The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-13
Romantic Life's Story
 of Syrian POet-Patriot

And he did He was, summoned to New York to take his place In the business. He returned, but did not remain in trade long. He set about translating the Qua trains. The Arabic construction did not lend itself readily to translation. Rihani first wrote literal translation. Then he
 made his own poetic adoption, until the Quatrains stood as graceful and appeal l ing examples of true poetic art. He wrote the Quatrains four times. He of fered them to Doubleday, Page and Co.,,
 who promptly accepted them If you should see Rihani in the stree, you would be struck with his pure Oli- | ental features. His eyes are large and dreamy. his skin is swarthy and great | masses of black hair fall on his forehead. He does not wear a fez and pose in na- tive costume-he is an American citizen ! and a keen student of American life and conditions. He speaks English with ! scarcely an accent, and his choice of words Is admirable. Behind his almost | boyish enthusiasm is an ambition to serve the country of his birth and the country of his adoption.
 Rihani lives in a fiat in Brooklyn. Por- I traits of Gambetta and Webster hang on | his walls. and on his bookshelves Sher- idans plays and the Essays of Ella" 1 stand alongside "The Octopus and "A | Kentucky Cardinal" He has taught him.
 self French, and he greatly admires De-
 Musset, Gautier, and De Maupassant. The translation of the Quatrains was | the corner stone in Rihanis literary ca | reer. He has written a volume of Eng | fish verse filled with mystic beauty. He
 Is rendering his fellowSyrians a great | patriotic service by writing numerous stories and poems in Arabic, dealing with
 the religious problem in his native priest riden land. These books are secretly dis | tributed, and are read today in thous- | ands of Syrian homes. In the Syrian col l ony in New York Rihani occupies a com | handing position. Rihani expects to write l biography of Abu'l-Ala and an Arabian l drama He will devote most of his time | to literary work. He is a frequent con- | tributor to the leading Arabic papers,
 and he often appears on the lecture plat
 form before his countrymen. | The publication of the "Quatrains of | Abul-Ala" develops the very interesting | fact that thelr author is indisputably the forerunner of Omar Khayyam. The Ara bian antedated the Persian by fully fifty
 years. and it seems logical that hIs work
 was the possible source of some of the | tentmakers philosophy. Omar joked with
 the mysteries of creation; Abul-Ala took
 them seriously. Both were keenly alive to
 the pleasure and the limitations of life. | Omar entertains: Abu'l-AIa uplifhts The similarity in thought and imagery ] between the poets is striking. Following
 is FitzGerald's rendering of a familiar 1 Omar quatrau:
 And this reviving Herb, whose Tender Green
 1 Pledges the River Lip on which we lean | And lean upon 1t lightly! for who knows
 From what once lovely lip 1t springs un- seen.
 l Abul-Ala's quatran, written years be- I fore and expressing the same idea is as | follows:
 Tread lightly, for thousand hearts un- l seen
 Might now be beating in this misty green!
 Here are the herbs that once were pretty l checks.
 Here the remains of those that once have | been.
 Again there is a marked similarity in the following quatrains, the first by Omar and the second by Abu'l-Ala:
 Myself, when young, did everywhere fre- quent,
 Doctor and Saint, and heard great arGu- | mcnt
 | About and about. but evermore Game out hy tha sama door wherein l