contents · sheikh smati (ouled djellal, near biskra, 1862 – 1917) mount kerdada 247 mohamed ben...

Thanks and Acknowledgments xxxi

Introduction 1

A B o o k o f m u l t i P l e B e g i n n i n g s

Prologue 13

the first human Beings, their sons and Amazon Daughters 16

hanno the navigator (Carthage, c. sixth century b.c.e.)

from The Periplos of Hanno 21

Callimachus (Cyrene, 310 – c. 240 b.c.e.)

Thirteen Epigrammatic Poems 23

mago (Carthage, pre-second century b.c.e.)

from De Agricultura 26

lucius Apuleius (Madaurus, now M’Daourouch, c. 123 – c. 180 c.e.)

from The Golden Ass, or Metamorphoses 27

Quintus septimius florens tertullianus (Carthage, c. 160 – c. 220 c.e.)

from De Pallio (The Cloak) 29from Scorpiace (The Scorpion) 30

thascius Caecilius Cyprianus (Carthage, early third century – 258 c.e.)

from Epistle to Donatus 31

lucius lactantius (Cirta? c. 240 – Trier? c. 320 c.e.)

from De Ave Phoenice 32

C o n t e n t s

Joris_Tengor_revs CS5.5 mac.indd 7 10/8/12 2:43 PM

viii Contents

Aurelius Augustinus hipponensis (saint Augustine) (Thagaste, 354 – Hippo, 430 c.e.)

from Confessions 33from De Doctrina Christiana 34from De fide rerum invisibilium 35from Psalmus contra partem Donati 35

Blossius Aemilius Dracontius (Carthage, c. 455 – c. 505 c.e.)

The Chariot of Venus 36De Mensibus (Months) 36The Origin of Roses 37

luxorius (Carthage, sixth century c.e.)

“They say, that when the fierce bear gives birth” 37Premature Chariot 38

f i r s t D i w A n

A Book of In-Betweens: Al-Andalus, Sicily, the Maghreb

Prologue 41

Anonymous muwashshaha 45

some kharjas 46

ibn hani al-Andalusi (Seville, c. 934 – Barqa, Libya, 973)

Al-Jilnar 49Extinction Is the Truth . . . 50

ibn Darradj al-Qastalli (958 – 1030)

from Ode in Praise of Khairan al-‘Amiri, Emir of Almería 52from Ode in Praise of al-Mansur al-‘Amiri, Emir of Córdoba 53

Abu Amir ibn shuhayd (Córdoba, 992 – 1035)

from Qasida (I) 55Córdoba 56from Qasida (II) 56“As he got his fill of delirious wine” 57Gravestone Qasida 57

Yusuf ibn harun al-ramadi (d. c. 1022)

Hugging Letters and Beauty Spots 58Silver Breast 58Gold Nails 59


Contents ix

The Swallow 59O Rose . . . 59

Yosef ibn Abitur (mid-tenth century – c. 1012)

The “Who?” of Ibn Abitur of Córdoba 60

hafsa bint hamdun (Wadi al-Hijara, now Guadalajara, tenth century)

Four Poems 64

samuel ha-levi ibn nagrella, called ha-nagid, “the Prince” (Merida, 993 – Granada, 1055)

Three Love Poems 65War Poem 66

ibn hazm (Córdoba, 994 – Niebla, 1064)

My Heart 67from The Neck-Ring of the Dove

from “Author’s Preface” 68Of Falling in Love while Asleep 69

wallada bint al-mustakfi (Córdoba, 994 – 1091)

Six Poems 70

ibn rashiq al-Qayrawani (also al-masili) (Masila, Algeria, c. 1000 – Mazara, Sicily, c. 1064)

from Lament over the Fall of the City of Kairouan 71

ibn Zaydun (Córdoba, 1003 – 1071)

Fragments from the Qasida in the Rhyme of Nun 74Written from al-Zahra’ 75

salomon ibn gabirol (Malaga, c. 1020 – Valencia, c. 1058)

The 16-Year-Old Poet 77from The Crown of Kingdom 77

Al mu‘tamid ibn Abbad (Seville, 1040 – Aghmat, 1095)

