Bøger af George Nicolas El-Hage

Myth! It is such an incredible phenomenon. It is also the playground of the human heart and the entertainment of the human soul. Myths have accompanied man since his early beginnings and still do and will continue to occupy him until God reclaims His inheritance of this earth and everything on it. The human soul needs mythology in as much as the human body needs nourishment because human life is essentially based on these mythical tales. Nevertheless, no myth, ancient or modern, is exclusively national or belongs to one particular nation over another. Instead, they are a wide open field that is the property of all nations, regardless of their beliefs, race, or habitats. Myths constantly migrate among nations and peoples carrying on their wings the dust of ages and the additions and mounds of consecutive days and events. Among the most ancient myths that man created were undoubtedly those which related to the formation of this world and the story of the flood. Since I began to show serious interest in Phoenician and Arab mythology, I wanted to collect a select number of myths in a small book that will entertain, amuse, and inform the reader and transport him to a world of fantasy and adventure after a hard day of dull work in a closed office. I spent a considerable amount of time researching and reading books of historians and poets whether Greek, Arabs, Romans, French, and British, and basically I selected the myths whose central arena was the East. I re-wrote them in a way that is both entertaining and beneficial.... In most cases I used the Roman names of the gods and heroes because of their popularity and familiarity. Needless to say, this book demanded tireless effort and endless time to collect these myths from various sources and re-write them in an easy and accessible way that pleases and informs both the scholar and the average reader alike.Karam al-Bustani

Dear Parents, We all know the importance of reading to children, for as the proverb says: "Learning at a younger age is like engraving in stone." A child's memory is like a sponge; it absorbs everything that we teach the child, or like a smart camera, it captures all the images that it sees. We also know that when we train the memory to memorize at a younger age, it retains these images and words, and it plants them in the child's mind and imagination in a way that he will not forget them even after he grows to maturity especially if the reading and listening passages are in the form of songs that rhyme which also facilitate the process of memorization, repetition, and retention. All this is in addition to the priceless time of pure enjoyment which you as parents can spend with your children without being occupied with secondary mundane problems related to business and life. This is the reason why I wrote these songs. My hope is that you yourselves will enjoy them and read them aloud to your children many times and help them to memorize them and understand them and also explain to them the embedded cultural background pertaining to life in general and village life in particular. Furthermore, in order to facilitate the process of reading and comprehension, I also transliterated every song so that those who understand Arabic, but cannot read it, can still use and enjoy this book. Best wishes for enjoyable times with your precious children. George Nicolas El-Hage, Ph.D.

Throughout the better part of his brief life (1926-1964), Sayyab was haunted with the idea of death, the afterlife, mortality and immortality. At the end of his earthly journey, Badr made peace with himself, and thereby reconciled the two seemingly contradictory aspects of "Life" and "Death." He conquered death by humanizing it, mastering his fear of it, and by surrendering to his fate as the ultimate rest for an ailing and constantly deteriorating body. Although never an existentialist, Sayyab, at one point, entertained the idea of embracing "Existentialism," surmising that it might have the philosophical answer to his existential problem: how far and how high will he be able to carry the rock of Sisyphus? How long will his battle with destiny last and who will prevail? Sayyab was immensely in love with life, yet his poetry and personal letters ironically convey a different message and are colored with the dark clouds of dejection, frustration, loneliness, exile and poverty. These selected letters in English translation shed new light on the catastrophic life of this tragic hero and highlight important aspects of his otherwise, private moments and inner thoughts that he shared with a few elite friends that he had in Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and England such as Adunis, Khalil Hawi, Youssef al-Khal, Suhail Idris, Albert Adeeb, and Ali al-Sabti. This is the story of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab in his own words without embellishment. In translating these letters, I tried to be as faithful as possible to the original Arabic text and to the meaning that I believe the poet intended. These letters are organized in chronological order and provide us with a clear image of the development and maturity of Badr both as a human being and a poet. I sincerely hope that the translation of these selected letters into English will present new material useful for Sayyab's students and scholars.

For the first time in English, here is the complete picture of Ameen al-Rihani at his best: poet, writer, philosopher, traveler, diplomat, Arab nationalist, politician, historian, teacher, son, brother, lover, friend, spiritualist, social reformer, and patriot.From 1896 to 1940 the world was busy corresponding with Ameen al-Rihani. These letters are a biographical testament that allows us to accompany Ameen throughout the better part of his life's journey and see the world as he saw it and also see him and his world through the eyes of a multitude of his contemporaries.These letters are valid historical documents that shed light on a critical bygone era of our national history, Arab identity, and place on the stage of world affairs. They highlight some of the major events that shaped history and sealed the fate of certain nations at the turn of the twentieth century. Among the authors of these documents are kings, presidents, sheiks, bishops and government officials. There are world renowned Orientalists, professors, authors, poets, writers, journalists, critics, and historians. Inside is also an illustrated pilgrimage to al-Rihani's home and museum. (Full Color Edition)

In Nizar Qabbani's own words: "This book in which I have collected some of my dialogues with the press... and excerpts from TV interviews concerning the topic of women... is simply an attempt to correct the old picture that has been engraved in people's memory about me... hoping to replace it with a more modern image and also more humane... After forty years of wandering across the regions of poetry and women...I feel that my image in people's minds is still cloudy, confused, and veiled with colors that are blended and intermingled... In spite of what is being said about me... that I am the most widely read poet from the Gulf to the Ocean...I continue to feel that I am also the saddest poet from the Gulf to the Ocean...I still feel that out there... there are those who still read me wrongly... understand me wrongly... and even those who slaughter me wrongly...I do understand that choosing women as a primary subject matter for poetry is a difficult choice... that even choosing women as a topic of discussion is in itself a taboo... and that he who touches a woman's hand is like one who touches a burning coal... I also know that getting involved in a relationship with a beautiful woman in my country is like getting involved in a smuggling operation... or like robbing a bank."

