LITERATURE AND NATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

yasir suleimanlater refers to sala as the ‘throbbing equivalent to revolutionary values’ (ibid.:10). Nazik then connects these ideas to Palestine as follows (ibid.: 10–11):I have named this collection li-l-Sala wa-l-thawra to call on the Arabs to rise highthrough spirituality and struggle, with which Islam armed man in all places and at alltimes, to reach the highest peaks of his humanity [and] thus … achieve his freedom[and] the freedom of his nation … [In this context], the victory of the Arab overoppression in Palestine is the [revolutionary] equivalent to the call to prayer from theDome of the Rock.In her poem Sawsana ismuha al-quds (‘Jerusalem, Lily of the Valley’, ibid.: 39–44) the scene is the Day of Resurrection. Before passing judgement on His ownpeople (the Muslim Arabs in this case), God reminds them of the covenant theymade with Him to defend their homeland against all aggressors. The poetanswers on their behalf, telling Him that they had failed to do so, before she asksfor compassion and mercy. In the process, she acknowledges the gravity of theirguilt in view of the special place Jerusalem, and by extension Palestine, have inIslam as the land of isra’ and miÆraj (the Prophet’s nocturnal journey from Meccaand his Ascension to Heaven). But the poet reads more into this failure. Sheconsiders it as a sign of bondage to a state of servitude that negates the gift offreedom God has bestowed on His people. The continued occupation of Jerusalemtherefore has a double meaning. On the one hand, it represents failure touphold an important religious duty. On the other hand, it is synonymous withthe loss of freedom as a defining characteristic of man’s humanity, as that whichmakes man human. In this way, Nazik fuses the national with the religious andboth of these with the spiritual, in so far as freedom is the quality that enablesman to fulfil God’s design and will.This atmosphere in which the national fuses with the spiritual is at thecentre of the poem that gives its name to the collection li-l-Sala wa-l-thawra. Inthis long poem (ibid.: 149–65) the poet addresses the Dome of the Rock in aseries of overlapping thematic expressions which highlight the spirituality ofJerusalem and the surge of revolutionary impetus this spirituality creates: ‘[Youare] a mosque that is thirsty for the Qur’an and Prayer’ (ya masjidan Æatshana li-lqur’anwa-l-sujud, ibid.: 152); ‘[You are] a symbol, a history and an idea’ (yaramzu, ya tarikhu, ya fikra, ibid.: 161); and ‘[You are] an explosive mine, ahurricane and a dangerous prisoner’ (ya lughmu, ya iÆsaru ya sajinatan khatira,ibid.: 162). The poet then declares that ‘when man triumphs, the call to prayerwill rise from the Dome of the Rock’ (yantasiru al-insan, yartafiÆu al-adhan, ibid.:163). It is significant that the poet does not refer here to the triumph of theMuslim or the Arab man, but to the triumph of ‘man’ in his unqualified form, tothe fact that when freedom as the highest spiritual value triumphs thenJerusalem will be liberated. It is in this context, a context of freedom, thatprayer will be most effective (ibid.: 159):— 222 —www.taq.ir