To Abu Bakr Ibn ‘Ammar Going to Silves 80To Rumaykiyya 81

ibn hamdis (Noto, Sicily, 1056 – Majorca, 1133)

He Said, Remembering Sicily and His Home, Syracuse 82

ibn labbana (Benissa, mid-eleventh century – Majorca, 1113)

Al-Mu‘tamid and His Family Go into Exile 85Two Muwashshahat 85


x Contents

moses ibn ezra (Granada, c. 1058 – c. 1135)

Drinking Song 87Song 88

Al-A’ma al-tutili (b. Tudela, c. late eleventh century – d. 1126)

Water-Fire Muwashshaha 88

ibn khafadja (Alcita, province of Valencia, 1058 – 1138)

The River 90

Yehuda halevi, the Cantor of Zion (Toledo, 1075 – Cairo, 1141)

from Yehuda Halevi’s Songs to Zion 91The Garden 92

ibn Quzman (Córdoba, 1078 – 1160)

[A muwashshaha] 93The Crow 94

Abraham ibn ezra (1089 – 1164)

“I have a garment” 96

Abu madyan shu’ayb (sidi Boumedienne) (Cantillana, 1126 –

Tlemcen, 1198)

You Will Be Served in Your Glass 96

hafsa bint al-hajj Arrakuniyya (Granada, 1135 – Marrakech, 1190)

Eight Poems 97

ibn Arabi, al-sheikh al-Akhbar (Murcia, 1165 – Damascus, 1240)

“I believe in the religion of love” 99“O my two friends” 99The Wisdom of Reality in the Words of Isaac 100

Abi sharif al-rundi (Seville, 1204 – Ceuta, 1285)

Nuniyya 100

ibn said al-maghribi (Alcalá la Real, 1213 – Tunis, 1274)

The Battle 102Black Horse with White Chest 103The Wind 103

Abu al-hassan al-shushtari (Guadix, 1213 – Damietta, 1269)

My Art 104But You Are in the Najd 105Desire Drives the Camels 105


Contents xi

Abraham Abulafia (Saragossa, 1240 – Comino, c. 1291)

How He Went as Messiah in the Name of Angel Raziel to Confront the Pope 106

from The Book of the Letter 107from Life of the World to Come: Circles 108

ibn Zamrak (Granada, 1333 – 1393)

The Alhambra Inscription 112

t h e o r A l t r A D i t i o n i

Prologue 117

kabyle origin tale: “the world tree and the image of the universe” 120

from sirat Banu hilal (i)Sultan Hassan el Hilali Bou Ali, the Taciturn 121Over Whom to Weep 121Who Is the Best Hilali Horseman? 122Chiha’s Advice 123Bouzid on Reconnaissance in the Maghreb 124

four tamachek’ fables

The Greyhound and the Bone 126The Lion, the Panther, the Tazourit, and the Jackal 126The Billy Goat and the Wild Boar 127The Woman and the Lion 128

kabylian song on the expedition of 1856 129

tuareg Proverbs from the Ahaggar 130

s e C o n D D i w A n

Al Adab: The Invention of Prose

Prologue 135

ibn sharaf al-Qayrawani (Kairouan, c. 1000 – Seville, 1067)

On Some Andalusian Poets 137On Poetic Criticism 138


xii Contents

ibn rashiq al-Qayrawani (also al-masili) (Masila, Algeria, c. 1000 –

Mazara, Sicily, 1064)

from Al-‘Umda: “On making poetry and stimulating inspiration” 139

Al-Bakri (Huelva, 1014 – Córdoba, 1094)

from Kitab al-Masalik wa-’al-Mamalik (Book of Routes and Realms) 143

Abu hamid al-gharnati (Granada, 1080 – Damascus, 1169)

from Tuhfat al-Albab (Gift of the Spirit)Description of the Lighthouse of Alexandria 147Chamber Made for Solomon by the Jinns 148

ibn Baja (Avempace) (Saragossa, 1085 – Fez, 1138)

