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  • Welcome to ALT Magazine & Press: Hazawi Prize Announces 2023 Shortlist: (Sana'a, Yemen) - The shortlist for the 2023 Hazawi Prize for Yemeni Literature has been revealed, announcing the ten writers who have been selected as finalists for this prestigious award.
  • Now in its second yearly round, the Hazawi Prize recognizes exceptional contributions to fiction in Yemeni literature. Organized by the Hazawi Cultural Foundation, this annual prize aims to promote Yemeni literature and support creative writers.
  • This year's shortlist features both emerging and renowned Yemeni authors. The ten works advancing to the final round of judging are:
  • - Abdullah Faisal shortlisted for his novel, Spirits and Secrets.
  • - Aisha Saleh shortlisted for her novel, Under the Ashes
  • - Farouk Merish shortlisted for his novel, A Dignified Stranger
  • - Ahmed Ashraf shortlisted for his novel, A Painful Belt
  • - Ghassan Khalid shortlisted for his novel, A Sky that Rains Fear
  • - Hosam Adel shortlisted for his novel, The Lord of the Black Dog
  • - Asmaa Abdulrazak shortlisted for her novel, Shrapnels
  • - Abdullah Abdu Muhammad shortlisted for his novel, The Road to Sana'a
  • - Najah Bahkeim shortlisted for her novel, The Final Decision
  • - Samir AbdulFattah shortlisted for her novel, What We Cannot See
  • The winner will be revealed at an award ceremony in Sana'a later where they will receive $1,500 USD. Second and third prizes of $1,000 USD each will also be awarded. All shortlisted works are celebrated for chronicling Yemen's rich culture and wartime experiences. This prestigious prize continues highlighting the nation's thriving literary community.

A Bowing in the Realm of Longing – Ahmed Al-Ma’rassi

A Bowing in the Realm of Longing

 

By Ahmed Al-Ma’rassi

translated by

Hatem Al-Shamea

 

I.

 

The throne of beauty is the radiance of your beauty

And the moon is a meaning for your perfection

Your dew is the first surprise

In the unknown, the paths are obscure

 

Your meanings have exhausted the imagination

So how can we tell of your majesty?

 

II.

 

And Mecca looms like a state

That flowed from the eyes of a traveler

And polytheism calls out with guidance:

My rock longs for your Bilal

 

One! And the Chosen One said:

In paradise, there is a trace of your slippers.

 

III.

 

Taha, the meanings of the universe

Pour the astonishment of meaning into your state

And I am the path for a camel

Alquswa (the Farthest One) that longs for your journey

 

And a state says in my blood:

Its meaning has not crossed your mind

 

Taha, a fragrant breeze

Every path longs for it

A name that was revealed with majesty

To the eyes of Moses from your mountains

 

So take off the shoes of a poem

That came running in your sands

We will recite a verse of poetry

A lover beyond your tolerance

 

IV.

 

Taha, the orbits of a presence

White, shining from within you

Taha.. And a muezzin said

In the unseen: the kingdom of kingdoms

 

Taha, and the echo told us

The sun is a specter of your crescent

 

O Chosen One of actions, we

Do not understand the core of your acts

 

You are still the secret of an answer

Perplexed, searching for your question

 

V.

 

And (Siraqah) passes through my consciousness

Stop where you are, O (son of Malik)

My soul is there, a dove

White, smiling at the dangers

 

O day of Badr, I wish

I had broken my chest with your arrows

 

O day of Badr, every morning

Does not see the chosen one in your state

 

VI.

 

Taha, the stations of beauty

So excuse your consciousness from your imagination

And fold your hands to the wing

Of wisdom, do not fear the fire of your emotion

 

And extend your right hand, it is…

And forget existence at your left

 

Time has stopped here, so

Leave the prison of your body from your shadows

 

The throne of love is that

The Chosen One is the meaning of your deeds.

 

VII.

 

O Qiblah of the world, your lover

Is perishing in the deserts of sin

He knew the law and the truth

And the young man is still that

 

Visit me, I ransom you, do not be absent

My soul longs for your company.

 

Map of Sorrow and Wind – Ahmed Abdo – trans. Hatem Al-Shamea

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