Mabrouk. Congratulations. You have chosen to study Arabic, one of the most beautiful, musical and enduring Classical languages of the world. This book is intended to be used as a primary textbook and consists of two parts: the primary textbook (Part One) and a secondary reader which contains "The Story of Sami and Warda" (Part Two). (Downloadable audio files are available for Part Two). Part One incorporates the lessons of Part Two. Together, the two parts of the textbook provide a complete course in Arabic at both the elementary and intermediate levels. However, Mabrouk can also be used to supplement any textbook already adopted by a language program or department. The book can serve as a comprehensive workbook due to its unprecedented number of exercises and practice material available for students to sharpen their skills. The book focuses on proficiency in all of the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. The emphasis is on both fluency and accuracy, the two most important goals for any foreign language student. In this book, lessons are presented in a diversified way to keep students interested, focused and productive. Students are exposed to a generous number of practical applications for every grammatical rule, yet the complex and multiple rules that govern the Arabic language are introduced in a very simplified and clear way that is direct and intentionally made easy. All you need to know about Arabic grammar rules and application is presented here and explained in a language easy to understand and use. The book also focuses on vocabulary building and usage of the most commonly used words today. As such, Mabrouk becomes an indispensable book for any dedicated teacher and serious student of Arabic. Students and teachers alike have all of the supplementary practice material they need for a complete course of study at both the elementary and intermediate levels.

During the Middle Ages, the Arabs ruled the civilized world. They succeeded in conquering Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Mesopotamia and Africa, parts of China, Spain, Sicily, Portugal, Turkey, Persia, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. Had they not been stopped by Charles Martel at the famous and decisive battle of Tours-Poitiers in 732 A.D., the Arab conquest of the West would have spread into France and beyond and, consequently, would have changed the face of Europe and perhaps even shaped the modern world altogether. This book, in two carefully selected volumes, is intended to be a short history of Arabic literature. It provides the teacher with a quick summary and gives the beginning student a broad overview in chronological sequence of the historical and literary accomplishments of the Arab people from pre-Islamic times up to the Modern Era. Volume One covers the period from pre-Islamic Arabia to the end of the 'Abbaasid Era. Volume Two covers the period from the Arabs' occupation of Spain to the Modern Era. Of course, there already exist many excellent books that deal with this subject matter; however, the uniqueness and usefulness of this book (which is also presented to the curious and casual reader of Middle Eastern literature, especially if he is able to also read Arabic) lies in the fact that it not only provides interesting and didactic reading material, but it also has the following features that other similar books do not have: 1. The scope and timeline are so broad and comprehensive and spans the period from 500 A.D. - 1984 A.D., all between the covers of one book in two volumes. 2. The generous number of samples of poetry and prose selections from every poet or author mentioned in this book is included here in these two volumes in the original Arabic to illustrate the text and support the discussion on every poet and writer. Hence, the student of Arabic does not have to go searching for poetry or prose examples in order to understand or support an argument. In this way, he can immediately learn to appreciate a particular poet's poetry or writing.

This concise book on Gibran is meant to be a quick but informative read that affords the Gibran scholar and student alike some useful information that may not be easily available, and if so, is buried in the midst of the massive volumes of biographies and criticism on Gibran. The title is intended to raise questions about scholarship pertaining to Gibran's life and to query certain critics about the authenticity of their information and sources.The book is divided into six chapters: three are in English and three are in Arabic. I have also included my translation into English of the original Arabic text of Gibran's Unpublished Letters to Archbishop Antonious Bashir. These letters shed light on an otherwise obscure corner of Gibran's personality and scholarship. Although Gibran belongs to two distinct worlds and two different alphabets, he succeeded through his global message of love and peace to create harmony between civilizations and unity between languages. He combined the best of the East and of the West and lived a life of simplicity and dignity. Gibran is considered to be the poet who truly modernized Arabic poetry and infused it with a new breed of ideas and words. He created a stylistic revolution that revitalized the Arabic language and set it on a new course worthy of its magnificent heritage. As for his adopted language, he certainly enriched the English language with a stream of thought and style that is only reminiscent of certain books of the Bible. Next to his mentor, William Blake, Gibran stands out as the poet of the Bible par excellance.

