Middle East Focus: Ayatollah Khamenei and the Poets: no Khayyam or Qabbani or Neruda…….

Arabia Deserta

Ayatollah Khamenei and the Poets: no Khayyam or Qabbani or Neruda…….

Rattlesnake Ridge

BFF

“Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution met today with foreign poets. Speaking at the meeting, His Eminence said that Muslim poets should play a role in Islamic Awakening and increase the insight of the Islamic Ummah with their poetry. "In the poems related to Islamic Awakening, it is necessary to pay special attention to the orientations and lofty goals of this great development, the path that leads to these goals, and the obstacles that the enemies create." His Eminence reiterated: "As far as Islamic Awakening is concerned, it is necessary to pay serious attention to the role of religion and the role of faith in God and Quranic teachings because any movement that relies on religious beliefs will be invulnerable and permanent." The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution described Islamic Awakening……….”

The Ayatollah insists on calling the Arab uprisings an “Islamic awakening”. It is beginning too look like he may be partly right, after all. They are not Islamic except maybe by default. They are Arab uprisings that are mostly degenerating into Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood ‘awakenings”. From Libya to Egypt to Yemen to the Gulf the wild ones are taking over. Very likely they will take over soon in Syria as well, once it is liberated by NATO. Tunisia is the one bright Arab spot and there is hope for Egypt yet. In some cases on the (Persian-American) Gulf they have degenerated into repressive and ugly sectarian and tribal awakenings beholden and loyal to absolute Wahhabi tribal princes.
I wonder if the Ayatollah has ever read anything by Pablo Neruda (Chile: remember the guy in Il Postino?) or Nizar Qabbani (Syria). They were both very “political”, although Neruda was no doubt a more serious one.
No doubt he has read a lot of Omar Khayyam (of Nishapur) in his youth. And who hasn’t read Khayyam (except maybe for members of the Nabati Poets Diwaniya)? I bet he never saw the Robin Williams film either.
Cheers
mhg

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com