Ilyās Farhāt Explained

Ilyās Farhāt (1893- 1976) was a Lebanese poet who lived and wrote in Latin America.^[1]

Ilyās Farhāt was born to a poor family in Kafarshima, Ottoman Empire in 1893. Though he hardly completed elementary education and went to work at an early age,^[2] he started writing folk poetry in colloquial Lebanese Arabic.^[1] In 1910, he emigrated to join his brothers in Brazil, where he tried to earn a living as a travelling salesman.^[2] He subsequently wrote formal poetry, gaining recognition for his first collection in 1925.^[1]

Works

• Rubā'iyyāat Farhāt [The Farhāt Quartets], Brazil, 1925
• Dīwān Farhāt [Farhāt's Dīwān], Brazil, 1932. Introduction by George Hassūn Ma'lūf
• Ahlām al-rā 'ī [The Shepherd's Dream], São Paulo: Majallat al-Sharq, 1952
• Diwān Farhāt [collected poems], 4 vols., São Paulo, 1954. Introduction by Habīb Mas'ūd.
  1. Rubā'iyyāat Farhāt
  2. al-Rabī' [Spring]
  3. al-Sayf [Summer]
  4. al-Kharīf [Autumn]
• Qāla al-rāwī [The Narrator Speaks], Damascus: Syrian Ministry of Culture, 1965
• Fawākih rij'iyyah [Late Fruits], Damascus: Syrian Ministry of Culture, 1967
• Matla' al-shitā [Approach of Winter], Cairo: Maktabat al-Qāhirah, 1967

Notes and References

1. Book: Salma Khadra Jayyusi. Salma Jayyusi. Roger Allen. Essays in Arabic Literary Biography: 1850-1950. 1 September 2012. 2010. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. 978-3-447-06141-4. 86–93. Ilyās Farhāt.
2. Book: Mounah Abdallah Khouri. Studies in contemporary Arabic poetry and criticism. 1 September 2012. 1987. Jahan Book Co.. 978-0-936665-02-3. 72.