Ali Ahmad Said Esber (
, North Levantine ; born 1 January 1930), also known by the
pen name
A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
Adonis or Adunis ( ), is a
Syrian
Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...
poet, essayist and translator. Maya Jaggi, writing for
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
stated "He led a modernist revolution in the second half of the 20th century, "exerting a seismic influence" on
Arabic poetry
Arabic poetry ( ''ash-shi‘r al-‘arabīyy'') is one of the earliest forms of Arabic literature. Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry contains the bulk of the oldest poetic material in Arabic, but Old Arabic inscriptions reveal the art of poetry existe ...
comparable to
T.S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...
's in the anglophone world."
Adonis's publications include twenty volumes of poetry and thirteen of criticism. His dozen books of translation to Arabic include the poetry of
Saint-John Perse and
Yves Bonnefoy
Yves Jean Bonnefoy (24 June 1923, Tours – 1 July 2016, Paris) was a French poet and art historian. He also published a number of translations, most notably the plays of William Shakespeare which are considered among the best in French. He was a ...
, and the first complete Arabic translation of
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
's "
Metamorphoses
The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...
" (2002). His multi-volume anthology of Arabic poetry ("Dīwān ash-shi'r al-'arabī"), covering almost two millennia of verse, has been in print since its publication in 1964.
A perennial contender for the
Nobel Prize in Literature
The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...
,
Adonis has been described as the greatest living poet of the Arab world.
Biography
Early life and education
Born to a modest
Alawite
Alawites () are an Arabs, Arab ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant region in West Asia and follow Alawism, a sect of Islam that splintered from early Shia as a ''ghulat'' branch during the ninth century. Alawites venerate A ...
farming family in 1930, Adonis hails from the village of
al-Qassabin near the city of
Latakia
Latakia (; ; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mar ...
in northwestern Syria. He was unable to afford formal schooling for most of his childhood, and his early education consisted of learning the
Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
in the local
kuttab
A kuttab ( ''kuttāb'', plural: ''kataatiib'', ) or maktab () is a type of elementary school in the Muslim world. Though the ''kuttab'' was primarily used for teaching children in reading, writing, grammar, and Islamic studies, such as memorizing ...
(mosque-affiliated school) and memorizing classical Arabic poetry, to which his father had introduced him.
In 1944, despite the animosity of the village chief and his father's reluctance, the young poet managed to recite one of his poems before
Shukri al-Quwatli
Shukri al-Quwatli (; 6 May 189130 June 1967) was a Syrian politician and statesman who was the first president of post-independence Syria, in 1943.
He began his career as a dissident working towards the independence and unity of the Ottoman Em ...
, the president of the newly-established Republic of Syria, who was on a visit to al-Qassabin. After admiring the boy's verses, al-Quwatli asked him if there was anything he needed help with. "I want to go to school," responded the young poet, and his wish was soon fulfilled in the form of a scholarship to the French lycée at
Tartus
Tartus ( / ALA-LC: ''Ṭarṭūs''; known in the County of Tripoli as Tortosa and also transliterated from French language, French Tartous) is a major port city on the Mediterranean coast of Syria. It is the second largest port city in Syria (af ...
. The school, the last French Lycée school in Syria at the time, was closed in 1945, and Adonis was transferred to other national schools before graduating in 1949. He was a good student, and managed to secure a government scholarship. In 1950 Adonis published his first collection of verse, ''Dalila'', as he joined the Syrian University (now
Damascus University
Damascus University () is the largest and oldest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus, with campuses in other Syrian cities. It was founded in 1923 as the Syrian University () through the merger of the Faculty of Medicine of Dama ...
) to study law and philosophy, graduating in 1954 with a BA in philosophy. He later earned a doctoral degree in
Arabic literature
Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...
from
Saint Joseph University
Saint Joseph University of Beirut (; French: ''Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth'', commonly known as USJ) is a private Catholic research university in Beirut, Lebanon, founded in 1875 by French Jesuit missionaries and subsidized by the Go ...
in 1973.
While serving in the military in 1955–56, Adonis was imprisoned for his membership in the
Syrian Social Nationalist Party
The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP; ) is a Syrian nationalist party operating in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. It advocates the establishment of a Greater Syrian nation state spanning the Fertile Crescent, including present-day Syria, Leb ...
(following the assassination of
Adnan al-Malki), Led by
Antoun Saadeh, the SSNP had opposed European colonization of Greater Syria and its partition into smaller nations. The party advocated a secular, national (not strictly Arab) approach toward transforming Greater Syria into a progressive society governed by consensus and providing equal rights to all, regardless of ethnicity or sect.
Name
The name "
Adonis
In Greek mythology, Adonis (; ) was the mortal lover of the goddesses Aphrodite and Persephone. He was considered to be the ideal of male beauty in classical antiquity.
The myth goes that Adonis was gored by a wild boar during a hunting trip ...
" (pronounced ah-doh-NEES) was picked up by Adonis himself at age 17, after being rejected by a number of magazines under his real name, to "alert napping editors to his precocious talent and his pre-Islamic, pan-Mediterranean muses".
Personal life
Adonis was married in 1956 to literary critic
Khalida Said (née Saleh),
who assisted in editing roles in both ''Shiʿr'' and ''Mawaqif''. They have two daughters: Arwad and Ninar.
As of 2012, Arwad serves as the director of the Maison des Cultures du Monde and Ninar, an artist, moves between Paris and Beirut.
Adonis has lived in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, France, since 1975.
In his book ''Identité inachevée'' he expresses opposition to "religion as an institution imposed on the whole of society" but support of individual religious freedom. He describes himself as a "
pagan
Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...
mystic", elaborating:
In an interview at the occasion of the release of his new book Adoniada in France he stated that, in his view, religion and poetry were contradictory because "religion is an ideology, it is an answer whereas poetry remains always a question".
