Authoritative information and wonderful images At the back of the book is a 12-page foldout timeline which can be detached and displayed on a wall or notice board, offering an attractive quick visual reference to the key periods, events and developments of Islamic civilizations from approximately the 7th to the 20th centuries AD. The 32-page book offers introductions to each of the periods and dynasties, with short sections on particular themes and on the great achievements of Islamic art and culture over the centuries. Both book and timeline are richly illustrated throughout with color photographs, including numerous objects from museum collections.
When the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish died in 2008, his friends visited his home and retrieved poems and writings some of which are gathered together in this volume, translated into English for the first time. They include three collections from different phases in Darwish’s writing career, as well as reminiscences by friends drawn from the poet’s final years, and a moving account of the discovery of the new poems in this collection.
Winner of the PEN USA Literary Award for Translation: A collection of the Palestinian poet’s work spanning his career from 1990 to 2005. Mahmoud Darwish was that rare literary phenomenon: a poet both acclaimed by critics as one of the most important poets in the Arab world and beloved by his readers. His language—lyrical and tender—helped to transform modern Arabic poetry into a living metaphor for the universal experiences of exile, loss, and identity. The poems in this collection, constructed from the cadence and imagery of the Palestinian struggle, shift between the most intimate individual experience and the burdens of history and collective memory. Brilliantly translated by Fady Joudah, If I Were Another—which collects the greatest epic works of Darwish’s mature years—is a powerful yet elegant work by a master poet that demonstrates why Darwish was one of the most celebrated poets of his time and was hailed as the voice and conscience of an entire people. “[Darwish] writes poetry of the highest and most intense quality—poetry that embodies epic and lyric both, deeply symbolic, intensely emotional . . . He has, in Joudah’s startling and tensile English, expended into us a new vastness.” —Kazim Ali, The Kenyon Review “Here we have in one glorious volume the reach and the depth of Darwish’s lyric epics that individually, repeatedly, and cumulatively shifted our understanding of what poetry can accomplish. In his lucid and compelling translations, Joudah offers us a gesture of unequaled fraternity in lines that mirror and move in loyalty to the birth of new poems.” —Breyten Breytenbach, author of All One Horse
Gifted with a mind that continues to impress the elders in his village, Ichmad Hamid struggles with knowing that he can do nothing to save his friends and family. Living on occupied land, his entire village operates in fear of losing their homes, jobs, and belongings. But more importantly, they fear losing each other. On Ichmad's twelfth birthday, that fear becomes reality. With his father imprisoned, his family's home and possessions confiscated, and his siblings quickly succumbing to hatred in the face of conflict, Ichmad begins an inspiring journey using his intellect to save his poor and dying family. In doing so he reclaims a love for others that was lost through a childhood rife with violence and loss, and discovers a new hope for the future. Reminiscent of The Kite Runner and One Thousand Splendid Suns, this is an uplifting read, which conveys a message of optimism and hope.
"Darwish's poetry is an epic effort to transform the lyrics of loss into the indefinitely postponed drama of return." —Edward Said, author,Orientalism Blurring the boundaries between prose and poetry, this illuminating book explores the meaning of life, the impact of exile, and an existence spent in companionship with the specter of death. Partially autobiographical and marked by a sense of loss, it examines the nature of relationships—parental, carnal, and, the most fragile of all, that with life itself. A hauntingly beautiful work, it is the first English translation of a perfect introduction to a poet of global significance.
Moving to America turns H&à's life inside out. For all the 10 years of her life, H&à has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by, and the beauty of her very own papaya tree. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. H&à and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, H&à discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape, and the strength of her very own family. This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.
Eckhart Tolle is perhaps the most popular spiritual guru in the world. His books have topped the New York Times Bestseller List, and his core teaching-achievement of liberation via the power of Now-has become the "guiding light" of the New Age movement. But according to L. Ron Gardner, author of Beyond the Power of Now, there is a problem-a big problem-with Tolle's core teaching: Tolle never explains what, exactly, the power of Now is. Is it the same thing as Hindu Shakti or the Buddhist Sambhogakaya or the Christian Holy Spirit? Tolle doesn't say. He continually refers to the Bible and Jesus in his book, but, shockingly, never once mentions the Holy Spirit and how it relates to the Power of Now. L. Ron makes it clear that the true Power of Now is the Holy Spirit, which is the same divine Light-energy as Hindu Shakti and the Buddhist Sambhogakaya. He explains and extolls the true power of Now and castigates Tolle for failing to identify and describe it. To some, Eckhart Tolle is a New Age visionary, describing a "new earth" that can materialize if mankind, en masse, awakens to the power of Now. But according to L. Ron Gardner, he is simply a histrionic ranter full of empty rhetoric. Throughout this book, L. Ron continually points out, from different angles, the folly of Tolle's New (or Now) Age chimera and describes the social system that represents mankind's sociopolitical salvation. Beyond Tolle's teaching about the power of Now and rhetoric about a "new earth," L. Ron takes the renowned guru to task on virtually every subject he addresses. Most significantly, he rebuts his arguments that: 1) emotions can be trusted more than thought; 2) time is a mind-created illusion; 3) psychological time is insanity; 4) the present moment is the Now; 5) the "inner" body is the direct link to the Now; 6) your cells stop aging when you live in the Now; 7) women are spiritually more evolved than men; and 8) animals such as ducks and cats are Zen masters. Eckhart Tolle's teachings are replete with erroneous ideas, and L. Ron Gardner exposes the major flaws in his principal arguments while providing readers with integral solutions.
Van Gogh NotebookThis notebook series are inspired by Vincent Van Gogh paintings. With grid line design interior, it is perfect for any kind of writing form shopping list to poem and even perfect for drawing.It comes with 5 x 8" in size. Front and back covers are with full-color reproduction of Vincent van Gogh's Painting. With the special design, the painting continues from front to back cover.