from The Governance of the Solitary, Chapter 13 149

Al-idrisi (Ceuta, 1099 – Sicily, c. 1166)

from Al-Kitab al-Rujari (Roger’s Book) 152

ibn tufayl (Cadiz, c. 1105 – Marrakech, 1185)

from Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, a Philosophical Tale 155

musa ibn maimon, called maimonides (Córdoba, 1138 – Fostat, 1204)

from The Guide for the Perplexed 160

ibn Jubayr (Valencia, 1145 – Egypt, 1217)

from The Travels of Ibn Jubayr: Sicily 163

ibn Battuta (Tangier, 1304 – Marrakech, 1369)

from Rihla: Concerning Travels in the Maghreb 167

ibn khaldun (Tunis, 1332 – Cairo, 1406)

from The Muqaddimah, an Introduction to History, Book 6Section 54: “The craft of poetry and the way of learning it” 171Section 55: “Poetry and prose work with words, and not with ideas” 175

sheikh nefzaoui (Nefzaoua, southern Tunisia – c. 1434)

from The Perfumed GardenThe Names Given to Man’s Sexual Organs 176The Names Given to Woman’s Sexual Organs 177


Contents xiii

Al-hasan ibn muhammad al-wazzan al-fasi (leo Africanus) (Granada, c. 1488–1554)

from Travel DiariesWhy This Part of the World Was Named Africa 179The Manner and Customs of the Arabs Inhabiting Africa 179On Fez 180

A B o o k o f m Y s t i C s

Prologue 185

Abu madyan shu’ayb (sidi Boumedienne) (Cantillana, 1126 –

Tlemcen, 1198)

The Qasida in Ra 189The Qasida in Mim 191

Abdeslam ibn mashish Alami (Beni Aross region, near Tangier, 1163 – 1228)

As-Salat Al-Mashishiyah (The Salutation of Ibn Mashish) 192

ibn Arabi, al-sheikh al-Akhbar (Murcia, 1165 – Damascus, 1240)

Our Loved Ones 195I Wish I Knew if They Knew 196“Gentle now, doves” 196“Who is here for a braveheart” 198

Abu al-hassan al-shushtari (Guadix, 1213 – Damietta, 1269)

Layla 199

othman ibn Yahya el sherki (sidi Bahlul sherki) (Tétouan region, seventeenth century)

from Al-Fiyachiya 200

Ahmed ibn ‘Ajiba (Tétouan region, 1747 – 1809)

Qasida 204Maxims 206

mystical Poetry from Djurdjura

“Tell Me, You Saints from Everywhere” 207“Those Who Remember Know It” 207“What Dwelling Did I Raise in Ayt-Idjer” 207“Bird, Soar Up into the Sky” 208


xiv Contents

two shawia Amulets

Amulet against Poison and Poisonous Animals 209Amulet to “Unknot” Headaches and Neuralgias 209

t h i r D D i w A n

The Long Sleep and the Slow Awakening

Prologue 213

sidi Abderrahman el mejdub (Tit Mlil, early sixteenth century – Merdacha, Jebel Aouf, 1568)

Some Quatrains 215

sidi lakhdar Ben khlouf (Mostaganem region, sixteenth – seventeenth century)

from The Honeycomb 218

Abdelaziz al-maghraoui (Tafilalet, 1533 – 1593/1605)

from A Masbah az-Zin (O Beautiful Lamp!) 221from Peace Be upon You O Shining Pearl! 222

mawlay Zidan Abu maali (d. Marrakech, 1627)

“I passed . . . ” 223

Al-maqqari (Tlemcen, c. 1591 – Cairo, 1632)

On Those Andalusians Who Traveled to the East 224

Al-Yusi (Middle Atlas, 1631 – 1691)

from Al-Muharat[Two seasons] 226[The city and the country] 226

Ahmed Ben triki (Ben Zengli) (Tlemcen, c. 1650 – c. 1750)

from Tal Nahbi (My Pain Endures . . . ) 227

from Sha’lat Niran Fi Kbadi (Burned to the Depths of My Soul!) 227

sid al hadj Aissa (Tlemcen, 1668 — Laghouat, 1737)

