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From: www.sis.gov.eg/En/Arts&Cu...0000007.htm
Salah Jaheen
Jaheen's Marvels of Colloquial Tongue
Salah Jaheen was not only a poet, playwright, lyricist, cartoonist and painter but also a man of intellect who used artistic expression to serve his thought. His art and thought always had patriotic motives.
Salah Jaheen (1930 - 1986) has had a singular effect on development of colloquial Arabic poetry in Egypt.
Salah Jaheen mastered colloquial writing with ease, producing poetry of a simple and concise nature with a profound effect.
His genius lay in his sensitivity, his ability to tune in to the faintest vibrations of feeling in the world around him, his technical resources developed, his work became more spontaneous in its effects. His themes return constantly to the idea of a society struggling to free itself from the bonds of the past, thus freeing its literary artists to use new forms of expression.
Salah Jaheen's poetry is both simple and complex. Sound was important to him, and he often resorted to forms that appear old fashioned, making plentiful use of rhythm and rhyme. This quality may have contributed to a very important achievement, his creation of an intimate relationship with a large public, a bond that remained strong even when he seemed to innovate.
He remained faithful to the cause of the poor working man. In his first poem, published in 1951, he wrote:
Corn is not like gold
Corn is like the fallaheen.
Thin stems, their roots feeding from mud.
Like Ismaeen... and Mohamadeen
And Hussein Abou Oweida, who suffered and was beaten when he requested a handful of corn he had watered with sweat.
His words shout out for freedom and call for human justice. Jahin was convinced early of the importance of collective action and the futility of individual acts of desperation or attempts to find isolated solutions. In 'Tears Behind my Veil," he wrote: Alone I am nothing.
Merely a name scubbled on a paper in the hand of a director who once worked on commission. He presents it to a Turk or to a foreigner.
Who, with a Parker pen, signs in a foreign language: And I am fired.
Salah Jaheen developed his poetry as one would exercise one's skill on a musical instrument, enriching its ability to perform all melodies from the simplest to the most complex. Ordinary everyday words became charged with tremendous energy and significance: One day I'll write a poem
About the sky: about a breast-rose.
About my cat; about a gypsy' s fiddle.
About two palm trees in the happy altitudes
About bread, crumbling in some faraway room.
About a paper fan.
About a voluptuous negress.
About sponge.
About grapes; about new clothes.
About the kites of Cairo; about chess.
About a bridge to the gallows.
About a jar of sleeping pills.
About a foal leaping over an iron fence.
A pointed iron bar stuck in his belly.
About a child in bed clothes.
About the rainbow, after dawn prayers on feast days.
About sea spray, I'll write one day.
I'll write a poem.
I'll write it; and if l don't, it s up to me.
Birds are not obliged to twitter.
The Ruba'iyat: The Element of Contrast
Salah Jaheen's Ruba'iyat (1962) are of special interest. They comprise a broad, overall statement, expressing the superb eloquence of the poet's moral and intellectual convictions, as well as his emotional frame of mind. Possibly Jaheen was driven to disclose the intense spiritual crisis he was experiencing at the time.
Based upon the conflict between dream and reality, the Ruba'iyat are confessions, in which the poet attempts to face, even condemn himself. A spirit of suffering pervades the verses. The prevailing tone is ironic and painful questioning seems to give way to a growing sense of doubt and disbelief:
I hung the mask of comedy on a nail
And with it the mask of tragedy afflicted by sadness. I found they looked alike
And that my children, is wonder itself
How strange!
The single word "strange" Agabi is used as a refrain throughout the Ruba'iyat, a final note suggesting ironic bemusement - not denial, but a questioning stance.
Salah Jaheen sometimes drew in his poetry upon his talent as a cartoonist, thus giving his Ruba'iyat a much of satirical fancy:
Up, down - back, front - right, left. In the air - underwater - or in the sands: Seeking perfection is forbidden for what may be. And all that may be is deprived of perfection.
How strange the poet attempts to comprehend the contradictions that trouble him so and searches for resolutions, but finds none. Thus the cry at the end of every quatrain: "Strange!"
Amid Death ... Amid Fire. The Brave and the Coward walk the Rope, How Strange this life is … and oh/ how strange That I, fat as I am, became … an Acrobat.
How Strange!
The Song: A model of life
The popular song has traditionally been a prisoner of prescribed locutions, infinitely repeated and interchanged in a structured sequence. Only rarely did it become something else - in the hands of Fouad Haddad, Morsi Gamil Aziz, Fathi Qnura until Salah Jaheen came forth with a daring collection of lyrics addressing reality in a new and unpretentious manner. Adopting a vocabulary from street language he managed with superb skill to use it for simple, pure and perfect compositions. Imbued with collective spirit, they are rich and diverse.