Beirut and Paris
In 1956, Adonis fled Syria for
Beirut
Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
. He joined a vibrant community of artists, writers, and exiles; Adonis settled abroad and has made his career largely in Lebanon and
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, where in 1957 he cofounded the magazine ''
Majallat Shiʿr'' ("Poetry Magazine"). The magazine, though arguably the most influential Arab literary journal, met with strong criticism for its publication of experimental poetry. ''Majallat Shiʿr'' temporarily ceased publication in 1964, and Adonis did not rejoin the ''Shiʿr'' editors when they resumed publication in 1967. He wrote a manifesto dated 5 June 1967 which he published in ''
Al Adab'', a Lebanese magazine, and in ''
Souffles'', a Moroccan magazine.
A French translation of his manifesto appeared in the French magazine ''
Esprit''.
[
In Lebanon, his intense Arab nationalist convictions found their outlet in the Beirut newspaper '' Lisan al-Hal'' and eventually in his founding of another literary periodical in 1968 titled ''Mawāqif'', in which he again published experimental poetry. He was also one of the contributors to '' Lotus'' which was launched in 1968 and financed by Egypt and the Soviet Union.
Adonis's poems continued to express his nationalistic views combined with his mystical outlook. With his use of ]Sufi
Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism.
Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
terms (the technical meanings of which were implied rather than explicit), Adonis became a leading exponent of the Neo-Sufi trend in modern Arabic poetry, which took hold in the 1970s.
Adonis received a scholarship to study in Paris from 1960–61. From 1970–85 he was professor of Arabic literature at the Lebanese University
The Lebanese University (LU; ) is the only state-funded public university in Lebanon. It was established in 1951.
The university's main campus was originally located in Beirut, but a few satellite campuses were opened due to travel restriction ...
. In 1976, he was a visiting professor at the University of Damascus. In 1980, he emigrated to Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
to escape the Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon.
The religious diversity of the ...
. In 1980–81, he was professor of Arabic in Paris. From 1970 to 1985 he taught Arabic literature at the Lebanese University; he also has taught at the University of Damascus, Sorbonne (Paris III), and, in the United States, at Georgetown and Princeton universities. In 1985, he moved with his wife and two daughters to Paris, which has remained their primary residence.
While in Syria, Adonis helped edit the cultural supplement of the newspaper '' Al-Thawra'', but pro-government writers clashed with his agenda and forced him to flee the country.
Editorship
''Majallat Shiʿr''
Adonis joined the Syro-Lebanese poet Yusuf al-Khal in editing '' Majallat Shiʿr'' (English: "Poetry Magazine"), a modernist Arabic poetry
Arabic poetry ( ''ash-shi‘r al-‘arabīyy'') is one of the earliest forms of Arabic literature. Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry contains the bulk of the oldest poetic material in Arabic, but Old Arabic inscriptions reveal the art of poetry existe ...
magazine, which Al-Khal established in 1957. His name appeared as editor from the magazine's fourth edition. By 1962 the magazine appeared with both Adonis and Al-Khal's names side by side as "Owners and Editors in Chief". While at ''Shiʿr'', Adonis played an important role in the evolution of free verse in Arabic. Adonis and al-Khal asserted that modern verse needed to go beyond the experimentation of "al-shiʿr al-hadith" (modern, or free, verse), which had appeared nearly two decades earlier.
Also responding to a growing mandate that poetry and literature be committed to the immediate political needs of the Arab nation and the masses, Adonis and ''Shiʿr'' energetically opposed the recruitment of poets and writers into propagandist efforts. In rejecting "al-ʾadab al-iltizām" ('politically committed literature'), Adonis was opposing the suppression of the individual's imagination and voice for the needs of the group. Poetry, he argued, must remain a realm in which language and ideas are examined, reshaped, and refined, in which the poet refuses to descend to the level of daily expediencies.
''Shiʿr'' was published for ten years and was arguably the most influential Arab literary journal ever; it was recognized as the main platform and prime mover for the modernism movement in Arabic literature, it featured and helped bring to light poets such as Ounsi el-Hajj, Saadi Yousef and many others.
''Mawaqif''
Adonis later started another poetry magazine, titled '' Mawaqif'' (English: "Positions"); the magazine was first published in 1968, considered a significant literary and cultural quarterly. Adonis wanted in Mawqaif to enlarge the focus of ''Shiʿr'' by addressing the politics and the illusions of the Arab nations after their defeat in the Six-Day War
The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
, believing that literature by itself cannot achieve the renewal of society and that it should be related to a more comprehensive revolutionary movement of renovation on all levels.
A number of literary figures later joined and contributed to ''Mawaqif'', including Elias Khoury, Hisham Sharabi and Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish
Mahmoud Darwish (; 13 March 1941 – 9 August 2008) was a Palestinians, Palestinian poet and author who was regarded as Palestine's national poet.
In 1988 Darwish wrote the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, which was the formal declarat ...
among others.
Due to its revolutionary nature and free-thinking outlook, ''Mawaqif'' had to overcome some problems, including censorship by governments less open than Lebanon's, financial difficulties that its independent nature entailed, and the problems that came in the wake of the Lebanese War. However, in spite of these difficulties, it continued to be in print until 1994.[Ahmad Sa'id to Adonis: A Study of Adonis's Controversial Position on Arab Cultural Heritage ]
''Al-Akhar''
Adonis also founded and edited ''Al-Akhar'' (English: "The Other"), a magazine dedicated to publishing original content as well as numerous literary translations of contemporary essays on philosophy and Arabism. The magazine published myriad essays on contemporary Arab thought and interrogated the relationship between political and religious thought. It expressed concern with structural impediments to the spreading of progress and freedom in the Arab world, and included writers such as Ahmed Barqawi and Mustafa Safwan. The magazine was published in Beirut from 2011 to 2013.
The magazine contained essays and was published by the Syrian businessman Hares Youssef.