In Arabic literature and philosophy, mysticism is one of the most significant traditions. The fountainhead of Sufism in Islam is still a debatable issue. The Persians had many famous mystic poets. Arabic literature has only one great mystical poet of pure Arabic descent worthy to stand next to the Persian masters: Sharaf ad-Din 'Umar Ibn 'Ali as-Sa'di, known as Ibn al-Farid, or the Notary's Son (1181-1253), who was born in Cairo. He was dedicated from early manhood to the mystic's method of withdrawal from the world. He was utterly satisfied in later life to remember with ecstatic pleasure the pilgrimage he had made to Mecca, and to meditate upon the union with the spirit of the Prophet which he had then experienced. Ibn al-Farid's Diwan of mystical odes, which was first collected by his grandson, is small in comparison with similar works of Persian mystics. The Diwan could be viewed as a collection of homogeneous poems expressing the ecstasy and longing of a devoted lover to become one with his beloved. It is equally conspicuous to assume that with the exception of the "Khamriyya" and "The Poem of the Way", the bulk of Ibn al-Farid's Diwan should be read simply as love poetry void of any mystical and spiritual overtones. In the mean time, it would equally be an exaggeration to adopt Nabulsi's argument which maintains that Ibn al-Farid did not harbor a thought without spiritual implications. Ibn al-Farid's Diwan may well be considered "a miracle of literary accomplishments." If all critics seem to agree that "al-Ta'iyyatu'l-Kubra" is his masterpiece, we can safely say that the "Khamriyya" is the second "jewel" in the collection. It is a masterpiece in its own right, and one of the longest poems after "The Poem of the Way". In this piece, every word is transparent. Every word is a world bathing in tradition, carrying two meanings or more. The symbolism of "Khamriyya" is not to be found in any other poem of the poet's collection. Love is the "wine of life"; the "Khamriyya" dedicated to this divine wine, stands in its own right as an incomparable masterpiece in the history of Arabic mystical poetry.

The Register of Repentance is comprised of four short stories and a play. It vividly records the political, religious, and social tragedies that the people of the East endured at the beginning of the twentieth century. These tragedies, regardless of their complexities and grave consequences, seem to always collide with the wall of Destiny as they reach the point of no return where the protagonists are forced to face the inevitable state of repentance that causes them to become rebels and rejectionists refusing to submit to the status quo which they were unable to accept or to change. Unfortunately, their regrets and repentance remain mute and ineffective because they came rather late and overdue to affect a difference in anyone's life including their own. Consequently, this book traces the various states of delayed regrets and belated apologies and brilliantly portrays the lives of the characters that lived in these situations and endured such tragedies. In this book, as well as throughout his entire career as a free thinker and philosopher, Al-Rihani promotes the right of every individual to live with dignity and freedom and assume full responsibility for his feelings and deeds. He believed that every individual should struggle to maintain his honor, pride, and self-respect even under the most difficult circumstances because submitting to evil is not an option for the "Greater Man" that the author wanted each of us to become. Viewed in its proper historical context, the book emerges as an authentic document that achieves twofold advantages: first, and in a broader sense, it depicts the struggle of every individual in this world when he is confronted with a choice to make between good and evil and focuses on events that oscillate between historical, ancient, and others that were contemporary to the author himself. Second, the book should be evaluated as a literary document that heralded the birth of the short story, novel, and play in the course of modern Arabic literature at the beginning of the twentieth century. Needless to state, al-Rihani was a pioneer in this domain. Another value of this book is that it remains valid today as an authentic document symbolically representing our current political and social reality.Sharif Effendi, Nebuchadnezzar, Abdel Hamid, Taoufik Zaidoun, and the unnamed conqueror in the last story are all live prototypes, who suffered under the ever-increasing worry and anxiety that modern man experienced starting in the middle of the twentieth century, and who endured the existential dilemmas that civilization brought to his world and imposed on his moral fiber and tortured soul.

This book is dedicated to all immigrants and children of immigrants. The book contains eight letters in English with the original Arabic version included as well. These eight letters are in fact a personal account of my feelings as a father, an immigrant, and a poet, towards my son. They are an emotional register of the dilemma of alienation, exile and loneliness that faces every immigrant, Lebanese or not, who, for various circumstances, leaves his or her country and emigrates abroad. These letters are a private record, a personal portrayal of my inner struggle. I put it out there in hopes that it may mirror the experience of many other immigrants and highlight their attachment to their first born in a foreign country with the feeling of joy mixed with guilt of attempting to raise a child without the support of family while desperately trying to provide a connection with the customs, traditions and culture from which the immigrant descended. It is my hope that any Lebanese, Arab or other immigrant families read their own reflection in these letters. (Black and White Edition)

Love Surpassed bespeaks of a state of mixed blessings, a state of ultimate and extreme emotions where you stand face to face against a multitude of uncontrolled and raw feelings able to sway you in either direction, towards safety or towards the abyss. This is a place of uncharted territory where you experience love in its purest and undefiled form. Love can offer absolute bliss, redemption and ecstasy or it can bring forth the ultimate tragedy: annihilation, self-sacrifice, and melancholy. Love can lift you up to a "Higher Innocence" and absolve you and baptize you in the waters of the Holy River; thus, cleansing you from the mud of bitter experience and the suffering of regret and sin. But ultimately the act of redemption must come from within you. This is the state of love that is bold like an arrow and sharp like a sword. Love in its genesis and place of origin is brutal because it is most honest. It does not compromise, does not negotiate, and does not conciliate. It is one with the truth, the ultimate certainty, and nothing more. This is the love that hurts because it cures. It offends because it exposes shortcomings. It sees all because it penetrates to the depths of the soul and supersedes our innermost thoughts, feelings and intentions before they become influenced by our Machiavellian reality. Surpassed love is a state where you encounter the Absolute, the extreme, and the most punishing of emotions. This is where you meet "Almustafa and Los," and they may speak to you if you are worthy of this gift. They will speak of love whose: "ways are hard and steep...The sword hidden among his pinions may wound you... His voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden. For even as love crowns you, so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth, so is he for your pruning. Even as he ascends to your height, so shall he descend to your roots and shake them...He grinds you to whiteness...He kneads you until you are pliant...Then he assigns you to his sacred fire... But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure, then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor, into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears...Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself... But if you love, and must needs have desires... know the pain of too much tenderness... be wounded by your own understanding of love... bleed willingly and joyfully." Know that Love is a gift. It is ecstasy. It is gratitude and beatitude. And know that "Energy is Eternal Delight." And that "he who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence."