A Borni Falcon Song 229A Turkli Falcon Song 230

Al-hani Ben guenoun (Mascara, 1761 – 1864)

from Ya Dhalma (O Unfair Lady!) 230


Contents xv

sidi mohammed Ben msaieb (d. Tlemcen, 1768)

from O Pigeon Messenger! 232

mohammed ben sliman (d. Fez, 1792)

The Storm 234

Boumediene Ben sahla (Tlemcen, late eighteenth – early nineteenth century)

from Wahd al-Ghazal Rit al-Youm (I Saw a Gazelle Today . . .) 235

mostefa Ben Brahim (safa) (Boudjebha, Sidi Bel Abbès province, 1800 – 1867)

Saddle Up, O Warrior! 237

mohammed Belkheir (El Bayadh, south of Oran, 1835 – 1905)

Melha! 239Moroccan Exile 240Exiled at Calvi, Corsica 240

si mohand (Icheraiouen, At Yirraten, c. 1840 – Lhammam-Michelet, 1906)

Three Poems 241from Si Mohand’s Journey from Maison-Carrée to Michelet 242

mohamed ibn seghir Benguitoun (Sidi Khaled, c. 1843 – 1907)

from Hiziya 244

sheikh smati (Ouled Djellal, near Biskra, 1862 – 1917)

Mount Kerdada 247

mohamed Ben sghir (Tlemcen, late nineteenth century)

Lafjar (Dawn) 249Ya’l-Warchan (O Dove) 249

Abdallah Ben keriou (Laghouat, 1869 – 1921)

“Oh you who worry about the state of my heart” 250

hadda (Dra Valley, southern Morocco, late twentieth century)

The Poem of the Candle 251

A B o o k o f w r i t i n g

Prologue 257

Archaic kufic script 259

Polychrome maghrebian script 260

maghrebian script 261


xvi Contents

maghrebian Cursive script 262

Andalusian Cursive script 263

Al-Qandusi

A Bismillah 264The Word Paradise 265

maghrebian script: the two letters lam-Alif 266

maghrebian mujawhar script 266

f o u r t h D i w A n

Resistance and Road to Independence

Prologue 269

emir Abd el kader (Mascara, 1808 – Damascus, 1883)

My Spouse Worries 271I Am Love 271The Secrets of the Lam-Alif 272

mohammed Ben Brahim Assarraj (Marrakech, 1897 – 1955)

Poem I 274Poem II 275

tahar haddad (Tunis, 1899 – 1935)

from Muslim Women in Law and Society 277

Jean el mouhoub Amrouche (Ighil Ali, 1906 – Paris, 1962)

Adoration of the Palm Trees 280

Abu al-Qasim al-shabi (Tozeur, 1909 – Tunis, 1934)

Life’s Will 282

mouloud feraoun (Tizi Hibel, 1913 – Algiers, 1962)

from Journal, 1955 – 1962 284

emmanuel roblès (Oran, 1914 – Boulogne-Billancourt, 1995)

from Mirror Suite 287

edmond Amram el-maleh (Safi, 1917 – Rabat, 2010)

from Taksiat 289

mouloud mammeri (Taourirt Mimoune, Kabylia, 1917 – Aïn Defla, 1989)

from L’Ahellil du Gourara: Timimoun 293


Contents xvii

mostefa lacheraf (Sidi Aïssa, 1917 – Algiers, 2007)

from Country of Long Pain 295

mohammed Dib (Tlemcen, 1920 – La Celle-Saint-Cloud, 2003)

from Ombre Gardienne 297Guardian Shadow 1 297Guardian Shadow 2 298Guardian Shadow 3 298Dawn Breaks 298The Crazed Hour 299Nursery Rhyme 299A Voice 300

Bachir hadj Ali (Algiers, 1920 – 1991)

Dreams in Disarray 302Oath 303

Jean Pélégri (Rovigo, 1920 – Paris, 2003)

Open the Pebble 304

nourredine Aba (Aïn Oulmene, 1921 – Paris, 1996)

from Lost Song of a Rediscovered Country 307

mohammed Al-habib el-forkani (Tahannaout, 1922 – Rabat, 2008)

