Arabic haiku: bridging poetry and Zen
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Haider Abdullah’s book, “Mihakat Dhi al-Rumma: The Thesis of the Arabic Haiku,” proposes a form for haiku poetry rooted in Arabic poetic traditions and Islamic mysticism.
Abdullah builds a bridge between Japanese and Arabic poetry, drawing on the influence of Zen Buddhism and Sufism.
The book, spanning 312 pages of theory, application, and poetic evaluation, demonstrates how Arabic prosody can adapt to the rhythms of Japanese haiku, lending the idea an aesthetic quality and providing Arabic haiku poets with a formal framework. The author explores the underlying motivations behind poetic forms, noting that while Sufism and Zen share spiritual practices, they differ in their ultimate goals, a connection to a transcendent creator versus a natural dissolution without a deity.
This difference shapes the poetic style, as Arabic poetry often employs metaphor to reach the divine, while haiku prioritizes directness. Abdullah also contrasts the individual’s relationship to nature, arguing that the Arabic poetic tradition actively engages with and transforms the world, unlike the observational stance of haiku. Ultimately, the author suggests that the essence of poetry lies not in imitating forms but in tapping into fundamental human experiences.
He points to a shared focus on themes of death, isolation, and the meaning of life in both Arabic poetry and existential philosophy, highlighting a difference in approach. Arabic poetry seeks to escape the present moment, while haiku embraces it. The book concludes that the source of poetic expression isn't a borrowed tradition, but the human experience itself.