Poetry
"The Songs of Mihyar of Damascus"
Published in 1961, this is Adonis's third book of poetry, "The Songs of Mihyar of Damascus" (or the Damascene in different translation) marked a definitive disruption of existing poetics and a new direction in poetic language. In a sequence of 141 mostly short lyrics arranged in seven sections (the first six sections begin with 'psalms' and the final section is a series of seven short elegies) the poet transposes an icon of the early eleventh century, Mihyar of Daylam (in Iran), to contemporary Damascus in a series, or vortex, of non-narrative 'fragments' that place character deep "in the machinery of language", and he wrenches lyric free of the 'I' while leaving individual choice intact. The whole book has been translated by Adnan Haydar and Michael Beard as Mihyar of Damascus: His Songs (BOA Editions, NY 2008)
Some of the poems included in this collection:
* "Psalm"
* "Not a Star"
* "King Mihyar"
* "His Voice"
* "An Invitation to Death"
* "New Covenant"
* "The End of the Sky"
* "He Carries in His Eyes"
* "Voice"
* "The Wound"
And other poems.
The collection has been claimed to have "reshaped the possibilities of Arabic lyric poetry".
"A Time Between Ashes and Roses"
In 1970 Adonis published "A Time Between Ashes and Roses" as a volume consisting of two long poems 'An Introduction to the History of the Petty Kings' and 'This Is My Name' and in the 1972 edition augmented them with 'A Grave For New York.' These three astonishing poems, written out of the crises in Arabic society and culture following the disastrous 1967 Six-Day War and as a stunning decrepitude against intellectual aridity, opened out a new path for contemporary poetry. The whole book, in its augmented 1972 edition has a complete English translation by Shawkat M. Toorawa as ''A Time Between Ashes and Roses'' (Syracuse University Press 2004).
"This Is My Name" (book)
Written in 1969, the poem was first published in 1970 with two long poems, then reissued two years later with an additional poem ("A Grave for New York"), in ''A Time Between Ashes and Roses'' collection of poems.
In the poem, Adonis, spurred by the Arabs' shock and bewilderment after the Six-Day War
The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
, renders a claustrophobic yet seemingly infinite apocalypse. Adonis is hard at work undermining the social discourse that has turned catastrophe into a firmer bond with dogma and cynical defeatism throughout the Arab world. To mark this ubiquitous malaise, the poet attempts to find a language that matches it, and he fashions a vocal arrangement that swerves and beguiles.
The poem was the subject of wide study in the Arab literary community due to its mysterious rhythmic regime and its influence on the poetry movement in the 1960s and 70s after its publication.,
"A Grave for New York" (poem)
Also translated as "The Funeral of New York", this poem was written after a trip to New York in 1971 during which Adonis participated in the International Poetry Forum in Pittsburgh, PA. The poem was published by Actes Sud in 1986, nearly two decades before it appeared in English, and depicts the desolation of New York City as emblematic of empire, described as a violently anti-American, in the poem Walt Whitman
Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...
the known American poet, as the champion of democracy, is taken to task, particularly in Section 9, which addresses Whitman directly.
Adonis wrote the poem in spring 1971 after a visit to the United States. Unlike his poem "The Desert", where Adonis presented the pain of war and siege without naming and anchoring the context, in this poem he refers explicitly to a multitude of historical figures and geographical locations. He pits poets against politicians, and the righteous against the exploitative. The English translation of this long poem from Arabic skips some short passages of the original (indicated by ellipses), but the overall effect remains intact. The poem is made up of 10 sections, each denouncing New York City in a different way. It opens by presenting the beastly nature of the city and by satirizing the Statue of Liberty.
"A Grave for New York" is an obvious example of Adonis's larger project of reversing the Orientalist paradigm to re-claim what he terms 'eastern' values as positive.
"Al-Kitab" (book)
''Al-Kitab'' means "the book" in Arabic. Adonis worked on this book, a three-volume epic that adds up to almost two thousand pages, from 1995 to 2003. In ''Al-Kitab,'' the poet travels on land and through the history and politics of Arab societies, beginning immediately after the death of Muhammad
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
and progressing through the ninth century, which he considers the most significant period of Arab history, an epoch to which he repeatedly alludes. ''Al-Kitab'' provides a large lyric-mural rather than an epic that attempts to render the political, cultural, and religious complexity of almost fifteen centuries of Arab civilization. The book was translated into French by Houria Abdelouahed and published in 2013.
"Adonis: Selected Poems" (book)
Translated from Arabic by Khaled Mattawa and described as "a genuine overview of the span of Adonis's", this collection contains a number of poems of between five and fifteen or so pages in length.
''Adonis: Selected Poems'' includes selected poems from the following poetry collections:
* "First Poems (1957)"
* "Songs of Mihyar of Damascus (1961)"
* "Migrations and Transformations in the Regions of Night and Day (1965)"
* "Stage and Mirrors (1968)"
* "A Time Between Ashes and Roses (1971)"
* "Singular in a Plural Form (1975)"
* "The Book of Similarities and Beginnings (1980)"
* "The Book of Siege (1985)"
* "Desire Moving Through Maps of Matter (1987)"
* "Celebrating Vague-Clear Things (1988)"
* "Another Alphabet (1994)"
* "Prophesy, O Blind One (2003)"
* "Beginnings of the Body, Ends of the Sea (2003)"
* "Printer of the Planets' Books (2008)"
; Book awards
In 2011, Khaled Mattawa translation of ''Adonis: Selected Poems'' was Selected as a finalist for the 2011 Griffin Poetry Prize
The Griffin Poetry Prize is a Canadian poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin.
Before 2022, two separate awards went to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language. I ...
sponsored by the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry
In the same year (2011) translation of ''Selected Poems by Adonis'' won the Saif Ghobash-Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation in which the Judges deemed it "destined to become a classic."