“In a miserable world” 309“My yesterday pursues me” 310

frantz fanon (Fort-de-France, 1925 – Bethesda, Maryland, 1961)

from On National Culture 311

Jean sénac (Béni Saf, 1926 – Algiers, 1973)

Dawn Song of My People 315News in Brief 316The July Massacres 317

malek haddad (Constantine, 1927 – Algiers, 1978)

The Long March 319

kateb Yacine (Guelma, 1929 – Grenoble, 1989)

Nedjma, or The Poem or the Knife 321from Nedjma 323

ismaël Aït Djaafar (Algiers, 1929 – 1995)

from Wail of the Arab Beggars of the Casbah 327


xviii Contents

Anna gréki (Batna, 1931 – Algiers, 1966)

The Future Is for Tomorrow 329Even in Winter 330

henri kréa (Algiers, 1933 – Paris, 2000)

from Le Séisme au bord de la rivière 333Clandestine Travelers 335

t h e o r A l t r A D i t i o n i i

more kabylian origin stories 339The Origin of Shooting Stars 339The First Eclipse 339The Origin of Menstruation 340

the magic grain: A tale 341

kabyle Proverbs 345

songs 347Children’s Rain Song 347“O night lights of Jew Town” 347

from the Adventures of the Jew 3481. The Bride Who Was Too Large 3482. The Tail of the Comet 349

more riddles and Proverbs 350

satirical nomad Poem 351

saharan gharbi / western-style Anonymous nomad songs 351

from sirhat Banu hilal (ii) 353Sada Betrays Her Father for Love of Meri 353

f i f t h D i w A n

“Make It New”: The Invention of Independence I

Prologue 361

liBYA 365

muhammad al-faituri (b. al-Janira, Sudan, 1930)

The Story 366


Contents xix

Incident 366The Question and the Answer 367

ibrahim al-koni (b. Fezzan region, 1948)

from AnubisDusk 367

Ashur etwebi (b. Tripoli, 1952)

from Of Solitude and a Few Other Matters 373

faraj Bou al-isha (b. 1956)

Where Does This Pain Come From? 377Here I Am 377Wait 377Sleep 377

fatima mahmoud (b. Tripoli, mid-twentieth century)

What Was Not Conceivable 378

laila neihoum (b. Benghazi, 1961)

Melting Sun 383

khaled mattawa (b. Benghazi, 1964)

from East of Carthage: An Idyll 384

tunisiA 388

Claude Benady (Tunis, 1922 – Boulogne, Hauts-de-Seine, 2000)

Thirst for a Country . . . 390Struggle 391

Al-munsif al-wahaybi (b. Kairouan, 1929)

The Desert 393In the Arab House 393Ceremony 394

midani Ben salah (Nefta, 1929 – 2006)

In the Train with Them 395

noureddine sammoud (b. Kelibia, 1932)

The Eyes of My Love 397

salah garmadi (Tunis, 1933 – 1982)

Our Ancestors the Beduins 399Counsel for My Family after My Death 400


xx Contents

shams nadir (mohamed Aziza) (b. Tunis, 1940)

from The Athanor 401Echoes from Isla-Negra 404

Abderrazak sahli (Hammamet, 1941 – 2009)

Clerare Drac 405

moncef ghachem (b. Mahdia, 1946)

Mewall 405

fadhila Chabbi (b. Tozeur, 1946)

The Blind Goddess 408Engraving Twenty-Nine 409

Abdelwahab meddeb (b. Tunis, 1946)

from Talismano 409from Fantasia 411

muhammad al-ghuzzi (b. Kairouan, 1949)

Female 413Quatrains for Joy 414

moncef ouahibi (b. Kairouan, 1949)

from Under Sargon Boulus’s Umbrella 416

khaled najjar (b. Tunis, 1949)

Stone Castle 419Boxes 420Poem 1 420Poem 2 421Poem 3 421Poem 4 421Poem 5 421

tahar Bekri (b. Gabès, 1951)

from War to War 422from I Call You Tunisia 423

Amina said (b. Tunis, 1953)

