#inthearmsof

Musée la Piscine, Roubaix, 2019

Hello :)

I'm glad you liked my addition to the post! The short answer is that there isn't a collection written down by Qays himself, all you can find are collected poems written down centuries after his death. I couldn't find an English translation online to any unfortunately, the one in that post was my translation. There are few books on Amazon however.

Long answer (you don't have to read all this, I just wrote it down and didn't feel like deleting it):

Qays is an ancient Arab poet from pre-Islamic civilization times when Arab people spoke poetry instinctively, most didn't know how to read or write, just spoke the language fluently, even the rules we have for Arabic poetry today didn't exist at the time and were known instinctively by the people (these rules were written centuries later when other peoples started learning Arabic, they were written to preserve the language from forgiven influences). So, Qays' poetry was passed down orally more than anything. Of course, some was written down into books, but that was centuries after his death, even his story has multiple accounts, regardless of what orientalists have written in whatever version they thought was better. I grew up hearing his story from my parents and grandparents, that's why orientalist versions piss me off (overly romantic and exaugurated and I hate them).

That's not to say, however, that Qays' or other ancient Arabic poetry wasn't preserved as it was said. I'm not sure how to explain it, but at that time Arabic poetry was considered a sort of the only form of media there was. Arabic tribes lived in deserts where they would be separated from each other for months on end, the only form of way communication was poetry that was easy to memorize and pass on. For example, in ancient Arabic traditions (that's still practiced in some places today), if a man mentions the name of the woman he loves in his poetry, he wouldn't be allowed to marry her. That's to say, it was considered a sandal for a woman's name to be passed around in poetry among tribes.

yeah i think as a kid i was weirded out by the transition from motherly/older sibling relationship to romantic interest but when i was older and understood more about that trope (esp how common it still is in cishet relationships both fiction and in real life) i became even less interested in the pairing all together. and don’t get me wrong... i love fluffy/cute relationships!! adore them actually!!! i just think that trope was something i could never get over to like k*taang enough

and yeah i made sure to emphasize the FORMER mutual part because as soon as they saw that i had an inkling of interest in zutara they quickly unfollowed me and then!!! to beat a dead horse they made a passive-aggressive post about it so they would make sure i personally knew why they unfollowed me......it was actually hilarious lmao

buttercup : what are five things that make you apologetically happy ? Music, wrestling, biking, poetry, the night sky

calla : what’s your favorite book ? Currently, The Crown Ain't Worth That Much by Hanif Abdurraqib

petunia : where were you ten years ago ? Probably at my sitter's house, eating my lunch far too early

sunflower : what’s your favorite quote ?

We'll go with that one.

said the hammer to the nail

what's worse

#005 // been feeling too much and too little

Hastings // insta