Literary criticism
Adonis is often portrayed as entirely dismissive of the intellectual heritage of Arabic culture. Yet in al-Thābit wa-l-Mutaḥawwil (The Immutable and the Transformative), his emphasis on the plurality of Arabic heritage posits the richness of Arabic Islamic heritage and the deficiency of tradition as defined by imitation (taqlīd). He views culture as dynamic rather than immutable and transcendent, challenging the traditionalist homogenizing tendency within heritage.
In studying the Arabic cultural system, Adonis emphasizes that the concept of heritage is construed as a unified repertoire based on a consistent cultural essence that preconditions the rupture between this heritage and modernity.
Adonis's critique of Arab culture
Arab culture is the culture of the Arabs, from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, in a region of the Middle East and North Africa known as the Arab world. The various religions the Arabs have adopted throughout Histor ...
did not merely call for the adoption of Western values, paradigms, and lifestyles per Science, which has evolved greatly in Western societies, with its "intuitions and practical results," should be acknowledged as the "most revolutionary development in the history of mankind" argues Adonis. The truths that science offers "are not like those of philosophy or of the arts. They are truths which everyone must of necessity accept, because they are proven in theory and practice." But science is guided by dynamics that make it insufficient as an instrument for human fulfilment and meaning: science's reliance on transcending the past to achieve greater progress is not applicable to all facets of human activity. "What does progress mean in poetry?" asks Adonis. "Nothing." Progress in the scientific sense pursues the apprehension of a phenomenon, seeking uniformity, predictability, and repeatability. As such, the idea of progress in science is "quite separate from artistic achievement." Poetry and the other arts seek a kind of progress that affirms difference, elation, movement, and variety in life.
''The Static and the Dynamic''
''The Static and the Dynamic: A Research into the Creative and the Imitative of Arabs'' (Arabic: ''Al-Thabit wa al-mutahawwil'') was first published in 1974 till 1978 (still in print in Arabic, now in 8th edition) by Dar al-Saqi, the book is a four-volume study described in the under title as "a study of creativity and adheration in Arabs), Adonis started original writings on the project as a PhD dissertation while at Saint Joseph University
Saint Joseph University of Beirut (; French: ''Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth'', commonly known as USJ) is a private Catholic research university in Beirut, Lebanon, founded in 1875 by French Jesuit missionaries and subsidized by the Go ...
, in this study, still the subject of intellectual and literature controversy, Adonis offers his analysis of Arabic literature, he theorizes that two main streams have operated within Arabic poetry, a conservative one and an innovative one. The history of Arabic poetry, he argues, has been that of the conservative vision of literature and society (al-thabit), quelling poetic experimentation and philosophical and religious ideas (al-mutahawil). Al-thabit, or static current, manifests itself in the triumph of naql (conveyance) over 'aql (original, independent thought); in the attempt to make literature a servant of religion; and in the reverence accorded to the past whereby language and poetics were essentially Quranic in their source and therefore not subject to change.
Adonis devoted much attention to the question of "the modern" in Arabic literature
Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...
and society, he surveyed the entire Arabic literary tradition and concludes that, like the literary works themselves, attitudes to and analyses of them must be subject to a continuing process of reevaluation. Yet what he actually sees occurring within the critical domain is mostly static and unmoving. The second concern, that of particularity (khuṣūṣiyyah), is a telling reflection of the realization among writers and critics throughout the Arabic-speaking world that the region they inhabited was both vast and variegated (with Europe to the north and west as a living example). Debate over this issue, while acknowledging notions of some sense of Arab unity, revealed the need for each nation and region to investigate the cultural demands of the present in more local and particular terms. A deeper knowledge of the relationship between the local present and its own unique version of the past promises to furnish a sense of identity and particularity that, when combined with similar entities from other Arabic-speaking regions, will illustrate the immensely rich and diverse tradition of which 21st-century litterateurs are the heirs.
''An Introduction to Arab Poetics''
In ''An Introduction to Arab Poetics'' (2001), Adonis examines the oral tradition of the pre-Islamic poetry of Arabia and the relationship between Arabic poetry and the Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
, and between poetry and thought. He also assesses the challenges of modernism and the impact of western culture on the Arab poetic tradition.
Artwork
Adonis started making images using calligraphy, colour and figurative gestures around the year 2002. In 2012, a major tribute to Adonis, including an exhibition of his drawings and a series of literary events was organized in The Mosaic Rooms in West London.
On 19 May 2014 Salwa Zeidan Gallery in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...
, was home to another noted exhibition by Adonis: Muallaqat (in reference to the original pre-Islamic era literary works Mu'allaqat
The Muʻallaqāt (, ) is a compilation of seven long pre-Islamic Arabic poems. The name means The Suspended Odes or The Hanging Poems, they were named so because these poems were hung in the Kaaba in Mecca. Some scholars have also suggested th ...
), consisted of 10 calligraphy drawings of big format (150x50cm).
Other art exhibitions
* 2000: Berlin – Institute for Advanced Studies
* 2000: Paris – L`Institut du Monde Arabe
* 2003: Paris – Area Gallery
* 2007: Amman -Shuman`s Gallery (co-exhibition With Haydar)
* 2008: Damascus – Atassy Gallery, exh. For 4 Poets-Painters (with works of Fateh Mudarress, Etel Adnan, Samir Sayegh)
* 2008: Paris – Le Louvre des Antiquaires : Calligraphies d`Orient. (Collectif)
* 2020: Berlin – Galerie Pankow: Adonis "Vom Wort zum Bild"
Controversy
Expulsion from the Arab Writers' Union
On 27 January 1995, Adonis was expelled from the Arab Writers Union for having met with Israelis at an UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
sponsored meeting in Granada
Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...
, Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, in 1993. His expulsion generated bitter debate among writers and artists across the Middle East. Two of Syria's leading writers, Saadallah Wannous and Hanna Mina, resigned from the union in solidarity with Adonis.
