the perfect post for me to become a subscriber heh.
loved the part about the Portuguese poet. i feel a sense of...detachment, or missing out, in that my skill in the most poetic languages is too little to truly enjoy most of the poetry (arabic and urdu). still, i'm grateful for however much i do understand, for i have my foot through the door, and i'd much rather understand even half a couplet than to not understand at all.
on the topic of urdu poets, i had the most bizarre and serendipitous meeting with an urdu poet in the subway of toronto. he claims to be the sole student of the famous Jaun Elia, having lived with him for over a decade (iirc).
he spent a long time writing his first collection, then somehow ended up meeting Jaun, and long story short, Jaun told him to rip his manuscript and toss it in the bin in front of him if he (Qaisar, the poet i met) wanted to become a real poet and learn from Jaun. And he did just that.
i wrote more about this encounter in one of my first posts, if you're curious to read more.
Thanks for reading, subscribing, and engaging so thoughtfully - I really appreciate it, jazakAllah! And I know what you mean - but like you said at least you still understand some, and you’re young and on a learning journey so iA before you know it you’ll understand the whole thing!
Wow how cool and serendipitous indeed!! Jaun Elia was an icon and that whole story seems like it would make for a killer movie haha. IA I will give it a read soon!
the perfect post for me to become a subscriber heh.
loved the part about the Portuguese poet. i feel a sense of...detachment, or missing out, in that my skill in the most poetic languages is too little to truly enjoy most of the poetry (arabic and urdu). still, i'm grateful for however much i do understand, for i have my foot through the door, and i'd much rather understand even half a couplet than to not understand at all.
on the topic of urdu poets, i had the most bizarre and serendipitous meeting with an urdu poet in the subway of toronto. he claims to be the sole student of the famous Jaun Elia, having lived with him for over a decade (iirc).
he spent a long time writing his first collection, then somehow ended up meeting Jaun, and long story short, Jaun told him to rip his manuscript and toss it in the bin in front of him if he (Qaisar, the poet i met) wanted to become a real poet and learn from Jaun. And he did just that.
i wrote more about this encounter in one of my first posts, if you're curious to read more.
Thanks for reading, subscribing, and engaging so thoughtfully - I really appreciate it, jazakAllah! And I know what you mean - but like you said at least you still understand some, and you’re young and on a learning journey so iA before you know it you’ll understand the whole thing!
Wow how cool and serendipitous indeed!! Jaun Elia was an icon and that whole story seems like it would make for a killer movie haha. IA I will give it a read soon!
Truly, truly moving! Your storytelling keeps your voice alive in the hearts of your readers.
i so appreciate that ramisha! thank you 💕💕
I bet your parents never tire of telling the story of how they met!
It very much checks out that you would hold weekly poetry groups in uni 🥰 I love that for you! Thanks for reminding us about the power of poetry
🥰 you’re the best!! thank you for reading lovely 🤍❤️