I am searching through the ruins for light and for new poetry

Ah, did I realize before today that the letter in the dictionary, my love, is dull?

How do these words come to life?

How does it grow?

How do you grow up?

We are still feeding it with tears of memories

Metaphors and intoxication

(Mahmoud Darwish)

Since Muhammad ibn Sa'id ibn Hammad (al-Busiri), author of the Burda al-Muhammadiyya, the world has been illuminated by the brilliance of poetry with names of illustrious presence. However, Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Majdhub took a different path.

Just as water flows gently and softly in a stream, the mystic begins his text by praying for the Prophet - may God bless him and grant him peace - asking for forgiveness and pardon, beginning his poem with a whispering letter (the letter “Sad”), followed by listening and supplication.

O Lord, send blessings upon Al-Mudathir

Forgive my sins and help me, O God, with a greater repentance

My time is full of obsession with wrongdoing

And with ease he conveys the painting, penetrating the depth of the meanings, moving on to the letters of emphasis (Dal and Jeem)

People have become accustomed to straying from the right path and have become hostile to their desires

They persisted without a care, and they lived in misery

Because of the poet’s familiarity with the precise meanings of words, which reveal the intended connotations, he unleashes all the springs of the word and its dimensions to their fullest extent (phonetic, semantic and structural) and all the psychological suggestions and shadows that surround all of that, since the word is not separate from its context, and the phonetic dimension is linked to the rhythm, which in turn leads to the limits and ranges of psychological connotations.

As linguists know, the rhythmic dimension arises from the phonetic structure of a word through the generation and sequence of letters. Each letter has its own point of articulation, and the harmony or dissonance of the letters gives the word a particular resonance through the resulting harmonies and the consonance of the letters in a specific phonetic pattern, sometimes whispered, sometimes pronounced, and sometimes loud. For example, the word "panting" in the Quranic verse (like a dog: if you chase it, it pants, or if you leave it alone, it pants) suggests, through its letters, the interruption of breath and panting. Similarly, the English word "crash" evokes the idea of ​​collision and impact. Furthermore, a single word is affected by changes in its meaning and conjugation as its meanings shift.

Not only that, but what is remarkable about this text is (Al-Majdhub’s) bet on the idea on which the poetry was woven, the idea that became a nucleus like an island surrounded by the water of poetry, which created an amazing cohesion between the structure and the meaning, on (Al-Majdhub’s) ascent to the heights of the kingdom of poetry in this text. However, the text raised the most complex intellectual issues, establishing the connection between the discordant and the homogeneous in intimate affection, addicted to the dialogue between opposites in captivating harmony and smooth agility. Thus, the vocabulary of poetry was exploded and taken to distant horizons of intellectual spaciousness, and the deepest concerns and greatest questions were addressed without resolution.

Is good concealed within evil?

And the forces emerged from an atom pregnant with nothingness

Does she think war kills and peace survives?

Weakness, like strength, is a right and a responsibility

The nations will take care of it

And the earth returns with love and smiles

This question embodies a philosophy of life, grounded in the dialogue of opposites, distributing its fruits, both hidden and manifest. It establishes that bridge between opposites: (Pray, O Lord, for the best of mankind, who lit in the night of Hira / a moon that shone brighter than the full moon of the sky). (He reads to people by its light the wisdom of creation / and the secrets of survival). From a God who guided with the pen, teaching humankind / what they did not know.

The connection between these opposites is the night of Hira, a moon that shone brighter than the full moon of the sky, and between knowledge and what is not known, the veil, the temptation of beauty, and the place of longing feet, birds falling into nets, as if a fire had broken out, the body is amazed, and the soul is illuminated, it stood upright, it fell, asceticism is wealth, slowness is anticipation, restraint is launching, disturbance is harmony, with it from joy, tears fluttered, and they returned to the birth with longing, and they returned with dust.