Death threats
A known critic of Islamic religious values and traditions, who describes himself as a non-religious person, Adonis has previously received a number of death threats in consequence of his denouncement by the well-known Egyptian Salafi
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" is a self-designation, claiming a retu ...
sheikh Mohamad Said Raslan who accused him of leaving his Muslim name (Ali) and taking a pagan name, in a circulated video[Archived a]
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and th
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he accused him as well of being a warrior against Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
and demanded his books to be banned describing him as a thing and an infidel.
In May 2012, in a statement issued on one of the Syrian opposition
Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...
's Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
pages, supporters of the Syrian opposition argued that the literary icon deserved to die on three counts. First, he is Alawite
Alawites () are an Arabs, Arab ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant region in West Asia and follow Alawism, a sect of Islam that splintered from early Shia as a ''ghulat'' branch during the ninth century. Alawites venerate A ...
. Second, he is also opposed to the Muslim religion. Third, he criticizes the opposition and rejects foreign military intervention in Syria.
In May 2012, a group of Lebanese and Syrian
Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...
intellectuals issued an online condemnation in the wake of the call.
Call for book burning
In 2013, Islamic scholar Abdelfetah Zeraoui Hamadache called for Adonis's books to be burned following a poem allegedly attributed to him. This came after the Salafi leader listened to the poem on social networks. He then issued a fatwa calling for the burning Adonis's books in Algeria and in the Arab World.
The poem was later proven to be counterfeit (the poem is very weak in linguistic structure and differs greatly from Adonis's literary style). Adonis commented: "I am sorry that I am discussing a counterfeiting at this level. I hope that the source of the so-called poem is published. This is a shame for an Islamic scholar, the Arabic language and the entire Arab poem heritage."
He added: "I am not sad about the burning of my books because this is an old phenomenon in our history. We are fighting to found a dialogue and a debate in a peaceful way. Founding differences in opinions is a source wealth. This counterfeiting humiliates Arabic."
Arab Spring
On 14 June 2011, amid the bloody crackdown on the Syrian uprising, Adonis wrote an open letter to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator
Sources characterising Assad as a dictator:
who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...
in the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir
''As-Safir'' () was a leading Arabic-language daily newspaper in Lebanon. The headquarters of the daily was in Beirut. It was in circulation from March 1974 until December 2016. The last issue of the paper was published on 31 December 2016. The o ...
- "as a citizen" he stresses. Describing Syria as a brutal police state, he attacked the ruling Ba'ath Party
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...
, called on the president to step down, and warned that "you cannot imprison an entire nation". He was nonetheless taken to task for addressing a tyrant as an elected president, and criticising the "violent tendencies" of some of his opponents.
Adonis said on the subject:
In August 2011, Adonis called in an interview in the Kuwaiti newspaper "Al Rai" for the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator
Sources characterising Assad as a dictator:
who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...
to step down because of his role in the Syrian civil war. He has also called upon the opposition to shun violence and engage in dialogue with the regime.
Nobel Prize nomination
A perennial contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature
The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...
, Adonis has been regularly nominated for the award since 1988. After winning Germany's major award the Goethe Prize in 2011, he emerged as a front runner to be awarded the Nobel Prize, but it was instead awarded to the Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer
Tomas Gösta Tranströmer (; 15 April 1931 – 26 March 2015) was a Swedish poet, psychologist and translator. His poems captured the long winters in Sweden, the rhythm of the seasons and the palpable, atmospheric beauty of nature. Tranströmer' ...
, with Peter Englund, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, commenting that there is no political dimension to the prize, and describing such a notion as "literature for dummies".
Adonis has helped to spread Tomas Tranströmer's fame in the Arab world, accompanying him on readings. He also wrote an introduction to the first translation of Tranströmer's complete works into Arabic (published by Bedayat publishing house, translated by the Iraqi Kassem Hamady), stating that:
Legacy and influence
Adonis' poetry and criticism have been credited with "far-reaching influence on the development of Arab poetry," including the creation of "a new poetic language and rhythms, deeply rooted in classical poetry but employed to convey the predicament and responses of contemporary Arab society." According to Mirene Ghossein, "one of the main contributions of Adonis to contemporary Arabic poetry is liberty-a liberty with themes, a liberty with words themselves through the uniqueness of poetic vision."
Adonis is considered to have played a role in Arab modernism comparable to T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...
's in English-language poetry. The literary and cultural critic Edward Said
Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American academic, literary critic, and political activist. As a professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of Postcolonialism, post-co ...
, professor at Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, called him "today's most daring and provocative Arab poet". The poet Samuel John Hazo, who translated Adonis's collection "The Pages of Day and Night," said, "There is Arabic poetry before Adonis, and there is Arabic poetry after Adonis."
In 2007, Arabian Business
''Arabian Business'' (''AB'') is a weekly business magazine published in Dubai and focusing on global and regional news analysis. The brand is aimed at the English and Arabic-speaking communities and is published in both languages.
Its circula ...
named Adonis No. 26 in its 100 most powerful Arabs 2007 stating "Both as a poet and a theorist on poetry, and as a thinker with a radical vision of Arab culture, Adonis has exercised a powerful influence both on his contemporaries and on younger generations of Arab poets. His name has become synonymous with the Hadatha (modernism) which his poetry embodies. Critical works such as "Zamān al-shi'r" (1972) are landmarks in the history of literary criticism in the Arab world."
In 2017, the judges' panel for the PEN/Nabokov Award cited "Through the force of his language, boldness of his innovation, and depth of his feeling, Ali Ahmad Said Esber, known as 'Adonis,' has helped make Arabic, one of the world's oldest poetic languages, vibrant and urgent. A visionary who has profound respect for the past, Adonis has articulated his cherished themes of identity, memory and exile in achingly beautiful verse, while his work as critic and translator makes him a living bridge between cultures. His great body of work is a reminder that any meaningful definition of literature in the 21st century must include contemporary Arabic poetry."
