The Collected Poems of Tawfiq al-Hakim

Description

Just as the romantic writer Tawfiq al-Hakim delighted us with his prose works, and just as he lived in our imaginations as a literary figure, we see him in this book as a poet. This collection contains poems written by Tawfiq al-Hakim in Arabic and French, following the modern trend in poetry. They do not adhere to traditional meters or rhyme schemes, but rather flow like a clear spring, pure and free, across the pages of the book. They are always enveloped in tender, profound emotions and ideas soaring in the realms of romance and imagination, as al-Hakim has always accustomed us to in all his literary works. What is also distinctive about this book is that it is not a collection devoid of anything but poems, but includes a concise study by Ibrahim Abdel Aziz on Tawfiq al-Hakim and his poetic experience. This study draws upon the research, writings, and opinions of numerous scholars, writers, and critics, as well as Tawfiq al-Hakim himself. This introduction is essential, extracting the gems from al-Hakim’s literature and selecting observations that open new horizons in our understanding of his work. These are special pages crafted by the “bird” of Arabic literature with his pen and heart—a book whose true worth can only be fully appreciated through reading it.