Because of his deep sense of kinship between them, he incorporated his memory and conscience from the radiant and bright burdens of the Qur’anic text, abandoning the familiar preamble for an innovative and palatable preamble.

Although the text deals with many (themes), it proceeds in a continuous line that does not meander or twist, like a ray of light that reveals the beauty within beauty and the beauty within majesty. All this flow takes place in the text, which is a collection of paintings between whispering and speaking, between intensity and eloquence, with ease and simplicity.

The night of the Prophet's birth, O secret of the nights

And beauty

And a spring that captivated souls with permissible magic

Zaha Square Abdel Moneim

That benefactor, the life of the clouds

With crowds that meet in the season

The tents have been adorned and the passion has been declared

The poet, in his graceful movement, is fully aware of the meanings behind the words, meaning that the context in which the words appear reveals the intended meaning through the pulse of the words. The words with which he describes the Nubian dance form a tableau full of fervent rhythm. He strikes the Nubian drum, and it moans and rings, then refuses to roar or goes mad, leaping through the nights. It is as if the blending of letters reflects the echoes of the Nubian dance with its varying rhythms and the diversity of its drums. Perhaps what is striking is how the poet harnesses his ability and energy as an artist to employ contrast with a magical power and with movements that are imperceptible. (The place of the yearning legs is birds.) The legs suggest a grounding, but their place is in the sky, for they are birds. The images are exchanged, moved, and rotated like a flame. And amidst the clamor of the arena and the noise of the movement, the poet captures subtle details with penetrating insight.

And he walked in the circle of remembrance with apathy

A moment when body and soul are amazed, illuminated

With the beating of the drums and the bowing and bending of the people, the horned cap became a source of sensation, a focal point of feeling, as it rose above a broad forehead thinned by the light of certainty.

The true poet is one who captures the fleeting gesture and sees more than the average person. We notice in the poem that the lines are not equal in length, nor in the metrical feet. Perhaps we should also notice the distance between some words; the word "al-muqaddam" (the one who advances) has become a word with its own existential stance, its own meaning and significance. In this position, it is able to reveal its way of being to us and transport us from the atmosphere of the text to circles of remembrance, just as the verb "taqaddam" (advances) does.

And the presenter

He sings loudly to me

And it offers

The drum beats with fever

He threw the pebbles and sang the zamzam

The word (al-Muqaddam) and the verb (taqaddama) each occupy a separate line, a clever and insightful indication of the position of al-Muqaddam among the people, as he is the one who comes first in mention.

While in the context of praise, the letters blossom, bear fruit, and the rhyme flows abundantly.

And in his right hand, his staff bends

The praise singer played a game

The transition between the tanween in (la’ban) and the ha’ in (haraka) is the same as a sweet movement employing the sound effect of the letter.

This poem addresses many issues, linking homeland and celebration through vocal movements, varied rhythm, suggestion, and the simplicity and richness of its language. It explores themes of war and peace, existence and nothingness, will and oppression, poverty and wealth, and the roles of girl and woman. It is a comprehensive poem, and perhaps Al-Majdhub's complete immersion in the Mawlid (birth anniversary celebration) allowed him to move from one scene to another with the ease of someone moving from one room to another within their own house. As is well known, conciseness represents the soul of poetry, while digression can rob poetry of its vitality and stifle its spirit. If Edgar Allan Poe claimed that the long poem does not exist, Al-Majdhub, in his poem "Al-Mawlid," refutes this claim. The poem's length does not threaten its unity and cohesion, nor does it stray from description, as is common in modern poetry. Rather, its proximity to description contributes to its fluidity and brilliance. Despite being written over half a century ago (in 1957), "Al-Mawlid" is a modern poem in its formal and semantic structure. It is a smooth and accessible poem. Will the song be sung? It is incredibly enjoyable, even though Al-Majzoub took an unconventional approach. He achieved a level of enjoyment that is both visually appealing and deeply moving. It is a truly beautiful music video.