On the pages of this book al-Rihani emerges as a critic, social reformer, scientist, national hero, and above all, as an Arab nationalist who wants desperately to awaken the zeal and passion in the hearts and minds of Arab poets who have grown accustomed to what Ameen calls, "the poetry of tears." Instead, he believes these poets should adopt the poetry of revolt or at a minimum the poetry of commitment to a national cause that calls for "civil disobedience" in the face of the Mandatory Powers who were exploiting the meekness, dependency and submissiveness of the occupied Arab nations and capitalizing on the Arabs' tears and moans in order to spread their reign and consolidate their influence. Al-Rihani wants to lead his colleagues to a new horizon where poetry excites and angers and where words metamorphose into daggers and become a loud call for action.

For the first time in English this important book on Khalil Hawi is now available with an introduction and notes. In addition to the translator's introduction and the English translation of the original thirty-one letters, this book includes (in Arabic) a poem dedicated to the memory of Hawi and a two-part article (in Arabic) that explains Hawi's poetic universe. There is also a personal biography of Hawi, the only such account dictated by Khalil Hawi himself. Hawi was a very private man. He guarded his privacy with extreme secrecy. What he chose to reveal of himself publicly was a very different persona from the real man behind the mask that he displayed to the outside world. The image that he presented was of a happy and content man whose laughter was unmistakably loud and reverberated like the sound of bells on the tower of the ancient church in Duhur al-Shuweir. He was also the important, well respected, yet humble professor at the American University of Beirut. He was the avant-garde pioneer poet of Modern Arabic Poetry whose reputation and fame reached the widest audience in the Arab world. He was also the well-attired, elegant and sociable man who was always surrounded by friends, admirers, students and followers. In contrast, these pages reveal some of the most intimate and private moments in his life that he probably would have liked to keep undisclosed. Here, Hawi is vulnerable, sentimental, sometimes meek and emotional, sometimes overwhelmed and burdened, sick, conflicted, extremely lonely, irritable, judgmental and concerned with his reputation and his status as a major pioneer poet in the Arab world. In spite of all this, it is also clearly evident that what we know of Khalil, the man and the human being, and what we admire about Hawi, the poet, is unmistakably manifested throughout these letters. Furthermore, like most of his contemporaries, the illustrious intellectuals, poets and thinkers of his time, Hawi was politically involved, doctrinally engaged and actively committed. His passionate beliefs ultimately led to his personal demise.

Love Surpassed bespeaks of a state of mixed blessings, a state of ultimate and extreme emotions where you stand face to face against a multitude of uncontrolled and raw feelings able to sway you in either direction, towards safety or towards the abyss. This is a place of uncharted territory where you experience love in its purest and undefiled form. Love can offer absolute bliss, redemption and ecstasy or it can bring forth the ultimate tragedy: annihilation, self-sacrifice, and melancholy. Love can lift you up to a "Higher Innocence" and absolve you and baptize you in the waters of the Holy River; thus, cleansing you from the mud of bitter experience and the suffering of regret and sin. But ultimately the act of redemption must come from within you. This is the state of love that is bold like an arrow and sharp like a sword. Love in its genesis and place of origin is brutal because it is most honest. It does not compromise, does not negotiate, and does not conciliate. It is one with the truth, the ultimate certainty, and nothing more. This is the love that hurts because it cures. It offends because it exposes shortcomings. It sees all because it penetrates to the depths of the soul and supersedes our innermost thoughts, feelings and intentions before they become influenced by our Machiavellian reality. Surpassed love is a state where you encounter the Absolute, the extreme, and the most punishing of emotions. This is where you meet "Almustafa and Los," and they may speak to you if you are worthy of this gift. They will speak of love whose: "ways are hard and steep...The sword hidden among his pinions may wound you... His voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden. For even as love crowns you, so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth, so is he for your pruning. Even as he ascends to your height, so shall he descend to your roots and shake them...He grinds you to whiteness...He kneads you until you are pliant...Then he assigns you to his sacred fire... But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure, then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor, into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears...Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself... But if you love, and must needs have desires... know the pain of too much tenderness... be wounded by your own understanding of love... bleed willingly and joyfully." Know that Love is a gift. It is ecstasy. It is gratitude and beatitude. And know that "Energy is Eternal Delight." And that "he who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence." (Black and White Edition)

