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  • May Ziadeh portrait by Kahlih Gibran

    From Darkness and Light – May Ziadeh’s astonishing Eyes

    May Ziadeh was a platonic and distant love of Kahlil Gibran. Such an inadequate way to remember her. More importantly, as poet, she is his female counterpart, even though she is virtually unknown in the English speaking world. Her poetry is beautiful in Arabic and sometimes has a poignancy difficult to capture in translation. She and Gibran corresponded for twenty years, although they never met. Perhaps, Gibran memorialised her in his poem Distant Love. This article is dedicated to May Ziadeh’s poem Eyes (العُيُون), originally published in her collection of poems called Darkness and Rays or Darkness and Light (ظلمات وأشعة). Ziadeh’s poem Eyes (العُيُون) speaks for itself. Her original…

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    Cathedral of Siena

    Romeo and Juliet Go Down to Egypt

    December 21, 2023

    Kahlil Gibran: Love is a spirit and you its essence

    February 16, 2025
    A view of fields in Lebanon Aakkar El Aatiqa by Ali Hamada

    May Zaideh’s poignant country lost and found

    May 4, 2025
  • a boy in silhouette

    Darkness and Light: May Ziadeh and the Child’s Destiny

    May Ziadeh’s poetry is evocative and striking. Her poem “The Child and I” is a notable example, and has a particular poignancy. The poem, which first appeared in her collection Darkness and Light 1923 (ظلمات وأشعة), tells the story of a conversation between a small English boy and an Egyptian or Arab woman. The poem was perhaps inspired by May Ziadeh’s thoughts during a real interaction, as it is told in first person. It occurs near the Nile, and we must imagine the encounter occurring at sometime in the 1910s or 1920s, when the British were the colonial power in Egypt. As we shall see, the poem begins with specifics…

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    Kahlil Gibran’s On Love From the Prophet

    January 3, 2025
    A view of fields in Lebanon Aakkar El Aatiqa by Ali Hamada

    May Zaideh’s poignant country lost and found

    May 4, 2025
    An extract from Kahlil Gibran's Blessed Mountain - white bird outlines flying over standing bird

    Words take flight: for Kahlil Gibran and May Ziadeh

    December 30, 2024
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