His nationalist songs are a record of the start of a period of renewed patriotism. They became identified with the revolutionary epoch and asserted the poet's intimate emotional involvement with political change. Songs such as his ever popular "It's Been Ages, My Weapons," "Welcoming the Battle," "The Beauty of Singing," "Responsibility" ,,"We are the People." "Embracing," and "Rebels," reversed concepts of popular song-writing. They brought to such lyrics the spirit of poetry in the stream of life.
But, in spite of the nation-wide diffusion popularity of these patriotic songs, Salah Jahee revealed a unique ability to write songs: love songs; son family, children's songs, They are characterized by simplicity and sensitivity, preaching or didacticism: I opened the window of hope Beneath it the world is a garden You are rested now, my Eyes Now that he appeared And the eyes of the pretty one, oh my! Are a sea of tenderness.In Egypt's Name" - The Epic Poem .
Salah Jaheen chose the Mawwal - a typically Egyptian form - for his superb epic poem "In Egypt's Name" (1971), but introduced a number of changes and indicated musical intervals. The epic flows as a magnificent whole, recounting the nation's history in a narrative charged with melancholy, love and the spirit of endurance. Jaheen speaks in this work as someone overwhelmed by love for his country, living only to be united with her:
History may say what it wishes in Egypt name
Egypt, for me, is the most beloved and most beautiful of things.
I love her when she owns the earth, east and west.
And I love her when she is down, wounded in battle.
I love her fiercely, gently and with modesty.
I hate her and curse her with the passion of the lovesick.
I leave her and flee down one path, and she remains in another
She turns to find me beside her in misfortune
My veins pulsating with a thousand tunes and rhythms
In Egypt's name.
Founder of the Modern Egyptian School of Cartoon
The all-round Salah Jaheen set standards that are unlikely to be surpassed in the literary and artistic circles. Jaheen shone at all the posts to which he was appointed. He was the first cartoonist offered the editorship of a weekly magazine in Egypt. The national awakening that accompanied the 1952 Revolution was best illustrated throughout his poetry, musicals and cartoons.
The creative colloquial poetry he composed is considered as the 1952 Revolution's historical record - hence the title "Poet of the Revolution".
Mohammed Salah el-Din Helmi Bahgat, known as Salah Jaheen, was born on 25 December 1930 in Cairo. His father was a judge and the family had to move from one governorate to another. This, however, helped shape his patriotic fervour which was manifested in his attitude towards the Revolution. He graduated from Cairo University with a degree in law.
Jaheen & Cartoon
Jaheen's career in journalism started in the early 50's. In 1955, he worked as an amateur cartoonist in Rose El-Youssef. One year later, when the first issue of Sabah el-Khair saw the light of day, he turned professional. There, he had the opportunity to shine to such an extent that he was appointed Editor-in-Chief. In 1957, Jaheen visited the former Soviet Union, then, wrote a book entitled "A Flower in Moscow" about his impression of the journey. In 1964, Jaheen moved to "Al-Ahram".At the age of 13, Jaheen's immense talent for drawing first appeared. When he was a student in Assuit preparatory school, the art teacher asked his student to draw a picture of a storm in a forest. Jaheen's picture gained the teacher's admiration and drew his attention to the remarkable talent the little boy possessed. The teacher's words were a great encouragement to him. His father who was an art-lover always encouraged him to develop his talent. Jaheen's cartoons did serve to highlight vital issues in Egypt and the Arab World as well. He is the founder of the modern Egyptian cartoon school. The brilliant success of Jaheen's cartoons arose out of the fact that he did them in the best interest of the people. Among Jaheen's remarkably innumerable cartoon series were Hashish Addicts, Vigor Coffee-house and the Government Departments.
Jaheen & Colloquial Poetry
Jaheen's colloquial poetry bore many interesting features of the cartoons he did. It is mainly characterized by the creative use of lexical items, startlingly intense images and well-planned compact structures. It becomes very dear to every heart once read or listened to. Jaheen, thus, set the trend for others to follow.
His quatrains written in 1963 mark the emergence of situation poetry as a genre of modern folk literature. They successfully manifest Jaheen's philosophical viewpoint of life, death, existence, man and the eternal struggle between good and evil. Each of Jaheen's quatrains ends ironically with "Wonders will Never Cease!".
Jaheen & Songwriting
Jaheen introduced a wide range of vocabulary that was only used in political articles to songwriting. Among the songs that helped create the revolutionary awareness and stir the patriotic fervour were: "We're the People", Jaheen's first song written in 1956, "Oh Weapon, Be Ready", "Rebels", "Oh Freedom, Here's Nasser", "Welcome Battles" and "Paradise is my Country" .The simplicity and spontaneity of Jaheen's songs which evoke echoes of that cherished epoch in Egypt's modern history make them remembered for ever. The last song he wrote was" Those are the Egyptians".
