Esat Ayyıldız
Introduction
Translations of the major poets of classical Arabic literature into Turkish as stand-alone books have long been awaited. Yet it would not be wrong to say that the works that have attempted to render this poetry into Turkish purely for literary pleasure, without confining it to an academic framework, can be counted on the fingers of one hand – especially where a single poet is concerned. So the announcement in March 2024 that a selection of poems by al-Mutanabbi, one of the best-known poets of classical Arabic literature, had been translated into Turkish by Mehmet Hakkı Suçin, professor of Arabic language and literature and literary translator, was received with interest by literature lovers and the academic community alike. The translation resonated not only in Turkey but also in the Arab world. On the occasion of Suçin’s translation, the Lebanese journalist and writer Sawsan al-Abtah (2024) interviewed the translator; the interview ran as a headline in the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat. The Turkologist Prof. Dr. Muhammad Nour al-Din (2024), who has translated many works of Turkish literature, wrote a critical piece on the translation in Al-Akhbar. The Lebanese critic, poet and novelist Abdo Wazen (2024) in Independent Arabia and the researcher and novelist Taysir Khalaf (2024) in Al Majalla each wrote about the translation. The poet Ömer Erdem (2024) published a “poetic” introduction titled “The Shakespeare of the East, al-Mutanabbi, in Turkish for the First Time”. A special session on “Al-Mutanabbi in Turkish: The Song of Man” was also held at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (2024), and the translator gave TV and podcast interviews. Considering the great enthusiasm with which the translation was received in both the print press and social media, it can safely be said that Suçin has built his own readership as a translator.
al-Mutanabbi, İnsanın Şarkısı (Seçilmiş Şiirler) [The Song of Man: Selected Poems], trans. Mehmet Hakkı Suçin, Istanbul: Everest Yayınları, 2024, 351 pp., ISBN 978-625-369-115-8.
There are two main reasons for the attention the book has received. First, readers who follow world literature in Turkish have for the first time had the chance to reach a work that presents al-Mutanabbi’s poetry to the general reader from an artistic perspective. Second, Suçin, who until now has mostly translated modern Arabic poetry into Turkish, has this time – after his anthology-like Yedi Askı Şiirleri (Muallakalar) [The Seven Suspended Odes] – translated a major poet of the classical period. Readers interested in world literature are often anxious about finding a work they can trust, especially where classical Arabic literature is concerned, the main reason being that it is a demanding field accessible only to specialists. This work, which Suçin produced by facing these translation challenges with his identity as both man of letters and orientalist, therefore offers a great opportunity to readers who wish to get to know classical Arabic literature more closely.
The never-changing song of man: The Song of Man
The book, which the translator titled The Song of Man, opens with an essay by Dr. Ali bin Tamim, known for his academic interest in al-Mutanabbi, titled “The Translation of Poetry: An Inevitable Path of Civilisation”. This prefatory essay sets out the importance of the book most concisely. It informs readers about the difficulties of translating poetry, stressing in particular how demanding translation from classical Arabic is, and dwells on the scarcity of translations from Arabic and its main causes. It emphasises that choosing al-Mutanabbi was a sound decision, and that including only outstanding verses of universal character was a sensible choice for reaching a wide readership. In this respect, it points out that the right artistic choices made in selecting the poems allowed al-Mutanabbi to be freed from the cliché of the panegyrist and satirist that has clung to him. Ali bin Tamim writes of the selection: “In this respect, the poems in the selection are the product of a refined taste. The Arabs of old used to say: ‘A man’s choice is a piece of his mind.’ The translated poems reveal that their author has an intelligent, thinking mind that brings enthusiasm to research, reading and discovery – a mind found only in those endowed with a scholar’s patience, steadfastness and capacity for diligent work. If, as some researchers think, the translator must leave either the author or the reader in peace, Prof. Suçin has succeeded in leaving both in peace, with a high aesthetic brilliance that preserves the grandeur of the poetry. The translator takes the reader on a stroll through al-Mutanabbi’s extraordinary garden, in his company.” (p. 18) It is fair to say that the preface contains apt observations that summarise the translation well.
After this preface, the reader meets Suçin’s analysis of some twenty pages, in which he interweaves al-Mutanabbi’s life and poetics and also discusses the translation process. Noting that the responsibility brought by readers’ strong interest in his translation of The Seven Suspended Odes led him to translate more from classical literature, Suçin gives information about the period and milieu in which al-Mutanabbi lived, so that readers can understand the circumstances in which the poet wrote. Offering detailed information on the poet’s life and art, the translator highlights in this section certain poems and verses he considers especially original, without neglecting the background to their composition. Careful reading of this section, with the translator’s analyses, therefore offers even readers familiar with classical Arabic literature the chance to encounter new and innovative ideas.
Having adequately presented al-Mutanabbi’s eventful life, Suçin then turns to the poet’s poetic legacy. Here he also explains the methodology he followed and the sources he used. Noting that many commentaries have been written on al-Mutanabbi’s poetry, he mentions the three or four commentaries he consulted most often during the translation and touches on their methods. He then refers to some notable modern studies of al-Mutanabbi in the East and the West. Stating that the clearest sign of the importance of al-Mutanabbi’s poetry is his lasting influence on poets writing in Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and, to some extent, Turkish, Suçin explains the details of this influence. Presenting data on al-Mutanabbi’s indirect legacy in other art forms such as cinema and musicals, and stressing that the poet has “his own individual poetic voice”, Suçin places al-Mutanabbi alongside major names of world literature such as Shakespeare, Goethe and Hugo, duly establishing his place in the universal poetic tradition.