Awards and honours
* 1968 Prix des Amis du Livre, Beirut
* 1971 Syria-Lebanon Award of the International Poetry Forum.
* 1974 National Prize of Poetry, Beirut.
* 1983 Member of the Académie Stéphane Mallarmé.
* 1983 Appointed "Officier des Arts et des Lettres" by the Ministry of Culture, Paris.
* 1986 Grand Prix des Biennales Internationales de la Poesie de Liège (Highest Award of the International Poem Biennial), Brussels.
* 1990 Member of Académie Universelle des Cultures, Paris.
* 1991 Prix Jean-Marlieu-Etranger, Marseille.
* 1993 Feronia-Cita di Fiamo Priwe, Rome.
* 1995 International Nazim Hikmet Poetry Award – The first winner
* 1995 Prix Méditerranée-Etranger, Paris.
* 1995 Prize of Lebanese Cultural Forum in France.
* 1997 Golden Wreath of Struga Poetry Evenings
* 1997 Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...
, France
* 1999 Nonino
Nonino is a small Italy, Italian company that is a producer of grappa. Nonino is also the name of the family that owns and runs the brand Nonino Grappa. The first Nonino distillery was founded by Orazio Nonino in Ronchi di Percoto, Pavia di Udine ...
Poetry Award, Italy
* 2001 Goethe Medal
* 2002–2003 Al Owais Award for Cultural & Scientific Achievements, co winner
* 2003 America Award in Literature
* 2006 Medal of the Italian Cabinet. Awarded by the International Scientific Committee of the Manzù Centre.
* 2006 Prize of " Pio Manzù – Centro Internazionale Recherche."
* 2007 Bjørnson Prize
* 2011 Goethe Prize
The Goethe Prize of the City of Frankfurt () is an award for achievement "worthy of honour in memory of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" made by the city of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was usually an annual award until 1955, and thereafter has been ...
* 2013 Golden Tibetan Antelope International Prize. co winner
* 2013 Petrarca-Preis
* 2014 Janus Pannonius International Poetry Prize (co-winner)
* 2015 Asan Viswa Puraskaram- Kumaranasan World Prize for Poetry
* 2015
* 2016 Stig Dagerman Prize
* 2017 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature
* 2022 Izmir International Homer Award
Bibliography
Original work in Arabic
Poetry
* 1957: , Qaṣāʾid ʾūlā, Beirut.
* 1958: , ʾAwrāk fī l-Rīḥ, Beirut.
* 1961: , ʾAġāni Mihyār ad-Dimašqī, Beirut.
* 1965: , Kitāb al-Taḥawwulāt wal-Hiǧra fī ʾAqālīm an-Nahār wal-Layl, Beirut.
* 1968: , Al-Masraḥ wal-Marāya, Beirut.
* 1970: , Waqt Bayna l-Ramād wal-Ward
* 1977: , Mufrad bi-Ṣiġat al-Ǧamʿ, Beirut.
* 1980: , Hāḏā Huwwa ʾIsmī, Beirut.
* 1980: , Kitāb al-Qaṣāʾid al-Ḫams, Beirut.
* 1985: , Kitāb al-Ḥiṣār, Beirut.
* 1987: , Šahwah Tataqaddam fī Ḫarāʾiṭ al-Māddah, Casablanca.
* 1988: , Iḥtifāʾan bil-ʾAšyāʾ al-Ġāmiḍat al-Wāḍiḥah, Beirut.
* 1994: , ʾAbǧadiya Ṯānia, Casablanca.
* 1996: , Mufradāt Šiʿr, Damascus.
* 1996: , Al-ʾAʿmāl aš-Šiʿriyyat al-Kāmilah, Damascus.
* 1995: I , Al-Kitāb, vol. 1, Beirut.
* 1998: II , Al-Kitāb, vol. 2, Beirut
* 1998: , Fahras li-ʾAʿmāl al-Rīḥ, Beirut.
* 2002: III , Al-Kitāb, vol. 3, Beirut.
* 2003: , ʾAwwal al-Ǧassad, ʾĀḫir al-Baḥr, Beirut.
* 2003: , Tanabbaʾ ʾAyyuhā-l-ʾAʿmā, Beirut.
* 2006: , Tārīḫ Yatamazzaq fī Ǧassad ʾImraʾah, Beirut.
* 2007: , Warrāq Yabīʿ Kutub al-Nuǧūm, Beirut.
* 2007: , Ihdaʾ Hamlet Tanaššaq Ǧunūn Ophelia, Beirut.
Essays
* 1971: Muqaddima lil-Shi'r al-Arabî, Beirut.
* 1972: Zaman al-Shi'r, Beirut.
* 1974: Al-Thâbit wal-Mutahawwil, vol. 1, Beirut.
* 1977: Al-Thâbit wal-Mutahawwil, vol. 2, Beirut.
* 1978: Al-Thâbit wal-Mutahawwil, vol. 3, Beirut.
* 1980: Fâtiha li-Nihâyât al-Qarn, Beirut.
* 1985: Al-Shi'ryyat al-Arabyya, Beirut.
* 1985: Syasat al-Shi'r, Beirut.
* 1992: Al-Sûfiyya wal-Sureâliyya, London.
* 1993: Hâ Anta Ayyuha l-Waqt, Beirut.
* 1993: Al-Nizâm wal-Kalâm, Beirut.
* 1993: Al-Nass al-Qur'âni wa Âfâq al-Kitâba, Beirut.
* 2002: Mûsiqa al-Hût al-Azraq, Beirut.
* 2004: Al-Muheet al-Aswad, Beirut.
