SILENCING THE SEA S I L E N C I N G T H E S E A S E C U L A R R H Y T H M S I N PA L E S T I N I A N P O E T R Y K H A L E D F U R A N I STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS STANFORD, CALIFORNIA Stanford University Press Stanford, California ©2012 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Ju nior University. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press. Printed in the United States of America on acid- free, archival- quality paper Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Furani, Khaled, 1973– author. Silencing the sea : secular rhythms in Palestinian poetry / Khaled Furani. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8047-7646-2 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Arabic poetry—Palestine—History and criticism. 2. Arabic poetry—20th century—History and criticism. 3. Poetics. 4. Secularism in literature. I. Title. PJ8190.2.F87 2012 892.7'100995694—dc23 2012007600 Designed by Bruce Lundquist Typeset by Westchester Book Group in 10/14 Minion Section opener design by Naif Shaqqur. Calligraphy by Ahmad Zoabi. Arabic text is an excerpt from an untitled poem by (cid:2)Abd al-Jabbār ibn Hamdīs (d. circa AD 1132–33), a Sicilian and Andalusian Arab poet. “A horrifying [sea] whose rider would be nothing but a transgressor / If it were not, in the Quran, a sign to wonder / Because of what they witnessed, my eye or my ear / Continue to warn my heart about a relentless fear.” Translation by Khaled Furani. To the souls of my mother and grandmother, Jamila al- Badawi Furani and Khadija Yaaqub Abbas And from water we created all that lives Quran 21:30 CONTENTS Ac know ledg ments ix A Note on Transliteration xi Introduction 1 INITIATIONS 1 Secular Bewilderment 13 2 Rhythms and Rulers 21 3 Th e Land of the Poem 39 THE SONG 4 Memory for Beginnings 53 5 Metrical Discipline and Mastery 67 6 Poets for “the People” 91 THE PICTURE 7 Enough “Screaming” 111 8 Rhythmical Freedom 120 9 Modern Poets and “Conservative” People 154 viii CONTENTS THE DREAM 10 Redeeming Prose 175 11 When Meter Melts 199 12 Th e Laity Outside Poetry’s Temple 216 Conclusions: Secular Prayers 237 Notes 251 Bibliography 277 Index 285 AC K NOW LEDG MENTS THE TRAIL OF RESEARCH FOR THIS BOOK began over ten years ago. Dur- ing this time, many more people have contributed to its making than my ef- fort to acknowledge them can possibly include. My heartfelt thanks go to them all, primarily to the poets and their families for their hospitality toward this inquiry and the inquirer. As for several poets who have passed away in the interim, I am grateful if this book can pass along some of their stories, rhythms, and questions. From the quick of my heart I also convey gratitude to Talal Asad, who conveyed to me the value of investigating one’s own igno- rance, and whose unassuming, probing questions kindled mine for this book and more. Th is inquiry was also nourished by the care of scholars at numerous insti- tutions: Barbara Aswad and Geurin Montilus at Wayne State University; Am- miel Alcalay, Michael Blim, Marc Edelman, Louise Lennihan, Leith Mullings, and Jane Schneider at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York; and Steve Caton at Harvard University. In the precariousness of ethnographic fi eldwork riddled with closures and checkpoints of military occupation in the year 2001– 2, Inam Dagher, Abd al- Karim Abu- Kashan, and Mahmoud al- Atshan at Birzeit University ensured that many literal and fi gurative paths remained open. Brinkley Messick at Columbia University extended material space and moral sustenance when those were acutely needed during the book’s infancy. Trevor Dawes, whether at Prince ton or Columbia libraries, extended indefatigable support in fi nding many otherwise intractable bibliographic sources. In navigating the deep of Arabic language and literature, I remain in- debted to the inspiring as well as instrumental guidance of the following indi- viduals: Sayyid al- Bahrawi, Taufi q Ben- Amour, Mahmud Ghanayim, Ferial Ghazoul, Fathi Furani, Elias Khoury, Jeries Naim Khoury, Muhsin Jasim al- Musawi, and the late Magda al- Nowaihi. For profi table comments on this