“Child of the sun and the earth” 425“I am a child and free” 426

moncef mezghanni (b. Sfax, 1954)

A Duck’s Speech 427The Land of Narrow Dreams 428


Contents xxi

Adam fet’hi (b. 1957)

The Blind Glassblower 430Cavafy’s Whip 431

Dorra Chammam (b. Tunis, 1965)

from Reefs and Other Consequences 433

Amel moussa (b. Tripoli, 1971)

A Formal Poem 436Love Me 437

samia ouederni (b. 1980)

For Tunisia 438

mAuritAniA 439

oumar moussa Ba (Senegalese village bordering Mauritania, 1921 – 1998)

Well-Known Oxen 440The Banu Eyo-Eyo 441Plea 441Peul Poem 441Song of the Washerwoman 442

tene Youssouf gueye (Kaédi, 1928 – 1988)

The Meaning of the Circus 443

Assane Youssouf Diallo (b. 1938)

from Leyd’am 444

Djibril Zakaria sall (b. Rosso, 1939)

To Nelson Mandela 447

ousmane-moussa Diagana (Kaédi, 1951 – Nouakchott, 2001)

from Cherguiya 450

mbarka mint al-Barra’ (b. al-Madhardhara, 1957)

Poetry and I 450

Aïcha mint Chighaly (b. Kaédi, 1962)

Praise on the Site of Aftout 451Nostalgic Song about Life 452

western sAhArA 453

Bahia mahmud Awah (b. Auserd, 1960)

The Books 455I Have Faith in Time 456


xxii Contents

A Poem Is You 456Orphan at a Starbucks 457

Zahra el hasnaui Ahmed (b. El Aaiún, 1963)

Voices 457“They Say That the Night” 458Gazes 459

mohammed ebnu (b. Amgala, 1968)

Exile 460Children of Sun and Wind 460Message in a Bottle 461

Chejdan mahmud Yazid (b. Tindouf, 1972)

Sirocco 462The Expectorated Scream 463Enough! 464

limam Boicha (b. Atar, 1973)

The Roads of the South 464Boughs of Thirst 465Existence 466

A B o o k o f e x i l e s

Prologue 469

DiAsPorA

mario scalési (Tunis, 1892 – Palermo, 1922)

Symbolism 471New Year’s Gift 471Sunrise 472Words of a Dying Soldier 472Envoy 473

Jacques Berque (Frenda, 1910 – Saint-Julien-en-Born, 1995)

from “Truth and Poetry”: On the Seksawa Tribe 473

Jacques Derrida (Algiers, 1930 – Paris, 2004)

from The Monolingualism of the Other, or The Prosthesis of Origin 478


Contents xxiii

hélène Cixous (b. Oran, 1937)

Letter-Beings and Time 484

hubert haddad (b. Tunis, 1947)

A Quarter to Midnight 488

DiAsPorA

Paul Bowles (New York, 1910 – Tangier, 1999)

from Africa Minor 493

Juan goytisolo (b. Barcelona, 1931)

Dar Debbagh 496

Cécile oumhani (b. Namur, 1952)

Young Woman at the Terrace 501

t h e o r A l t r A D i t i o n i i i

Prologue 505

Aissa al Jarmuni al harkati (Sidi R’ghis, now Oum El Bouaghi, 1885 – Aïn Beïda, Oum El Bouaghi province, 1946)

Poem about His Country, the “Watan” 506

Quatrain about the Jews at a Wedding Party in the “Harat Lihud” Quarter in Constantine 506

Quatrain about the Sufi Sheikh Sidi Muhammad ben Said’s Young Wife Who Had Died the Night Before 506

Two Quatrains about Human Existence 507

Two Quatrains on the Shawia People Sung at the Olympia in Paris (1936) 507

Poem about Education 507Two Lyrics from al Harkati’s Recorded Songs 508

Oh Horse Breeder! 508The Slender One 508

Qasi udifella (1898 – 1950)

Four Poems 509

mririda n’aït Attik (Megdaz, c. 1900 – c. 1930)