* 2008: Ra`s Al-Lughah, Jism Al-Sahra`, Beirut
* 2008: Al-Kitab Al-khitab Al-Hijab, Beiru
Anthologies edited by Adonis
* 1963: Mukhtârât min Shi'r Yûsuf al-Khâl, Beirut.
* 1967: Mukhtârât min Shi'r al-Sayyâb, Beirut.
* 1964 – 1968: Diwân al-Shi'r al-'Arabî, Beyrut (3 Volumes).
Translations from French into Arabic (by Adonis)
* 1972 – 75: Georges Schehadé, Théâtre Complet, 6 vol., Beirut.
* 1972 – 75: Jean Racine, La Thébaïde, Phèdre, Beirut.
* 1976 – 78: Saint-John Perse, Eloges, La Gloire des Rois, Anabase, Exils, Neiges, Poèmes à l'étrangère, Amers, 2 vols., Damascus.
* 1987: Yves Bonnefoye, Collected Poems, Damascus.
* 2002: Ovide, Métamorphosis, Abu Dhabi, Cultural Foundation.
Translations from Arabic into French (co-edited by Adonis)
* 1988 – Abu l-Alâ' al-Ma'arrî, Rets d'éternité (excerpts from the '' Luzûmiyyât'') in collaboration with Anne Wade Minkowski, ed . Fayard, Paris.
* 1998 – Khalil Gibran, Le Livre des Processions, in collaboration with Anne Wade Minkowski, éd. Arfuyen, Paris.
English translations
* 1982: ''The blood of Adonis: Transpositions of selected poems of Adonis (Ali Ahmed Said)'' (Pitt poetry series)
* 1982: Transformations of the Lover (trans. Samuel Hazo). International Poetry Series, Volume 7. Ohio University Press.
* 1990: An Introduction to Arab Poetics. Translated by Catherine Cobham. Saqi Books, London
* 1994: The Pages of Day and Night, The Marlboro Press, Marlboro Vermont, translated by Samuel Hazo.
* 2003: If Only the Sea Could Sleep, éd. Green Integer 77, translated by Kamal Bullata, Susan Einbinder and Mirène Ghossein.
* 2004: A Time Between Ashes and Roses, Poems, With a forward of Nasser Rabbat, ed. Syracuse University Press, translation, critical Arabic edition by Shawkat M. Toorawa.
* 2005: Sufism and Surrealism (essay), edit. by Saqi Books, translated by Judith Cumberbatch.
* 2008: Mihyar of Damascus: His Songs. Translated by Adnan Haydar and Michael Beard – USA
* 2008: Victims of A Map: A Bilingual Anthology of Arabic Poetry.(trans. Abdullah Al-Udhari.) Saqi Books: London, 1984.
* 2011/2012: Adonis: Selected Poems translated into English by Khaled Mattawa Yale University Press, New Haven and London
* 2016: Violence and Islam: Conversations with Houria Abdelouahed, translated by David Watson. Polity Press, Cambridge and Malden
* 2019: Songs of Mihyar the Damascene. Translated by Kareem James Abu-Zeid and Ivan S. Eubanks. New Directions: New York.
*2019: Contributor to ''A New Divan: A Lyrical Dialogue between East and West,'' Gingko Library
French translations
Poetry
* 1982: Le Livre de la Migration, éd. Luneau Ascot, translated by martine Faideau, préface by Salah Stétié.
* 1983 : Chants de Mihyar le Damascène, éd. Sindbad, translated by Anne Wade Minkowsky, préface by Eugène Guillevic. Reprinted in 1995, Sindbad-Actes Sud.
* 1984: Les Résonances Les Origines, translated by Chawki Abdelamir and Serge Sautreau, éd. Nulle Part.
* 1984: Ismaël, translated by Chawki Abdelamir and Serge Sautreau, éd. Nulle Part.
* 1986: Tombeau pour New York : suivi de Prologue à l'histoire des tâ'ifa et de Ceci est mon nom – Adonis; poèmes traduits de l'arabe par Anne Wade Minkowski.Reprinted in 1999, by éd. Sindbad/Actes Sud.
* 1989: Cheminement du désir dans la géographie de la matière (gravures de Ziad Dalloul) PAP, translated by Anne Wade Minkowski.
* 1990: Le temps, les villes : poèmes, translated by Jacques Berque and Anne Wade Minkowski, in collaboration with the author.
* 1991: Célébrations, éd. La Différence, translated Saïd Farhan; Anne Wade Minkowski. OCLC Number: 84345265
* 1991: Chronique des Branches, éd. la Différence, translated by Anne Wade Minkowski préface by Jacques Lacarrière.
* 1991: Mémoire du Vent (anthology), éd. Poésie/Gallimard, translated by C. Abdelamir, Claude Estéban, S. Sautreau, André Velter, Anne Wade Minkowski and the author, préface by A. Velter. Reprinted in 1994, 97, 99, 2000, 03, 05.
* 1994: La madâ'a by Adonis; trad. de l'arabe par Anne Wade Minkowski; dessins de Garanjoud.
* 1994: Tablette de Pétra, la main de la pierre dessine le lieu – Poème d'Adonis • Dessins de Mona Saudi.
* 1994: Soleils Seconds, éd. Mercure de France, translated by Jacques Berque.
* 1995: Singuliers éd. Sindbad/Actes Sud, translated by Jacques Berque re-édited by éd . Gallimard 2002.
* 1997: Au Sein d'un Alphabet Second, 2d. Origine, translated by Anne Wade Minkowski
* 2003: Toucher La Lumière, éd. Imprimerie Nationale, présentation, Jean Yves Masson, translated by Anne Wade Minkowski.
* 2004: Commencement Du Corps Fin De L'Océan, éd. Mercure de France, translated by Vénus Khoury-Ghata.
* 2004: Alep, in collaboration with the artist photographer Carlos Freire, éd. Imprimerie Nationale, translated by Renée Herbouze
* 2007: Le livre (al-Kitâb), Traduit par Houriyya Abdel-Wahed.