Salah Jaheen
Jaheen's Marvels of Colloquial Tongue
Salah Jaheen was not only a poet, playwright, lyricist, cartoonist and painter but also a man of intellect who used artistic expression to serve his thought. His art and thought always had patriotic motives.
Salah Jaheen (1930 - 1986) has had a singular effect on development of colloquial Arabic poetry in Egypt.
Salah Jaheen mastered colloquial writing with ease, producing poetry of a simple and concise nature with a profound effect.
His genius lay in his sensitivity, his ability to tune in to the faintest vibrations of feeling in the world around him, his technical resources developed, his work became more spontaneous in its effects. His themes return constantly to the idea of a society struggling to free itself from the bonds of the past, thus freeing its literary artists to use new forms of expression.
Salah Jaheen's poetry is both simple and complex. Sound was important to him, and he often resorted to forms that appear old fashioned, making plentiful use of rhythm and rhyme. This quality may have contributed to a very important achievement, his creation of an intimate relationship with a large public, a bond that remained strong even when he seemed to innovate.
He remained faithful to the cause of the poor working man. In his first poem, published in 1951, he wrote:
Corn is not like gold
Corn is like the fallaheen.
Thin stems, their roots feeding from mud.
Like Ismaeen... and Mohamadeen
And Hussein Abou Oweida, who suffered and was beaten when he requested a handful of corn he had watered with sweat.
His words shout out for freedom and call for human justice. Jahin was convinced early of the importance of collective action and the futility of individual acts of desperation or attempts to find isolated solutions. In 'Tears Behind my Veil," he wrote: Alone I am nothing.
Merely a name scubbled on a paper in the hand of a director who once worked on commission. He presents it to a Turk or to a foreigner.
Who, with a Parker pen, signs in a foreign language: And I am fired.
Salah Jaheen developed his poetry as one would exercise one's skill on a musical instrument, enriching its ability to perform all melodies from the simplest to the most complex. Ordinary everyday words became charged with tremendous energy and significance: One day I'll write a poem
About the sky: about a breast-rose.
About my cat; about a gypsy' s fiddle.
About two palm trees in the happy altitudes
About bread, crumbling in some faraway room.
About a paper fan.
About a voluptuous negress.
About sponge.
About grapes; about new clothes.
About the kites of Cairo; about chess.
About a bridge to the gallows.
About a jar of sleeping pills.
About a foal leaping over an iron fence.
A pointed iron bar stuck in his belly.
About a child in bed clothes.
About the rainbow, after dawn prayers on feast days.
About sea spray, I'll write one day.
I'll write a poem.
I'll write it; and if l don't, it s up to me.
Birds are not obliged to twitter.
The Ruba'iyat: The Element of Contrast
Salah Jaheen's Ruba'iyat (1962) are of special interest. They comprise a broad, overall statement, expressing the superb eloquence of the poet's moral and intellectual convictions, as well as his emotional frame of mind. Possibly Jaheen was driven to disclose the intense spiritual crisis he was experiencing at the time.
Based upon the conflict between dream and reality, the Ruba'iyat are confessions, in which the poet attempts to face, even condemn himself. A spirit of suffering pervades the verses. The prevailing tone is ironic and painful questioning seems to give way to a growing sense of doubt and disbelief:
I hung the mask of comedy on a nail
And with it the mask of tragedy afflicted by sadness. I found they looked alike
And that my children, is wonder itself
How strange!
The single word "strange" Agabi is used as a refrain throughout the Ruba'iyat, a final note suggesting ironic bemusement - not denial, but a questioning stance.
Salah Jaheen sometimes drew in his poetry upon his talent as a cartoonist, thus giving his Ruba'iyat a much of satirical fancy:
Up, down - back, front - right, left. In the air - underwater - or in the sands: Seeking perfection is forbidden for what may be. And all that may be is deprived of perfection.
How strange the poet attempts to comprehend the contradictions that trouble him so and searches for resolutions, but finds none. Thus the cry at the end of every quatrain: "Strange!"
Amid Death ... Amid Fire. The Brave and the Coward walk the Rope, How Strange this life is … and oh/ how strange That I, fat as I am, became … an Acrobat.
How Strange!
The Song: A model of life
The popular song has traditionally been a prisoner of prescribed locutions, infinitely repeated and interchanged in a structured sequence. Only rarely did it become something else - in the hands of Fouad Haddad, Morsi Gamil Aziz, Fathi Qnura until Salah Jaheen came forth with a daring collection of lyrics addressing reality in a new and unpretentious manner. Adopting a vocabulary from street language he managed with superb skill to use it for simple, pure and perfect compositions. Imbued with collective spirit, they are rich and diverse.
