Was it still possible to add anything about Al-Mutanabbi, who filled the world and preoccupied the people, throughout these centuries that extended from his birth until now?!.. And did there remain a side of him that had not been studied, examined, and examined in more than one way, nor was it subject to discussion and debate among the fans of this great poet? And between his critics and haters?!..
Al-Mutanabbi is a unique figure in our literary heritage. His lovers, readers, and memorizers of his poetry are more numerous than those who can be counted, and it is too dangerous to clash with them without prior preparation and readiness. They have extensive knowledge of his poetry and many of the stages and details of his life. Their zeal in defending or attacking it is immeasurable. Therefore, the prior image is more binding. The imagined picture of him that they drew for him is too attached to the imagination to be discussed. Its relationship with national identity is more rooted and dangerous. This is what makes attacking him, for many, an attack on one of the nation’s “values and symbols.”
But I am writing about Al-Mutanabbi after I spent two full years reading him, analyzing his poetry, and studying the details of his life in order to write a television series about him. Dramatic writing requires its author to penetrate as much as he can into the souls of his heroes in order to understand them, to imagine them in the situations in which humans might be, and to draw their reactions, with dramatic logic, as human reactions might be. All of this is within the framework of documented historical information.
«المساكين» هو كتاب نثري صِيغَتْ صورُه من آلام النفس الإنسانية في صورة قصصية يرويها لنا الكاتب على لسان الشيخ علي شيخ المساكين، الذي يقصُّ مأساةَ الفقر والعَوَزِ الإنساني في رحاب قصصٍ تحمل الكثير من العِبَر والعِظات الدينية والاجتماعية. ويعرض الرافعي في هذا الكتاب فلسفة الفقر التي يصيغ تفاصيلها بواسطة أدواتٍ من البلاغة الأدبية التي عَهِدْناها منه؛ لأنه المبدع الذي ينظر إلى مأساة الفقر بنظرة الفيلسوف ومداد الأديب الذي يحوِّل مأساة الواقع إلى صورةٍ بلاغية تحوِّل الفقر إلى طاقة إبداعية، تضع الفقر في صفحاتٍ من الحكمة الفلسفية والبلاغة الأدبية
“Honour killings” are described as “a noble name for a despicable act,” and despite the media hype surrounding this type of crime, large segments of the public lack basic information related to it, the context in which it occurs, and its true proportion within society.
Therefore, the book seeks to fill this deficiency by starting from the definition of this type of crime, linking it to the so-called “honorable motive” for the act of killing, and then moving on to shed light on the direct and indirect causes that are hidden behind them. While it also provides a detailed study of the mechanism by which Syrian law deals with this type of crime and the extenuating excuses for it, it then addresses the phenomenon of using minors to carry them out as a means of circumventing the law, the position of international law on this type of crime, and its social dangers, and ends by finally highlighting its presence in Drama, literature, and poetry.
Through this comprehensive book, lawyer and researcher Ahmed Sawan addresses the phenomenon of “murders of women under the pretext of honor” from different angles that are rarely combined in one book.