What do you give a woman who herself is a gift to this needy world? What do you give a woman who has everything: beauty, love, peace, tranquility, contentment, faith, goodness, and kindness? If you were chosen to be in her company and loved by her, you may only give her your everlasting love and devotion, and address her in the language of prophecy, the language of the gods, which is poetry, poetry made of eternal words, dipped in perpetual feelings, and forged in faithfulness and constant loyalty because the Word was in the beginning, and the voice of God descended into the Word and became flesh, and because true feelings are the breath of the gods, and loyalty is the essence of friendship and love. Only a woman like her can command the stars, calm the oceans, teach the birds to sing, the strings to quiver, and the human hearts to bow in worship. Admittedly, some of these poems were written even before I met Mary Ann in person. They were conceived in anticipation of that first encounter with my soulmate. She was always a part of me because she existed within me: first, as an idea, and then, as an inspiration that filled my mind and my soul. Other poems were envisioned after we had met and after we were united in eternal love. Why poetry and love? Because love is the poetry of life, and everything else is prose. Because poetry is the language of prophecy spoken by the angels and gods when they populated this earth before the fall. Hence, the poet is the offspring of that divine race that has since departed our planet to the lofty skies. Man will never regain his divine status until he embraces his spirituality. Consequently, we must use language differently. We have to say less and mean more before we can communicate effectively. Words should be spontaneous and timeless. They are meant to be charged with emotions and to embody visions that illuminate experience and communicate nothing but the truth. The poet is not a prophet if prophecy is understood to be the prediction of future events, but the poet should be viewed as a seer, if instead, prophecy is meant to be a warning that if man continues doing such negative deeds, then the end result will be dire. Although poetry can be national or regional, nevertheless, it shall never be divorced from its universal message and concerns. Man and humanity are the concerns of poetry. Of course, this implies love, emotions and feelings, both spiritual and physical. True, the spiritual is divine, but also the physical is important because "energy is eternal delight." It is within this context that I wrote these poems to Mary Ann, and I hope that they will help make our world a better place, one word at a time.

Tawfiq Yusuf Awwad (1911-1989) was a Lebanese author born in the town of Bharsaf, in the Metn District, in Mount Lebanon. His career spanned eight decades of literary, diplomatic, and political activities. He was a diplomat, a lawyer, a journalist, an essayist, a poet, a short story writer, a novelist, and an ambassador. He lived through three major wars and witnessed the Suez Canal crisis. Tragedy accompanied him since his birth with the outbreak of the First World War, which was later followed by the Second World War, and almost three decades later, in 1975 by the Lebanese Civil War. Throughout this book, Awwad's characters are the embodiment of the real tragic hero. They are people who are touched by the hand of evil, overshadowed by bad luck and ill fortune, and upon whom the sun did not shine, and life did not smile. They are tragic figures who were doomed, not necessarily because of particular crimes which they had committed, but mostly because they were born under an unlucky star. They were perhaps weak, indecisive, and overwhelmed by circumstances, which either drove them to madness or caused their demise, or they were allowed to endure these tragic events only to regret their actions or inaction for the rest of their lives. Awwad admittedly chose the novel and the short story as his preferred literary genre over other types of literature such as poetry. He was a gifted storyteller and a keen observer of human nature, who was inspired by life at large, and in particular, by the experiences, observations, and events of his own personal life which was marred by tragedy, hunger, death, and the cruelty and destruction of war which he witnessed firsthand. He chose the streets of Beirut as his muse and lifted his tableaus and representations from the tragic lives of the people who walked those streets, depicting the heartbreaking events which they suffered and endured. Although these characters are confined to a certain city, a particular district, or a well-known street in Lebanon, nevertheless, they are universal and three dimensional. As a novelist, Awwad remains a recognized pioneer of this literary genre in Lebanon and in the Middle East.

Only a man of the caliber and the stature of Ameen al-Rihani, who commands such international respect and fame and who feels comfortable and at home in the company of great men like himself, can write a book like this. He was a self-made man, who walked in the company of geniuses, prophets, kings, and presidents, and who dined in palaces while still being able to enjoy a piece of dry bread and some olives with peasants and farmers. He climbed the Empire State Building, walked on the hot sands of Arabia, and drank from the cold and natural water gushing from the fountains near the majestic cedars of Lebanon. Al-Rihani was greater than titles, larger than life, and superior to positions and ranks. The characters in this book are select men and women who measure up to al-Rihani's own standards of integrity, honor, and honesty, and who served their nations as well as humanity selflessly and immensely, and contributed to the advancement of man's life here and in the hereafter. They served as beacons and guiding lights for their fellow citizens and the citizens of the world. Their lives were open books to be studied, and their deeds were examples to be emulated in our attempt to bring peace and prosperity to humankind across the universe. In Ameen's words, these are the "diggers" on both sides of the mountain of separation and division, of selfishness, greed, and oppression, who will dig up the tunnel of light and meet each other half-way on the road leading to unity, harmony, and excellence. They are the fountains of hope for all seekers of freedom, brotherhood, and peace.

Dear Parents, We all know the importance of reading to children, for as the proverb says: "Learning at a younger age is like engraving in stone." A child's memory is like a sponge; it absorbs everything that we teach the child, or like a smart camera, it captures all the images that it sees. We also know that when we train the memory to memorize at a younger age, it retains these images and words, and it plants them in the child's mind and imagination in a way that he will not forget them even after he grows to maturity especially if the reading and listening passages are in the form of songs that rhyme which also facilitate the process of memorization, repetition, and retention. All this is in addition to the priceless time of pure enjoyment which you as parents can spend with your children without being occupied with secondary mundane problems related to business and life. This is the reason why I wrote these songs. My hope is that you yourselves will enjoy them and read them aloud to your children many times and help them to memorize them and understand them and also explain to them the embedded cultural background pertaining to life in general and village life in particular. Furthermore, in order to facilitate the process of reading and comprehension, I also transliterated every song so that those who understand Arabic, but cannot read it, can still use and enjoy this book. Best wishes for enjoyable times with your precious children. George Nicolas El-Hage, Ph.D.

