes are based on the
employed themes with which he composed his Diwan. They are:
1. ‫( الوصـــــف والطبيعـــــة‬Descriptive
poetry in its nature)
2. ‫الشعـــــر الوطنـــــي والجتماعـــــي‬
(Nationalistic poem’s)
3. ‫( الوحدانيات التأمليــــــــة‬Emotional
contemplations and meditations)
1. Descriptive or Narrative poetry: The descriptive poetry works of the Mahjar ports
have scored them higher and their work better than others of their contemporaries
of the modern Arabic literary Era. Our man on his own path attained excellence in
his power and ability of descriptive poetic writings. He described animate and
inanimate, living, nonliving objects. Romantic description are frequently
employed in his description of objects and scenes. His description of The Train is
given thus:
‫سنرى يطوي بنا الميال طيّا‬
‫كما يطوي السحل أو الطارا‬
‫ وجنح الليل داح‬،‫فلم ندر‬
‫أبرقا ما ركبنا أم قطارا‬
It moved and folded the journey (in miles) seriously
That it resembled the way the scroll or tires fold.
We did not know, until the night appeared,
Nor did we know whether we rode on lighten or train.
His description about women and their beauties form part of descriptive poetries.
He says in one of such instances he says:
‫أفاح ذاك أم شــــــنـب؟‬
‫وريق ذاك أم ضــــرب؟‬
‫ووجه ذاك أم قــــــمر؟‬
‫وخذ ّ ذاك أم ذهــــــب؟‬
‫مرنحة إذ خــطــــرت؟‬
‫رأيت الغصن يضطرب؟‬
Is that a swell or a mustache?
A spit (of saliva ) or Drumbeat?
A face or moonlight?
A cheek or Gold?
Staggering when it is dangerous
I saw the branch of tree in disorderliness.

2. Nationalistic patriotic theme: There are two major types of nationalistic poetry of
Mahjar School. One of them centre mainly on Sham, the home of majority of the
Mahjar poet in which homesickness, nostalgia for Sham, their place of birth
characterized their nationalistic poetry works through they were forced out of it by
the imposed socio-political and economic hardship of Othoman’s regime of Sultan
Abdul-Hamid. Example of this as approached by our man. Abu Madi could be seen in
his poetry which run thus:

‫مهبط الوحي مطلع النبياء‬

‫كيف أمسيت مهبط الزراء‬
‫في عيون النام عــنك نبــــو‬
‫لم يكن في العيون لو لم تشأني‬

The cradle of inspiration, the starting point of prophet.

Good evening! The cradle of the cedars.
In the eyes of those people who are far from you
If you had not wished so, it would not be so in their eyes of people.

The second type, that he wrote to extol the Arabs as a nation. Among various
poems our man composed on this subject matter, we have this as a sample:
‫والشرق جيش ومصر حامل العلم‬ ‫الشرق تاج ومصر منه درته‬

The east is a crown while Egypt is its spokesman (parrot).

The east is artillery and Egypt is represents its flag-bearer.

3. Emotional contemplations: On a general surface, an emotional poet peeps unto the

depth of many things. Realities at times prevent him from further enquiries, imagination
attracts him at other times while in other cases, his vision is overwhelmed by temptations.
The most celebrated poet of emotional contemplation of Mahjar School is our man. He
however eventually went into excess. He doubted everything until he doubted the equity
and justice of Allah the created especially in his Qasidah ‫( طلسم‬The Talisman) with the
following lines:

‫جئت ل أعلم من أين ولكن أتيت‬

‫ولقد أبصرت قدامي طريق فمشيت‬
‫وسأبقي ماشيا إن شئت هذا أو أبيت‬
‫كيف جئت؟ كيف ابصرت طريقي؟‬
‫لست أدري‬
‫أجديد أم قديم أنا في هذا الوجود؟‬
‫هل أنا حٌّر طليقٌ أم أسير في قيود؟‬
‫هل أنا قــائد ٌ أم مقـــــــــــــود؟‬
‫؟‬...‫يا ليت شعري أعلم ولكن‬
‫لست أدري‬

I came, I know not, yet came this way:

I saw a path-along it made my way,
I must go on- or say I yea or nay!
How I have come? How did I find the way?
I do not know!
Am I new here, or have I been before?
Completely free, or inferior?
O’ I would that I were blessed with knowledge, for….
I do not know!

Moreover, Abu Madi distinguished himself in all areas of poetry and there is hardly
any issue or theme of contemporary relevance that he did not attempt.
Also, in the area of prose, his left impact can never be easily forgotten. He pioneered
the propagation of versification of verses of free –verse poetry which is a mixture of the
twin-art of poetry and prose. This versification of poetry constitutes the major
distinguishing feature of the Mahjar School in which Abu Madi excelled.
Our man is equally well-known for his brilliant productions of versified narratives
created to him on this subject are ‫( وردة وأميــل‬Rose and the More-Inclined)
‫( أنـا وهـو‬I and He) ‫(ضيـف ثقيـل‬Troublesome visitor) ‫( قتـل نفسـه‬Killing of himself)
‫( ذكري وعـبرة‬My remembrance and lessons) ‫( مصـرع حـبيبتين‬The struggle of two
lovers) all as contained in his ‫( تذكار الماضـي‬The memories of the past), his first
Diwan. The only one that is noot contained therein is titled ‫( طبيـبي الخاص‬My
special Doctor)45

HIS STYLES
Largely self-taught, Abu Madi, though had only elementary education in a
systematic way, he had a sound mastery of the rules of Arabic language and its literary
traditions.45 in the Egyptian society where he spent his prime youthful age(formative). He
maintained the traditional Qasidah writing styles in his earlier writings. This he changed
later to short-verses monorhymes or stanzas. He was however not completely dominated
by the extreme literary view of disserting the tradtitional themes and writings as was held
by Gibran and his associates of the Mahjar school.
Ilya Abu Madi’s romantic poems address his imagination of things rather rather
than intellectual perception of such objects. Titles of his works indicate in nature. To him
a man is an all in all, that is why he himself a poet live a life of discontent and
indecition.47
Moreso, his method of free-verse writing was tagged by him as ‫مجمـع البحور‬
(combination of metres)48 His poetry is riddled with obstinate questioning of human
condition which in his own conception is meaningless.49
By and large, from the on-going, Ilya Madi stands the best among his
contemporaries. His contribution to Ar-Rabitah and consequently to learning can never be
forgotten in the history of Arabic Literature especially of the modern age.

Notes and References

1. Al-Muqdisi, A., Al-’itijahat al-Adabiyyah fil ‘alamil ‘arabi al-hadith,
Lebanon, Darul ‘Ilmiyyah al-malayin, (1963). P.279.
2. For further information, see M.A. Badmus, The contributions of Ar-Rabitatul
Qalamiyyah to the development of Émigré Arabic Literature; Ilya Abu Madi
as a case study (1997), an unpublished M.A. Thesis in the Faculty of Arts,
University of Ibadan, Nigeria, p. 31. and M.A. Badmus (1997), An Appraisal
of the contributions of Ar-Rabitatul Qalamiyyah to the Development of
Modern Arabic Literature, Al-Fikr, Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies,
University of Ibadan.
3. El-Kholy, A., The Arab Moslem in the United States; Religion and
Assimilation, U.P.S.,(1960), p.81.
4. Khafaji, A.M., Kitabul Adab al-Mahjar, (N.D.) p.13.
5. El-Kholy, A., Op. Cit., p.81