* 2008: Histoire qui se déchire sur le corps d'une femme. Ed. Mercure de France Traduit par Houriyya Abdel-Wahed.
* 2021: Adoniada. Traduit par Bénédicte Letellier. Ed. SEUIL.
Essays
* 1985: Introduction à la Poétique Arabe, éd; Shndbad, foreword by Yves Bonnefoy, translated by Bassam Tahhan and A.W. M.
* 1993: La Prière et l'Épée (essays on Arab culture), éd. Mercure de France, introduction by A. W. M., édited by Jean-Yves Masson, translated by Layla Khatîb and A. W. M.
* 2001: Amitié, Temps et Lumière, co-author Dimitri Analis, éd. Obsidiane.
* 2004: Identité Inachevée, in collaboration with Chantal Chawwaf,éd. du Rocher.
* 2006: Conversation avec Adonis, mon père, co-author Ninar Esber éd. Seuil.
Critical studies
* 1991: N° 16 of the review "Détours d'Ecriture", Paris.
* 1991: N° 96 of the review "Sud", Marseille.
* 1995: N° 8 of the review "L'Oeil du Boeuf", Paris.
* 1996: May issue of the review "Esprit", Paris.
* 1998: N° 2 of the review "Autre Sud" Marseille.
* 1998: N° 28 of the review "Pleine Marge", Paris.
* 2000: Michel Camus, Adonis le Visionnaire, éd. Du Rocher.
* Some 19 Arabic books and great number of Academic dissertations on Adonis poetry are available.
References
Further reading
* Atif Y. Faddul (1992). The Poetics of T.S. Eliot and Adunis: a Comparative Study. Alhamra Publishers.
* The Perplexity of the All-Knowing in Mundus Artium by Kamal Abu-Deeb (1977)
* Modern Arabic Poetry: An Anthology (1988) Salma Jayyusi
* Modern Arab Poets 1950–1975 (1976) Issa Boullata (editor)
* Adonis, the Syrian Crisis, and the Question of Pluralism in the Levant by Franck Salameh, Boston College –
* Studies in Modern Arabic Prose and Poetry Publisher: Brill Academic Pub (August 1, 1997)
* The poetry of Adonis in translation : an analysis- Moutassem Salha: A dissertation submitted for the degree of Master of Arts at the University of Central Lancashire 2011 –
* Asselineau, Roger; and Folsom, Ed. "Whitman and Lebanon's Adonis." Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 15 (Spring 1998), 180–184 –
* lecture: Ronald Perlwitz: The Nation of Poets: Novalis – Hölderlin – Adonis –
* "Language, Culture, Reality." The View From Within: Writers and Critics on Contemporary Arabic Literature: A Selection from Alif Journal of Contemporary Poetics ed. Ferial J. Ghazoul and Barbara Harlow. The American University in Cairo Press, 1994.
* "The Poet of Secrets and Roots, The Ḥallājian Adūnis" rabic Al-Ḍaw' al-Mashriqī: Adūnis ka-mā Yarāhu Mufakkirūn wa-Shu'arā' 'Ālamiyyūn he Eastern Light: Adūnīs in the Eye of International Intellectuals and PoetsDamascus: Dār al-Ṭalī'a, 2004: 177–179.
* "'Poète des secrets et des racines': L'Adonis hallajien". Adonis: un poète dans le monde d'aujourd'hui 1950–2000. Paris: Institut du monde arabe, 2000: 171–172.
* Religion, Mysticism and Modern Arabic Literature. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2006.
* "A Study of 'Elegy for al-Ḥallāj' by Adūnīs". Journal of Arabic Literature 25.2, 1994: 245–256.
* Adunis, Mistranslated, Translation Review –
* Robyn Creswell, City of Beginnings (Princeton University Press, 2019); "Hearing Voices: How the doyen of Arabic poetry draws on—and explodes—its traditions", "The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
", 18 & 25 December 2017, pp. 106–9.
* Andrea Galgano, "Adonis e il cuore del corpo amante", in "Lo splendore inquieto", Aracne Editrice, Roma 2018, pp. 403–18.
External links
Profile
at " Al-Bab.com"
Profile
at " Looklex Encyclopaedia"
*
Adonis
auf culturebase.net
Three Poems Translated into English
" ''Guernica''", 15 December 2007
Griffin Poetry Prize biography of Adonis
(including video clip of Khaled Mattawa reading translated Adonis poem "Celebrating Childhood")
I Was Born for Poetry. An interview with Adonis.
Video by Louisiana Channel
Articles and interviews
* Tresilian, David
"A life on public view"
" Al Ahram Weekly", 17 January 2001
* Shatz, Adam
"An Arab Poet Who Dares to Differ"
"The New York Times", 13 January 2002
* Reuters
"Syrian Poet Adonis Seen as Nobel Contender"
Cornell University
Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
, 1 October 2003
* Pickering, Diego Gómez
"Adonis speaks to Forward: The living legend of Arab poetry"
" Forward Magazine", November 2010
Adonis on Euro-Mediterranean Dialogue: Humanity Takes Priority
{{Authority control
1930 births
Living people
People from Latakia Governorate
French–Arabic translators
20th-century Syrian writers
20th-century translators
Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath laureates
20th-century essayists
PEN/Nabokov Award winners
Modern pagan mystics
Modern pagan poets
Mystic poets
Syrian Alawites
Syrian emigrants to France
Syrian emigrants to Lebanon
Syrian essayists
Syrian expatriates in the United States
Syrian magazine founders
Syrian modern pagans
Syrian people of Alawite descent
20th-century Syrian poets
Syrian translators
21st-century Syrian poets
Damascus University alumni
Saint Joseph University alumni
Academic staff of Lebanese University
Academic staff of Damascus University
Georgetown University faculty
Princeton University faculty