Dear Parents, We all know the importance of reading to children, for as the proverb says: "Learning at a younger age is like engraving in stone." A child's memory is like a sponge; it absorbs everything that we teach the child, or like a smart camera, it captures all the images that it sees. We also know that when we train the memory to memorize at a younger age, it retains these images and words, and it plants them in the child's mind and imagination in a way that he will not forget them even after he grows to maturity especially if the reading and listening passages are in the form of songs that rhyme which also facilitate the process of memorization, repetition, and retention. All this is in addition to the priceless time of pure enjoyment which you as parents can spend with your children without being occupied with secondary mundane problems related to business and life. This is the reason why I wrote these songs. My hope is that you yourselves will enjoy them and read them aloud to your children many times and help them to memorize them and understand them and also explain to them the embedded cultural background pertaining to life in general and village life in particular. Furthermore, in order to facilitate the process of reading and comprehension, I also transliterated every song so that those who understand Arabic, but cannot read it, can still use and enjoy this book. Best wishes for enjoyable times with your precious children. George Nicolas El-Hage, Ph.D.

Al-Rihani's book, The Muleteer and the Priest, summarizes his position on the clergy and their role. Placed in its proper historical context, this novella is revolutionary in its content, topic and message. It is clear that the muleteer, the immigrant returning from America, is the mouthpiece for the author himself, while the priest stands for all the clergy. In this book, al-Rihani emerges as a social and religious reformer at his best. He ultimately helps Father Yusuf to redeem himself and become a true and enlightened human being, spiritually elevated and morally correct. The muleteer, a prophet in his own right, an honest and enlightened soul, awakens the consciousness of the priest to al-Rihani's message that recalls the teachings of both Blake and Emerson: " Everything that lives is Holy," and "Man is a god in ruins." The muleteer teaches the priest the true meaning of Christ's ministry and message. He shows him that organized religion is corrupt and that only true and sincere spiritual enlightenment leads to the Kingdom of Heaven. Every human being is sacred and, as Gibran said: "You are your own priest... the church is within you." The priest, who would become a muleteer, denounces his old ways and adopts the words of abu Tannous after he realizes that such are the true teachings of the Bible. Abu Tannous, who speaks for the author, also personifies the characters of some prophets of the Old Testament. When under the flame of inspiration and Heavenly Guidance, he reaches the peak of human perfection and becomes capable of performing miracles and causing changes by stepping into history and altering the course of events. He is certainly the forerunner of Khalid, the Enlightened One, who reached his Over Soul, his Greater Self, the God-Head within himself. All the teachings of the American Transcendentalists, of Gibran, Blake, and Naimy, and the message of the New Testament are summoned here and summarized in the voice of abu Tannous (al-Rihani), the clear voice of prophecy that leads to the only path of redemption and salvation. As a Unitarian, Al-Rihani believed that all prophets: "Confucius, Buddha, Zarathustra, Socrates, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Bahaullah, Mary Baker Edde, and many others" came from one source. Al-Rihani believed that life had no value without its aspiration towards the "Greater Love," the "Love of Nature, Love of Humanity, and Love of God." Only such formidable love will liberate us and bring forth the Godliness within us. Our faith in God does not negate our belief in science. It is the mission of science to uncover and solve the spiritual secrets that man can only experience through faith.

(*NEW* - Downloadable audio files are now available at this link: http: //www.georgenicolasel-hage.com/marhaba-a-course-in-levantine-arabic---lebanese-dialect.html). This book is a basic, direct and self-guided handbook to learn Levantine dialect. It is a simple, easy to use textbook for both the motivated student and teacher alike. It is useful for beginners with no knowledge of Arabic and for those who have had about a semester or two of either dialect or MSA. It is particularly helpful for people who are going to travel to the Levant for the first time or those who have lived there for a while and need to master and reinforce what they have learned. The book is designed for foreign students who have little or no knowledge of Arabic, formal or informal. It can be used by students themselves on their own, or with the help of an instructor or a tutor. Basically every word is introduced in three forms: Arabic form, transliteration form and English meaning. A beginner non-native who only desires to speak and communicate orally can rely on transliteration and English, while a more experienced student, a heritage student or a non-native with a year of exposure to Arabic who can read and has learned some basic survival vocabulary, may also benefit from the Arabic script and the grammatical notes available in the book. Even if you are well versed in MSA, you still need to have this book. You may already be able to read the newspaper headlines or listen to the news and read a street sign, but it will sound very awkward to use MSA when you meet and greet someone, need a taxi, ask for directions, bargain and negotiate, open a bank account, order a meal or a sandwich, chat with someone in the street or in a café, enter a supermarket or a store, ask for the time, or make an appointment and get to know someone on a personal or even professional level, etc. The book is divided into 72 sections, and 24 lessons, mainly by topic. Each section contains pertinent vocabulary needed and used when dealing with the situation at hand. So if you are looking for a word about clothing, or medicine, for example, you simply look in that particular section. There are also sufficient exercises in translation with answers provided for you to doublecheck and verify your knowledge. Do the exercise first before you look up the answer. Continuously test yourself, memorize new words, read and speak out loud even when you are alone and pick the brain of a native friend or acquaintance. Lebanese, and Arabs in general, are impressed when you attempt to speak Arabic with them. They will go out of their way to help you and make your acquaintance. However, they will also try first to practice their English or French with you. Most of them are bilingual or even trilingual. Do not fall for this. Insist on using your Arabic first. The best way to learn a foreign language is through total immersion. Go ahead, immerse yourself. You will be forced to float. Drowning is not an option. You are too smart to drown. Study this book, and find a group of natives to chat with. Better yet, visit Lebanon and have some maza, tabbouli and araq. Then, we'll talk. Do not be afraid to make mistakes. Keep on trying. Practice makes perfect.

