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丕賱賴賷丕賲 賮賷 噩賳丕賳 丕賱卮丕賲
Al-huy膩m f墨 千in膩n al-艩膩m (Passion in the Syrian Gardens), a social romance by Sal墨m al-Bust膩n墨, published during 1870 in serialized form in the journal al-铅in膩n, Beirut.
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Published January 1, 1870
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July 23, 2022
I am currently working on a digital edition of this Arabic novel-length social romance from 1870, which has never been published except in bi-weekly installments in the journal al-Jinan. I am digitizing the original print as part of a project on early nahda literature. More details to come, but I have finished the most important step; I have actually finished reading it :)
The narrative is told by a friend of the main character. This protagonist is a rich, intelligent and virtuous young man who loves exploring the lands and seas. He returns to Beirut after travels in Europe, gets tired of the city and continues across the mountains to Damascus where he sees and falls in love with Warda, a young girl of exceeding intelligence, goodness and beauty. Their adventures take them to Palmyra and the Mediterranean, in melodramatic waves of anguish and joy, where separation drives them into the deepest despair while the reunions are ecstatic. The plot serves partly as entertainment but perhaps more importantly as an excuse for the author, Salim al-Bustani, to lecture the reader on courage, morals and love. He argues for female education, condemns arranged marriages, urges his home city of Beirut to move past sectarianism and outdated practices to embrace what he calls the "Spirit of the Time". The text has many downsides. The story is often repetitive and the writing is not always the most engaging. The excessive melodrama where the characters faint, wail, weep and bemoan their mortal lot can be grating. The protagonists are beacons of virtue while the antagonists are one-dimensional evil-doers, ruled by base desires. It is clear that the protagonists are an extension of the author, a young man of the new bourgeoisie, who considers himself an enlightened urban champion of progress in a sea of rural backwardness. However, the text serves as a highly interesting snapshot of the views of a nahda efendi, trying to reason his way into a new future for his people and country, one that avoids both excessive westernization and traditionalism. The format is also highly experimental, starting in traditional saj' rhymes, moving into a style of prose that was certainly novel in its time, then becoming epistolary with the author writing himself into the story. There is a lot to learn from this text, both as a step in the direction of contemporary Arabic literature, but also as an intellectual and emotional time capsule from 1870s Beirut.
The narrative is told by a friend of the main character. This protagonist is a rich, intelligent and virtuous young man who loves exploring the lands and seas. He returns to Beirut after travels in Europe, gets tired of the city and continues across the mountains to Damascus where he sees and falls in love with Warda, a young girl of exceeding intelligence, goodness and beauty. Their adventures take them to Palmyra and the Mediterranean, in melodramatic waves of anguish and joy, where separation drives them into the deepest despair while the reunions are ecstatic. The plot serves partly as entertainment but perhaps more importantly as an excuse for the author, Salim al-Bustani, to lecture the reader on courage, morals and love. He argues for female education, condemns arranged marriages, urges his home city of Beirut to move past sectarianism and outdated practices to embrace what he calls the "Spirit of the Time". The text has many downsides. The story is often repetitive and the writing is not always the most engaging. The excessive melodrama where the characters faint, wail, weep and bemoan their mortal lot can be grating. The protagonists are beacons of virtue while the antagonists are one-dimensional evil-doers, ruled by base desires. It is clear that the protagonists are an extension of the author, a young man of the new bourgeoisie, who considers himself an enlightened urban champion of progress in a sea of rural backwardness. However, the text serves as a highly interesting snapshot of the views of a nahda efendi, trying to reason his way into a new future for his people and country, one that avoids both excessive westernization and traditionalism. The format is also highly experimental, starting in traditional saj' rhymes, moving into a style of prose that was certainly novel in its time, then becoming epistolary with the author writing himself into the story. There is a lot to learn from this text, both as a step in the direction of contemporary Arabic literature, but also as an intellectual and emotional time capsule from 1870s Beirut.
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