Ali Ahmad Said Esber, also known as Adonis, has been said to exert the same influence in the world of Arabic poetry as T.S.Eliot did in the world of anglo-saxon poetry. However, in addition to his poetry and literary criticism, he was the first person to provide a full translation of Ovid’s metamorphoses from Latin to arabic. He also translated Baudelaire and Saint-John Perse, among many others. He is a literary institution in himself, and his translations created a previously nonexistent bridge between Western and Arabic culture.
Adonis was born in the small town of al-Qassabim. When Syria got its independence in the 40s, young Adonis heard the president was going to visit his small village. He wrote a poem in his honour. Before his arrival, he would imagine himself reading him the poem, to which he imagined the president to say: “this is a good poem. what can I do for you, how can I help you?” and the young poet would reply “I just want to go to school.” The president did visit the town, and our young poet did read him his poem. The president invited him to see him in his place later. “what can I do for you, how can I help you?” He asked. “I just want to go to school,” Adonis said. “Consider it done,” was the president’s response. Adonis then went to school, and proceeded to study philosophy in the university of Damascus. He was imprisoned in 1955 for advocating for a wider understanding of human rights. In 1956, he fled Syria for Beirut. He settled there and in Paris, spending his time equally in both. In 1980, The Lebanese civil war began, and Adonis was forced to flee again. He then moved definitely to France, where he translated the work of poets, teached in Sorbonne, and was a front-runner to the nobel prize of literature. The bridge he created between Arabic and French art is of invaluable importance.
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