Quotes you never read before (unless you know Arabic ;p)
ديننا عظيم وحياتنا وثنية!
A great religion and a pagan life!
قد نضيق بالحبّ إذا وُجد، ولكن شَدَّ مانفتقده إذا ذهب
We may become impatient with Love when it exists, but we so dearly yearn for it when it’s gone
ليتنا أنا وأنت جئنا العالم قبل اختراع التلفزيون والسينما لنعرف هل هذا حب حقًا أم أننا نتقمص ما نراه ؟
I wish you & I existed before the invention of TV and cinema so that we may know if this is really love or we’re simply impersonating what we see
Ahmed Khaled Tawfik (b. 1962) - An Egyptian Horror & Science Fiction author
Several Book Cover Illustrations from 1992-2003
Egyptian Artist HELMI AL TOUNI
إن هؤلاء البشر كلاب مسعورة، وأفاع رقط .. فإذا دفعتك مروءتك إلي أن تعطيهم إحسانا فاقذف به إليهم ثم اجر من أمامهم .. اعطهم الفضل وفر منهم .. لا تنتظر حتي مجرد الشكر .. انج بنفسك..
These humans are mad dogs and mottled snakes.. so, if your generosity drives you to give to them out of kindness, toss it to them and run away.. give and flee.. do not even wait for a mere thank you.. escape with your self intact..
Yusuf Sibai (1917-1978) - An Egyptian novelist, Professor of Military History and Minister of Culture.. He is best know for his 1954 novel Give Me Back My Heart which was adapted to Cinema in 1957 and a TV Series in 1998.. He was assassinated in Cyprus while attending an African-Asian conference..
Anonymous asked: Is there any chance you would know the Arabic taught by ArabicPod101 (I've read it's MSA and then I've read it's Moroccan). Or maybe there are other sites/ways you would recommend learning Arabic? (I'm thinking of doing Arabic for the 6wc thing; I was teaching myself Spanish but I've also decided to take Spanish class next semester [Arabic isn't offered here], so I don't mind putting Spanish off for a little to focus on Arabic.)
So, I went to ArabicPod101 and took a look. I listened to a few lessons and this is what I found
Beginner- Culture Essentials- Arabic Vocab: Lesson 1- National Holidays
From the sounds of it. This lesson is in MSA (although it’s just a few words and sentences); however, all the holidays are Egyptian holidays.Beginner- Survival Phrases: Lesson 4- Basic Greetings
This lesson seems to be in MSA, but then again it’s just some basic greetings.Beginner- Survival Phrases: Lesson 34- How do you read this?
This lesson is in Moroccan.Beginner- Survival Phrases: Lesson 53- What time is it?
This lesson is in Moroccan.Beginner- Season 1: Lesson 1- What’s his name?
This lesson is in MSA. Additionally, before the start of this lesson they do a whole explanation of MSA vs dialects and the value of learning MSA.Beginner- Season 1: Lesson 5- Do you speak English?
Also in MSA.Advanced- Audio Blog 1: Lesson 1- Casablanca
So this lesson (and it would seem most of the advanced lessons) are essentially reading passages being read aloud. They’re written in MSA however the speaker reads them with a modified Egyptian accent. What I mean by modified is that they use Egyptian pronunciation of certain consonants (ج، ث، ظ، ذ) however everything else is in MSA (the vowels, and the pronunciation of ق). So… it’s essentially MSA with some modified pronunciations.Advanced- Audio Blog 1: Lesson 2- Egypt
See above.——
So, I’m not sure what I’d say overall. It would seem that they teach MSA and they understand the difference. In the “Survival Phrases” lessons, during the introduction they say these are survival phrases that will help you in the Middle East but with a focus on Morocco. So, I understand why they use Moroccan Arabic; but I think if I went up to a Jordanian or Lebanese person and asked sho7ayl f sa3a? instead of kam as-saa3a? (MSA) or 2deish el-sa3e? or any other regional variant, they wouldn’t understand me. So, it’s a tough one there. Additionally, while they say these lessons are possibly focused on Moroccan, they don’t distinguish. So, for example in a Moroccan lesson (like the 2 that I listened to), they don’t say “In Moroccan Arabic you say…” they just say “In Arabic you say…” which is far too much of a generalization for my taste.The advanced audio blogs don’t bother me as much because honestly, when I read MSA I still slip into a Levantine accent on certain letters. So… that’s not a huge deal.