Suçin’s translation consists of a selection of 124 poems of varying length from al-Mutanabbi’s diwan. Since the polythematic structure of Arabic poetry reflects a style modern readers are not used to, the translator notes that the points where the subject changes within the selected poems are marked with an asterisk (*).
The translated verses are set facing the originals as parallel texts, which allows readers familiar with Arabic to compare them. Because he addresses a wide readership, the translator relaxes academic norms in transcription and adopts a simpler, more accessible approach. Overall, the translation remains faithful to the semantic frame of the verses, but this fidelity does not trap the translator in literal translation; with a poet’s touch and without neglecting the aesthetic side of the verses, it creates a poetic “aura”.
At the beginning of the section containing the poems, a single couplet titled “Farewell Greeting” (p. 41) greets the reader – clearly a subtle greeting from the translator to his readers. In the couplet titled “Thinness”, the poet’s lines “So frail is my body / were I not to speak, you would not see it” (p. 43) stand out. Although the poet meant something else, these words carry a pleasing hint that al-Mutanabbi, who has for centuries waited to be known more closely in other cultures, has been all but invisible, and will regain visibility by speaking – that is, by having his poems translated into other languages. It must therefore be said that the first two pieces in the translation have been placed in a highly meaningful order.
The other poems in the book carry readers into different universes of meaning. Made up of various themes and fragments, the work has the potential to appeal to a wide readership with diverse literary tastes. Readers can glimpse al-Mutanabbi’s extraordinary poetic talent even in a single verse. In the poem “Black Sun” (p. 73), for example, one can see how, with his verbal dexterity, the poet takes an innovative perspective even on panegyric, a subject that had become thoroughly clichéd in Arabic literature. Likewise, in “Friend Sorrow” (p. 91) one realises how closely the human problems of the poet’s age resemble those of today. And “Grandmother and Death” (p. 159), composed after the death of the poet’s grandmother, reflects so well the emotions one goes through after losing a loved one that it shows how the experiences of a poet who lived centuries ago can still move people today. In this sense, al-Mutanabbi’s poems can leave a deep mark on readers’ hearts through both their literary richness and their universal human conditions. For, as the work shows, though the ages change, the song of man never changes.
Conclusion
Mehmet Hakkı Suçin’s translation The Song of Man makes an important contribution to classical Arabic literature by bringing al-Mutanabbi’s poems to readers who follow world literature in Turkish. Going beyond being merely a translation, this work serves as a bridge that offers modern readers the depths and riches of classical Arabic poetry. The poems Suçin has carefully selected reveal al-Mutanabbi’s poetic talent and keen observation, while also highlighting their universal themes and timeless messages.
The work’s theoretical contribution lies in the methodology followed in bringing al-Mutanabbi’s poems into Turkish. Suçin has not only remained faithful to the semantic frame of the text but has also carried the poems onto artistic ground in Turkish, allowing readers to experience them in a more striking and aesthetic way. The work is an important reference for both translation studies and Arabic literary studies.
Its contribution to the field is, above all, that it helps classical Arabic literature reach a wider readership in Turkey. It can help Turkish intellectuals develop a deeper understanding of Arabic poetry and its rich heritage. Moreover, the book’s appeal to a wide readership holds the potential to increase literary and cultural interaction and to restore the value of classical literature in modern society.
References
- Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (2024). “Al-Mutanabbi bi’l-Turkiyya: Ughniyat al-Insan” [Al-Mutanabbi in Turkish: The Song of Man]. Link
- al-Abtah, S. (2024, 2 April). “Mehmet Hakkı Suçin: Aradtu an uqaddima al-Mutanabbi sha‘iran ‘alamiyyan ‘aziman” [Mehmet Hakkı Suçin: I wanted to present al-Mutanabbi as a great world poet]. Asharq Al-Awsat. Link
- Erdem, Ö. (2024). “Doğu’nun Shakespeare’i el-Mütenebbi ilk kez Türkçede” [The Shakespeare of the East, al-Mutanabbi, in Turkish for the first time]. Link
- Khalaf, T. (2024, 3 April). “Suçin yanqulu al-Mutanabbi ila al-Turkiyya fi ‘Ughniyat al-Insan’” [Suçin brings al-Mutanabbi into Turkish in ‘The Song of Man’]. Al Majalla. Link
- al-Mutanabbi (2024). İnsanın Şarkısı (Seçilmiş Şiirler) (M. H. Suçin, trans.). Istanbul: Everest Yayınları.
- Nour al-Din, M. (2024, 15 April). “Mehmet Hakkı Suçin fi buhur al-Mutanabbi” [Mehmet Hakkı Suçin in the metres/seas of al-Mutanabbi]. Al-Akhbar. Link
- Suçin, M. H. (2020). Yedi Askı Şiirleri (Muallakalar). Istanbul: Kırmızı Kedi Yayınları.
- Wazen, A. (2024, 12 May). “Al-Mustashriq Suçin: Wijdaniyyat al-Mutanabbi tu‘abbiru adab al-‘alam” [The orientalist Suçin: al-Mutanabbi’s lyricism crosses the literatures of the world]. Independent Arabia. Link
Originally published in Turkish in Anadolu Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, vol. 25, no. 2, 2025. Translated from the Turkish for this site.
Also available on this site in Turkish.