Page 62 - Arabian Studies (II)

52 Arabian Studies II

show clemency to Nu‘man and his companions and interceding on
their behalf. He also sent him his outstanding poem ‘Will Nu‘man
be resurrected from his tomb?’ (A-yub ath Nu'man min qabri-hi). In
all this he extolled the Imam in such a way as to dispel the residue of
rancour from his heart. Truly the Imam was well-disposed towards
poetry and the magic of words and had never failed to respond to
them, for all that he was ruthless and tyrannical.
Tiie poets were transferred from the terrible Nafi‘ prison to the
detention centre of Qahirat Hajjah. There, on the summit of that
mountain, in that clean and wholesome atmosphere, heavenly
freedom, poetic release, the kaleidoscopic variety of natural scenery,
especially at sunset - there the poets composed the loveliest of their
poems and the most captivating of their songs. They thought clearly
and taught the youthful among them. They strengthened the bonds
with one another, enriched their minds and increased their knowl­
edge by reading, studying and discussion. They issued the hand­
written journal al-Salwah. A literary group, of which I was chosen by
lot as president, came into being, and we issued another journal to
which we gave the name al-Nadwah\ we undertook the writing out,
editing and technical production of the articles in turn. In it were
discussed social, literary, historical and philosophical topics, but it
never even remotely dealt with politics. So it was possible for it to
circulate outside the prison walls and it had an intellectual impact on
its readers.
There I starting writing my book al-Imam Ahmad, and I sent some
chapters of it to him. Then I addressed to him my poems, al-Tci'iyyat
published in my book of collected verse al-Nafas al-awwal. In
consequence of this I was released in 1952 to go to Hudaydah after
few years which, from a literary point of view, could not be
described as a lean time. What happened after that is described in
detail in my Memoirs.
It was at Qahirat Hajjah that the learned scholar and poet al-Qa<JT
‘Abd al-Rahman al-Iryanl, till recently Chairman of the Republican
Council, in collaboration with his colleague the learned scholar
‘Abdullah al-Aghbarl, now deceased, was able to devote due
attention to the poetry of ‘Abd al-Ral.iman al-AnsT, editing it
carefully and supplying it with a commentary. They then sent it to
Imam Ahmad, who ordered its immediate publication. Thus they
rendered a great service to Humaynl verse and Yemeni literature.
After that the Qadls ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Iryan! and Muhammad b.
‘AIT al-Akwa‘ turned to the Dlwan of collected verse written by
‘Umarah al-Yamanl. I contributed to the clarification of certain
obscure points in it, but I do not know now what has become of that