The Bad Lover 513What Do You Want? 514The Brooch 514


xxiv Contents

the song of the Azria 515

slimane Azem (Kabylia, 1918 – Moissac, France, 1983)

Taskurth (The Partridge) 517

Cheikha rimitti (Tessala, 1923 – Paris, 2006)

He Crushes Me 518The Girls of Bel Abbès 519The Worst of All Shelters 520

kheira (b. Tunisia, c. 1934)

You Who Rebel against Fate, Rise and Face What God Has Ordained 521

mohammed mrabet (b. Tangier, 1936)

Si Mokhtar 523

hawad (b. north of Agadez, 1950)

from Hijacked Horizon 529

lounis Aït menguellet (b. Ighil Bouammas, 1950)

Love, Love, Love 535

mohammed el Agidi (Morocco, twentieth century)

“Tell me Sunken Well” 537

matoub lounes (Taourirt Moussa, 1956 – Tizi Ouzzou, 1998)

Kenza 539My Soul 540

f i f t h D i w A n

“Make It New”: The Invention of Independence II

AlgeriA 545

mohammed Dib (Tlemcen, 1920 – La Celle-Saint-Cloud, 2003)

from Formulaires 547

Jean sénac (Béni Saf, 1926 – Algiers, 1973)

Man Open 549Heliopolis 550Song of the Mortise 552I Like What’s Difficult, Said You 553The Last Song 553


Contents xxv

kateb Yacine (Guelma, 1929 – Grenoble, 1989)

from Le Polygone Étoilé 554

nadia guendouz (Algiers, 1932 – 1992)

Green Fruit 558On Rue de la Lyre 5591st May 1963 561

Assia Djebar (b. Cherchell, 1936)

Poem for a Happy Algeria 563from Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade 564

malek Alloula (b. Oran, 1937)

from The Colonial Harem 569

mourad Bourboune (b. Jijel, 1938)

from The Muezzin 574

nabile farès (b. Collo, 1940)

Over There, Afar, Lights 577

rachid Boudjedra (b. Aïn Beïda, Oum El Bouaghi province, 1941)

from Rain (Diary of an Insomniac) 580

Abdelhamid laghouati (b. Berrouaghia, 1943)

“To embrace” 583Indictment 584

Youcef sebti (Boudious, 1943 – Algiers, 1993)

The Future 587Hell and Madness 588

ismael Abdoun (b. Béchar, 1945)

“Faun-eye’d iceberg burn” 589

rabah Belamri (Bougaa, 1946 – Paris, 1995)

“Have we ever known” 590Inversed Jabbok 591

habib tengour (b. Mostaganem, 1947)

from Gravity of the Angel 593

hamida Chellali (b. Algiers, 1948)

“In the days” 597from The Old Ones 598


xxvi Contents

hamid skif (Oran, 1951 – Hamburg, 2011)

Pedagogical Couscous Song 602Poem for My Prick 602Here I Am 603

hamid tibouchi (b. Tibane, 1951)

from The Young Traveler and the Old-Fashioned Ghost 604

mohamed sehaba (b. Tafraoui, 1952)

Far from Our Erg 610The Bird No Longer Sings 610I Miss Something . . . 611

Abdelmadjid kaouah (b. Aïn-Taya, near Algiers, 1954)

Neck 613Modern Bar 613Majestic 613

tahar Djaout (Azeffoun, 1954 – Algiers, 1993)

March 15, 1962 615

Amin khan (b. Algiers, 1956)

Vision of the Return of Khadija to Opium 617

mourad Djebel (b. Annaba, 1967)

Summer 620

mustapha Benfodil (b. Relizane, 1968)

from I Conned Myself on a Levantine Day 621

Al-mahdi Acherchour (b. Sidi-Aïch, 1973)

In the Emptiness 623Return to the Missed Turn 624

samira negrouche (b. Algiers, 1980)