This book is a companion book to marHaba II. Due to the popular demand from numerous readers and students, especially those who are independent and highly motivated, self-taught learners, I have agreed to publish this book which contains the English translation and transliteration for every one of the 28 lessons in marHaba II. In the transliteration section, although written in Roman letters, I did not observe the protocol of capitalization of words; instead, and as expected, I followed the transliteration code and practice to highlight the different letters of the Arabic alphabet that are listed in the "Legend" and that have no exact equivalent in English. In translating the lessons, I tried to be literal, true to the original meaning, unless the wording totally made no sense in English. In a case like this, I translated the gist of the meaning, the spirit of the content, while providing the individual literal meaning of key words in the vocabulary list of every lesson which is included in the actual textbook. Hence, these English lessons (texts) are here to facilitate the understanding of the original Arabic lessons and should not be treated as independent literary lessons in their own right. I guess the same can be said about the transliterated portion of this book. Furthermore, please note that in dialect, much more than in MSA, popular sayings, idioms, and proverbs are naturally embedded in the colloquial speech and are freely used by the native population because they are closer to people's lives, daily experience, and more expressive of their heartfelt feelings and emotions. In translating such popular expressions, you cannot be literal; instead, the gist and the intended meaning should be conveyed.

Said Akl is considered one of Lebanon's, as well as the Arab world's, most prominent modern poets who tremendously contributed to the advancement of Modern Arabic Poetry and thought. He was widely known, read, celebrated, and respected not only in Lebanon, but across the Middle East and the world. He was a self-taught poet, educator, storyteller, playwright, philosopher, historian, theologist, lecturer, and linguist. His command of the classical Arabic language was superb and unparalleled, and his knowledge of classical Arabic poetry and prosody, ancient history, the Holy Quran, and the Holy Bible, in addition to ancient mythology and religions, was encyclopedic and qualified him to speak about such matters with authority and credibility. Said Akl formed a school of thought that distinguished his poetry and earned him many followers and disciples. He certainly created a new movement and a unique and influential trend in Modern Arabic Poetry. Said Akl lived for more than a century, and until the end of his life, he remained in control of his intellectual faculties and of his graceful personality. He was born in 1911 in the beautiful town of Zahle, also known as the bride of the Beqaa Region. He died in Beirut in 2014 and was given a formal as well as a popular funeral attended by thousands of admirers including politicians, dignitaries, singers, poets, men of letters, and ranking clergy. He loved his hometown and wanted to model Lebanon after it, and he also wanted to model the world after Lebanon, the Lebanon that he envisioned and portrayed in his poetry and in the book at hand: "When Lebanon Speaks."Throughout the pages of this book, you are transported into a world that oscillates between fact and fantasy, reality and lore, and truth and mythology; it is an enchanted world inhabited not only by ordinary people but also by geniuses, inventors, discoverers, scientists, poets, gods, heroes and heroines, nymphs, worriers, and monsters. You learn that in Lebanon, the country that dates back six thousand years before Christ, women were respected and cherished as political leaders, mighty worriers, mothers and founders of nations, and intellectual thinkers and advisors to emperors and kings.Said Akl is a brilliant storyteller, a dedicated student of history, and a master teacher of men. Consequently, his book is an amazing amalgamation of ancient and modern stories continuing the tradition of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Odyssey, the Iliad, the Aeneid, and the Old and New Testaments. He is similar to the majesty of Aeschylus and other masters of the Greek tragedies. He takes us to a world where nymphs live yearning to communicate with humans and where the interaction between men and gods and the transformation of humans and objects is clearly reminiscent of Ovid's Metamorphoses and the Fables of Aesop, but the framework of the stories, the setting and the backdrop remain the land of Phoenicia, where the immortal Cedars that are as old as time itself were planted by the hand of God, and where God's descendants live and speak the language of the gods. This is where history was made by those who shaped its events and facilitated its narration, not by those who later re-recorded it and twisted it to suit their narrative and their plot.

Rumors abounded concerning the romantic relationship between May Ziyadeh and Ameen al-Rihani: How and when did they meet? How did they correspond? How did they exchange their books and opinions? How did this relationship develop through ebb and flow and ups and down? Rumors also abounded concerning May's tragedy: its causes, circumstances, and conclusion, especially Ameen al-Rihani's role in all of this. This manuscript, "My Story with May" which was published for the first time in 1980, in Arabic, forty years after the death of al- Rihani and thirty nine years after the death of May, is in fact, simply a "Confession and an Apology" as the philosopher of Freike, al-Rihani, puts it. It is also one of the many phases of a loving and sincere autobiography that is interactive between two giant authors of our time. For the first time ever, this book has been translated into English by George Nicolas El-Hage, Ph.D. It is an important addition to al-Rihani scholarship and research.

