Ashraf al-Bulaqi and the Suspended Verse of the Winged Being

The profound poetic journey of Ashraf al-Bulaqi in this literary analysis of One Who Walks Without a Myth. Delve into themes of cultural identity, revolutionary struggle, and the modern transformation of the classic Arabic “winged poet” archetype.

By Fathi Abdel Samie

The poet Ashraf al-Bulaqi has bequeathed a legacy of eight poetic collections:

1. My Body and Things that Worry Me (1999), General Egyptian Book Organization.
2. Salwa: The Litany of Seduction, General Egyptian Book Organization, 2003.
3. One Who Walks Without a Myth, General Egyptian Book Organization, 2008.
4. By the Fig and the Great Olive and Hind, General Egyptian Book Organization, 2013.
5. Texts from the Book of Friends, General Organization for Cultural Palaces, 2017.
6. Two Generations from Casablanca, Bardiya Publishing and Distribution, 2018.
7. Naked in Anticipation of Metaphor, Al-Adham Publishing and Distribution, 2020.
8. Dripping from All Their Daggers, General Egyptian Book Organization, 2021.

His third collection stands as a cornerstone of this bibliography. Emerging after two foundational experiments, it represents a zenith (the height of his artistic reach) that served as his true gateway into the cultural movement, marking his departure from traditional poetics toward a distinct, transformative horizon. Consequently, any discourse regarding al-Bulaqi’s poetic journey must inevitably anchor itself in this specific volume.

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Here, we shall dismantle the structure of the collection, subjecting it to a rigorous textual analysis. This work resurrects the archetype of the ancient Arab poet and the Mu’allaqat (the hallowed “Suspended Odes” once hung upon the curtains of the Kaaba). The collection functions as a singular, expansive poem bearing the arresting title One Who Walks Without a Myth. It suggests that the natural state of being is for a person to move through the world burdened by some myth, or perhaps a constellation of them whether a personal legend tied to life’s triumphs or a cultural mythos that dictates one’s actions and defines their identity. The title propels us toward numerous inquiries regarding the nature of this traveler, the essence of the “myth” in question, and the profound weight of walking stripped of it.

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To provoke such questions is to encounter a masterfully crafted title, one rich with intrigue and suspense. It offers a key that unlocks this long-form poem, guiding us as we engage with its shifting imagery, symbols, and varied aesthetics. We must examine the artistic threads that bind this vast architectural build, with its diverse states and intricate entanglements. This is especially vital as the poem relies on a cast of characters playing distinct roles: the persona of the Sea, the speaker’s Woman, and the Father—of whom the Torah mentions nothing save his weeping. Furthermore, it engages in deep intertextuality with the Quranic narrative of Joseph, peace be upon him. While these themes are vast, we shall focus here on the image of the poet as presented in the text. Defining the speaker’s features and his stance toward the world serves as an ideal entry point not merely to grasp his subjects or visions, but to understand the aesthetics and artistic methods he employs.

The poem captures a prolonged odyssey of shifting phases and contrasting positions. Confrontation frequently dissolves into departure; the revolutionary militant shouting in a protest transforms into a Sufi (a mystic seeker) who finds salvation in a mountain, seeking refuge from the inevitable fate of his country. While we cannot fix this journey to a specific calendar date, we feel the passage of time in the phrase: “Twenty combustions have passed” (p. 63). This expression reveals a duration measured not in years, but in searing, agonizing experiences. We are not looking at a poem that captures a fleeting state, but a work that strives to offer the distillation of an era a vessel for numerous states and the quintessence of multiple lives. These experiences orbit a single dimension: the complex, tortured relationship between the protagonist and his homeland, a relationship whose dimensions have finally become starkly clear to him.

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The speaker manifests as a poet through frequent cues, yet his attributes evolve according to the temporal context, his literary school, or his personal path. Tracing the features of this protagonist—the poet—becomes a means of locating the author’s position and the aesthetic values he inhabits. Throughout the collection, the poet is revealed through his relationship with the land as a “Seer,” a dreamer, an interpreter, and a reservoir of eloquence. These are ancient archetypes, harking back to a time when every tribe had its poet, a figure draped in a mythic halo. In the recitations of narrators, he was a “winged being”; in the eyes of the Bedouins, he was a statue embodying greatness. Al-Bulaqi’s poet is an extension of that image, declaring (p. 32):

“I am the myth of vision
The interpretation of the fable
The master of dreams
And expression is my secret
Some narrators crafted me with wings
And the Bedouins erected a statue in my honor.”

This is the poet’s image as preserved in collective memory. Al-Bulaqi entered the world of the word with this archetype in mind, believing he would be its continuation. Yet the reality proved to be the inverse. The “Bedouins” sold him for a pittance instead of carving his likeness; they stripped him of the myth usually bestowed upon bards. Though ancient traditions once unified the great odes with the most sacred of sites, the Kaaba, the modern reality has diverged. He still possesses all other essential characteristics, yet he is unchosen. This lack of “election” does not signal the death of the idea, but rather suggests that new attributes are required for his mythic halo to return:

“I shall die in a minute
And see the country with my own eyes
Has she chosen another
To teach him writing and song?
Perhaps she will choose my companion
The one who will betray me in the evenings
I, who gifted half my poems
And the ashes of my questions to him
I said: Celebrate
And let the country curse me.”

He is no longer, as he once expected, the poet of the nation. He does not know if the land has chosen another, but he anticipates it will choose the companion associated with betrayal and ingratitude. It is as if we are facing a new set of requirements for a poet to regain his status or personal myth. Rejecting these qualities which seem antithetical to the poet’s true nature does not merely mean the poet is shunned; he becomes a pariah, pursued by insults and profanity. Here, the poet’s image shifts toward another archetype: the “Struggler of the Word” or the revolutionary poet, cheering for the country with a brilliant voice while comrades bleed upon the pavement.

This is a modern image, most recognizable in the revolutionary poetry of the 1960s. Yet the journey does not end there. The protagonist of this long poem eventually pivots from the revolutionary to the exile retreating into the self or toward Sufism and other forms of voluntary isolation. This stage mirrors a departure toward mysticism and the tracing of prophets. This former Prometheus does not lose his faith in the “splendor of fires,” but he realizes they are futile because of that “cursed other.” After the “Bedouins” sold him cheaply and stripped him of his myth, the dream of being the nation’s singer evaporated. Connection to the land became a mere phase, followed by a migration to a void where the very word “country” becomes an irritant, deserving of scorn.

“Again, the country speaks to me!
As if I am an orphaned tree
And the land a cluster of gardens
To hell with it
It shall drag me back, even as I migrate” (p. 58)
“To hell with it… this country” (p. 59)

Thus, as the experience nears its end, the protagonist stands on the precipice of an exodus. Yet even this does not seem to be a final destiny. Something drags him back to the land; something calls him to change his stance, embodied in the symbol of “The Girl” a figure representing a new resurrection of his tale and his first steps, carrying the hope and anticipation of a new dawn.