Coffee without Sugar 626

moroCCo 629

Driss Chraïbi (El Jadida, 1926 – Drôme, France, 2007)

from Seen, Read, Heard 630

mohammed sebbagh (b. Tétouan, 1929)

from Seashell-Tree 634from Candles on the Road 635


Contents xxvii

A Brief Moment 636The Missing Reader 637Maternal Instinct 637In Shackles 637If I Had a Friend 638Two Poems 639

mohamed serghini (b. Fez, 1930)

Poem I 640Poem III 641from Assembly of Dreams 641

Abdelkrim tabbal (b. Chefchaouen, 1931)

To the Horse 643Happiness 644The Speech 645Absent Time 646

Zaghloul morsy (b. Marrakech, 1933)

from From a Reticent Sun 647

mohamed Choukri (Aït Chiker, 1935 – 2003)

from The Prophet’s Slippers 648

Ahmad al-majjaty (Casablanca, 1936 – 1995)

Arrival 652Disappointment 652The Stumbling of the Wind 653

Abdelkebir khatibi (El Jadida, 1938 – Rabat, 2009)

from Class Struggle in the Taoist Manner 654from Love in Two Languages 656

mohammed khaïr-eddine (Tafraout, 1941 – Rabat, 1995)

Horoscope 659Indictment 660from I, Bitter 661

Ali sadki Azayku (Taroudant, 1942 – 2004)

Neighbor to Life 665The Shadows 666Mother Tongue 667


xxviii Contents

Abdellatif laâbi (b. Fez, 1942)

The Portrait of the Father 668The Anonymous Poet 669Letter to Florence Aubenas 670

mostafa nissabouri (b. Casablanca, 1943)

from Approach to the Desert Space 673

Abdelmajid Benjelloun (b. Fez, 1944)

The Flute of Origins, or The Taciturn Dance 679Eternity Comes Down on the Side of Love 680A Woman to Love as One Would Love to Revive after Death 681

tahar Ben Jelloun (b. Fez, 1944)

from Harrouda 682

mohamed sibari (b. Ksar el Kebir, 1945)

from Very Far Away . . . 685Confession 686Lady Night 687

malika el Assimi (b. Marrakech, 1946)

Things Having Names 689Smoke 690Mariam 691The Snout 691

mohammed Bennis (b. Fez, 1948)

from The Book of Love 692For You 692Letter to Ibn Hazm 693

Seven Birds 696

Ahmed lemsyeh (b. Sidi Ismail, 1950)

Fragments of the Soul’s Shadow 698I Miss My Self 699

rachida madani (b. Tangier, 1951)

from Walk through the Debris . . . 700

mohammed al-Ashaari (b. Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, 1951)

from A Vast Space . . . Where There’s No One 704


Contents xxix

medhi Akhrif (b. Assilah, 1952)

from The Tomb of Helen 707Half a Line 710

Abdallah Zrika (b. Casablanca, 1953)

from Drops from Black Candles 711from Some Prose: My Sister’s Scream in Black and White 713

mubarak wassat (b. Mzinda, Safi region, 1955)

Balcony 715Innocence 716The Time of the Assassins 716

hassan najmi (b. Ben Ahmed, 1959)

The Window 717Couplets 718The Blueness of Evening 718The Train Yard 719

waafa lamrani (b. Ksar el Kebir, 1960)

Alphabet Fire 720A Shade of Probability 720The Eighth Day 721

Ahmed Barakat (Casablanca, 1960 – 1994)

Afterwards 724Black Pain 724The Torn Flag 725

touria majdouline (b. Settat, 1960)

A Minute’s Speech 727Out of Context 728

Ahmed Assid (b. Taourmit, Taroudant province, 1961)

Prayer 729A Chamber the Color of Disgust 730Suns 731

mohamed el Amraoui (b. Fez, 1964)

En Quelque 732Jerusalem 733

mohammed hmoudane (b. Maaziz, 1968)

from Incandescence 735


xxx Contents

ouidad Benmoussa (b. Ksar el Kebir, 1969)

Restaurant Tuyets 738This Planet . . . Our Bed 738Road of Clouds 739

omar Berrada (b. Casablanca, 1978)

Subtle Bonds of the Encounter 739

Credits 745

Index of Authors 757


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