During the Middle Ages, the Arabs ruled the civilized world. They succeeded in conquering Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Mesopotamia and Africa, parts of China, Spain, Sicily, Portugal, Turkey, Persia, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. Had they not been stopped by Charles Martel at the famous and decisive battle of Tours-Poitiers in 732 A.D., the Arab conquest of the West would have spread into France and beyond and, consequently, would have changed the face of Europe and perhaps even shaped the modern world altogether. This book, in two carefully selected volumes, is intended to be a short history of Arabic literature. It provides the teacher with a quick summary and gives the beginning student a broad overview in chronological sequence of the historical and literary accomplishments of the Arab people from pre-Islamic times up to the Modern Era. Volume One covers the period from pre-Islamic Arabia to the end of the 'Abbaasid Era. Volume Two covers the period from the Arabs' occupation of Spain to the Modern Era. Of course, there already exist many excellent books that deal with this subject matter; however, the uniqueness and usefulness of this book (which is also presented to the curious and casual reader of Middle Eastern literature, especially if he is able to also read Arabic) lies in the fact that it not only provides interesting and didactic reading material, but it also has the following features that other similar books do not have: 1. The scope and timeline are so broad and comprehensive and spans the period from 500 A.D. - 1984 A.D., all between the covers of one book in two volumes. 2. The generous number of samples of poetry and prose selections from every poet or author mentioned in this book is included here in these two volumes in the original Arabic to illustrate the text and support the discussion on every poet and writer. Hence, the student of Arabic does not have to go searching for poetry or prose examples in order to understand or support an argument. In this way, he can immediately learn to appreciate a particular poet's poetry or writing.

These hymns and poems were written between January 1975 and August 1976, mostly during the first year and a half of what has ironically been called the "Lebanese Civil War." The poetry and hymns in this book are an emotionally-charged document that reflects the state of mind of a young Lebanese poet madly in love with Beirut and Lebanon during the seventies when Lebanon was an oasis of fun and was bursting with creativity and positive energy on all fronts: literary, social, economic and political. Beirut was the major capital of literary production in the Middle East. The poetry in this book is a song for Lebanon. It is a celebration of its glory and endurance and a call for the Lebanese to unite. It is a cry in the desert of discontent against those who thought that destroying the previous society would bring about a new age of contentment, only to prove that their vision was wrong and that they were but a "false alarm" that simply caused unimaginable death, destruction, disappointment and sorrow. These hymns are both a praise for what Beirut stood for and represented in the minds and consciousness of the generation of Arab intellectuals and at the same time, they are a eulogy for the city that the Lebanese were unable to protect and preserve because of the many who took it for granted and others who allowed their jealousy and bitter ideologies to put the first nail in its coffin.

Dear Parents, We all know the importance of reading to children, for as the proverb says: "Learning at a younger age is like engraving in stone." A child's memory is like a sponge; it absorbs everything that we teach the child, or like a smart camera, it captures all the images that it sees. We also know that when we train the memory to memorize at a younger age, it retains these images and words, and it plants them in the child's mind and imagination in a way that he will not forget them even after he grows to maturity especially if the reading and listening passages are in the form of songs that rhyme which also facilitate the process of memorization, repetition, and retention. All this is in addition to the priceless time of pure enjoyment which you as parents can spend with your children without being occupied with secondary mundane problems related to business and life. This is the reason why I wrote these songs. My hope is that you yourselves will enjoy them and read them aloud to your children many times and help them to memorize them and understand them and also explain to them the embedded cultural background pertaining to life in general and village life in particular. Furthermore, in order to facilitate the process of reading and comprehension, I also transliterated every song so that those who understand Arabic, but cannot read it, can still use and enjoy this book. Best wishes for enjoyable times with your precious children. George Nicolas El-Hage, Ph.D.

This book is a validation of Gibran's deep faith in God and his absolute devotion to the personality of "Our Brother Jesus" as he understood it. Here is Gibran at his best ---- as a rebel against the corruption of the church, the exploitation of the poor, and the abuse of the meek at the hands of the unholy trinity: "the priest, the prince, and the rich man." The universe that Gibran erected and populated with characters forged out of his own imagination is parallel to the world created by his mentor, William Blake. It is a unique cosmos of love and light far removed from the nihilistic and dark vision imposed by Nietzsche on a godless world. In the world of both poets-prophets, Blake and Gibran, God is very much alive. He is in command. He is kind and almost human in His qualities and attributes. Gibran called Blake "The God-man." While he admired Nietzsche's "form," Gibran argued that the author of "Zarathustra" was not original in his thinking like Blake and that his philosophy was "terrible and all wrong."

For the first time in English, here is the complete picture of Ameen al-Rihani at his best: poet, writer, philosopher, traveler, diplomat, Arab nationalist, politician, historian, teacher, son, brother, lover, friend, spiritualist, social reformer, and patriot. From 1896 to 1940 the world was busy corresponding with Ameen al-Rihani. These letters are a biographical testament that allows us to accompany Ameen throughout the better part of his life's journey and see the world as he saw it and also see him and his world through the eyes of a multitude of his contemporaries. These letters are valid historical documents that shed light on a critical bygone era of our national history, Arab identity, and place on the stage of world affairs. They highlight some of the major events that shaped history and sealed the fate of certain nations at the turn of the twentieth century. Among the authors of these documents are kings, presidents, sheiks, bishops and government officials. There are world renowned Orientalists, professors, authors, poets, writers, journalists, critics, and historians. Inside is also an illustrated pilgrimage to al-Rihani's home and museum. (Black and White Edition)