His nationalist songs are a record of the start of a period of renewed patriotism. They became identified with the revolutionary epoch and asserted the poet's intimate emotional involvement with political change. Songs such as his ever popular "It's Been Ages, My Weapons," "Welcoming the Battle," "The Beauty of Singing," "Responsibility" ,,"We are the People." "Embracing," and "Rebels," reversed concepts of popular song-writing. They brought to such lyrics the spirit of poetry in the stream of life.
But, in spite of the nation-wide diffusion popularity of these patriotic songs, Salah Jahee revealed a unique ability to write songs: love songs; son family, children's songs, They are characterized by simplicity and sensitivity, preaching or didacticism: I opened the window of hope Beneath it the world is a garden You are rested now, my Eyes Now that he appeared And the eyes of the pretty one, oh my! Are a sea of tenderness.In Egypt's Name" - The Epic Poem .
Salah Jaheen chose the Mawwal - a typically Egyptian form - for his superb epic poem "In Egypt's Name" (1971), but introduced a number of changes and indicated musical intervals. The epic flows as a magnificent whole, recounting the nation's history in a narrative charged with melancholy, love and the spirit of endurance. Jaheen speaks in this work as someone overwhelmed by love for his country, living only to be united with her:
History may say what it wishes in Egypt name
Egypt, for me, is the most beloved and most beautiful of things.
I love her when she owns the earth, east and west.
And I love her when she is down, wounded in battle.
I love her fiercely, gently and with modesty.
I hate her and curse her with the passion of the lovesick.
I leave her and flee down one path, and she remains in another
She turns to find me beside her in misfortune
My veins pulsating with a thousand tunes and rhythms
In Egypt's name.
Founder of the Modern Egyptian School of Cartoon
The all-round Salah Jaheen set standards that are unlikely to be surpassed in the literary and artistic circles. Jaheen shone at all the posts to which he was appointed. He was the first cartoonist offered the editorship of a weekly magazine in Egypt. The national awakening that accompanied the 1952 Revolution was best illustrated throughout his poetry, musicals and cartoons.
The creative colloquial poetry he composed is considered as the 1952 Revolution's historical record - hence the title "Poet of the Revolution".
Mohammed Salah el-Din Helmi Bahgat, known as Salah Jaheen, was born on 25 December 1930 in Cairo. His father was a judge and the family had to move from one governorate to another. This, however, helped shape his patriotic fervour which was manifested in his attitude towards the Revolution. He graduated from Cairo University with a degree in law.
Jaheen & Cartoon
Jaheen's career in journalism started in the early 50's. In 1955, he worked as an amateur cartoonist in Rose El-Youssef. One year later, when the first issue of Sabah el-Khair saw the light of day, he turned professional. There, he had the opportunity to shine to such an extent that he was appointed Editor-in-Chief. In 1957, Jaheen visited the former Soviet Union, then, wrote a book entitled "A Flower in Moscow" about his impression of the journey. In 1964, Jaheen moved to "Al-Ahram".At the age of 13, Jaheen's immense talent for drawing first appeared. When he was a student in Assuit preparatory school, the art teacher asked his student to draw a picture of a storm in a forest. Jaheen's picture gained the teacher's admiration and drew his attention to the remarkable talent the little boy possessed. The teacher's words were a great encouragement to him. His father who was an art-lover always encouraged him to develop his talent. Jaheen's cartoons did serve to highlight vital issues in Egypt and the Arab World as well. He is the founder of the modern Egyptian cartoon school. The brilliant success of Jaheen's cartoons arose out of the fact that he did them in the best interest of the people. Among Jaheen's remarkably innumerable cartoon series were Hashish Addicts, Vigor Coffee-house and the Government Departments.
Jaheen & Colloquial Poetry
Jaheen's colloquial poetry bore many interesting features of the cartoons he did. It is mainly characterized by the creative use of lexical items, startlingly intense images and well-planned compact structures. It becomes very dear to every heart once read or listened to. Jaheen, thus, set the trend for others to follow.
His quatrains written in 1963 mark the emergence of situation poetry as a genre of modern folk literature. They successfully manifest Jaheen's philosophical viewpoint of life, death, existence, man and the eternal struggle between good and evil. Each of Jaheen's quatrains ends ironically with "Wonders will Never Cease!".
Jaheen & Songwriting
Jaheen introduced a wide range of vocabulary that was only used in political articles to songwriting. Among the songs that helped create the revolutionary awareness and stir the patriotic fervour were: "We're the People", Jaheen's first song written in 1956, "Oh Weapon, Be Ready", "Rebels", "Oh Freedom, Here's Nasser", "Welcome Battles" and "Paradise is my Country" .The simplicity and spontaneity of Jaheen's songs which evoke echoes of that cherished epoch in Egypt's modern history make them remembered for ever. The last song he wrote was" Those are the Egyptians".
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Re: Tribute to Salah Jaheen
Tue, February 12, 2008 - 1:35 PMSee also: www.aliciapatterson.org/APF001...05.html