As far as other resources are concerned- I studied most all of my Arabic in classes and abroad. I can recommend books but I don’t feel qualified to recommend websites. I have seen a few that teach pure, high, Qur’anic fusha fairly well, but I have yet to see a decent program in MSA (and/or dialects) in one fully-contained website. There are some that are good for certain things and there’s one Palestinian Youtuber whose lessons I love; but otherwise, I’m not so sure of the internet resources that are out there. I apologize for my incompetency.
If you’d like a post on resources, let me know. I have some already written that I can link you to or build upon/update.
Hope that helps!
Revenge: Arabic Medieval Style lol
From: The Arabic Literary Heritage
Baghdad, Yesterday: The Making of an Arab Jew
A wise and often gently funny memoir by one of the world’s authorities on authorities on Arabic literature, this book offers an intimate view of Jewish life in Baghdad in the 1930s and 40s. It describes vividly the young writer’s intellectual and emotional growth and maps the now-vanished world of Baghdad’s book stalls and literary cafes, its Arabic-speaking Jewish bank clerks, tuxedoed Iraqi-Jewish weddings, outdoor movies at the Cinema Diana, and bonfires by the Tigris. As the pieces of Somekh’s unsentimental and sharply drawn memoir accumulate, they also mount in meaning “It is hard to overstate the beauty, originality, lucidity, gentleness, wisdom, and importance of Baghdad, Yesterday”—Ma’ariv
I WANT THIS!!! LIKE RIGHT NOW!!!
سألت الشيخ عبد ربه : ما علامة الكفر؟ فأجاب دون تردد: الضجر
I asked Shiekh Abdrabbuh: “What is the sign of blasphemy?” and he answered without hesitation: “Boredom”
بيض الأفاعي لا يفقس عصافير وإن رقد عليه ألف عصفور
Serpent eggs will not hatch birds even if incubated by a thousand bird
Ali Ahmed Bakatheer (1910-1969) - A Hadhrami poet born in Surabaya, Indonesia; he lived in Yemen, Somalia, Abyssinia & Hejaz before settling in Egypt where he eventually got the Egyptian citizenship in 1951.. In addition to his native Arabic, he was fluent in English, French, and Bahasa Melayu..
ميلي إلى الكحول ، لا صلة له بالعجز ، وأن يحقق لي مخدراً ينسيني الكثير مما أريد نسيانه ، ميلي إلى الكحول ، جزء من ميلي العميق الصامت إلى النيل من نفسي ، إلى تجريح ذاتي
My penchant for alcohol has nothing to do with helplessness, and it is not a drug I take to forget much of what I long to forget; my penchant for alcohol is part of my deep silent penchant for hurting myself, for inflicting wounds on who I am.
Jabra Ibrahim Jabra (1919-1994) - a Palestinian poet, novelist, translator and literary critic of Syriac-Orthodox origin born in Bethlehem at the time of the British Mandate. Educated in Jerusalem and, later, at Cambridge University, he settled in Iraq following the events of 1948. He translated T.S. Eliot & Shakespeare’s sonnets to Arabic & produced around 70 books consisting of novels and translated material, and his own work has been translated into more than twelve languages
Hajj in Makkah 1953
(Source: 3bdhamed)
Sunday Song: Ya ‘Adilan “O’ Thou who is Utterly Just”
Al Farabi is a Saudi band with a focus on Arabic Classical poetry.. this is their musical interpretation of يا عادلاً “O’ Thou who is Utterly Just” by Al Hasan bin Jaber (1638 - 1668) a Yemeni Sufi poet known as The Prince Poet of Yemen..
ولكني أؤمن ان الطعنة الواحدة اشد ايلاماً من الطعنتين .. و الجرح يكون اكثر وجعا عندما تكون بقية الجسم سليمة .. و انا اردت ان اشتت افكاري بين عدة احزان حتى لا ينفرد بي حزن واحد .. فيقتلني !!
I think one stab is more painful than two.. a wound is more tormenting when the rest of body is intact.. I just wanted to disperse my thoughts among several sorrows lest one of them dominates.. and kill me
Mohammed Hasan Alwan (born 1979) is a Saudi Arabian short story writer and novelist.He was born in Riyadh and studied Computer Information Systems at King Saud University, obtaining a bachelors degree in 2002. He also obtained an MBA from the University of Portland, Oregon in 2008.
