The Orient in Occidental Literary Heritage

It was John Lydgate (1370-1451), monk, scholar and poet, admirer of Chaucer and friend of his son Thomas, who popularised the story that Mohammed would put some seeds in his ears so that a dove would come to eat the seeds, and thus he made people believe that the dove was bringing word from God. In HENRY VI part ii, Shakespeare makes a character question Joan of Arc, "Did the dove that went to Mohammed turn into a falcon to bring you word from God!"
We've got to remind ourselves time and again that the two of the greatest literary works in the world are Iraqis: THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH and THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS. GILGAMESH has the merits and features of a classic Greek tragedy by having the sense of irretrievable and uncompensated loss. It is also modern in that it contains concepts of the absudity of human life and it arouses fears and worries about human destiny and that we are living in a world without tomorrow or with a dubious tomorrow. For perhaps opposite characteristics, THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS is also modern in its being a hilarious and hectic work celebrating life and the joys of living in a manner similar to modern existentialism. It is also bawdy like any golden Shakespearean comedy. THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHT gives an image of the ancient city of Baghdad as vivid as Athens in 5th century BC, Venice in the 16th century and present-day Paris and London and New York combined together
G Wilson Knight the eminent Shakespearan critic whom I used to visit in his home, told me once that he was a great admirer and avid reader of the novel HAJJI BABA OF ISFAHAN and the play HASSAN. Indeed, such literary works--a cynical critic called them "sub-literature"--are highly enjoyable and extremely entertaining, and their literary merits are not inferior at all. I remember the beautifual English the author uses in HAJJI BABA OF ISFAHAN , and the beautiful lyrics in HASSAN, especially that song which says something to the effect of " .. and take the road to Samarkand ..." Furthermore, I love the history and geography of the area extending from Samarkand thru Bukhara to the mountains and valleys of Afghnistan, the area where Genghis Khan--one of my heroes--dwelt. And as you know Genghis Khan was grandda of Kublai Khan immortalised by Coleridge, and this links me more tightly to Genghis Khan. Many a Renaissance dramatist wrote plays with historical and geographical background of that part of the world.
Doughty,s mighty book "Travels in Arabia Deserta". One day circa Spring 1973 I travelled to Royal Holloway College in Eggham north of London with a proposal to do a graduare research on modern English literature, I saw me ending up in a professor's office who told me he was willing to do with me a research on Doughty's book. He stood up and walked towards the wall and turned back to me reciting with dramatic bravura lines from that book about walking in the streets of old Damascus, etc..
The original Macbeth went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, hence should be called Hajji Macbeth, after the
fictional Hajji Baba and the factual Hajji Murad. Another factual figure who went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem was the notorious Russian eroticist Rasputin, hence Hajji Rasputin.
The best known dirge is the one in Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" which goes, "Fear no more the heat of the sun, etc..." I have heard it recited by the American actor Vincent Price and the English actress Diana Rigg and I found the performance superior to the text. I will keep an eye on anything that comes in my way related to dirges your cup of tea these days. My cup of tea nowadays is--the old one but now heated--1950s Hollywood movies and stars. I like the history and the biographies. I have found in the internet an oasis to hear my desert song of Hollywood. My dvds collection is looming fairly well. Now I can speak of a collection of over 600--not too bad for one living in the desert. The Empty Quarter, by the way, is only 100 miles from me. Who that British traveller was who crossed the EQ, I fondly ask! He said he had the best time of his life there. He said that the desert has nothing to offer you, but it offers you the best thing in the world which you can find neither in London, nor Paris nor New York, nor anywhere else, and that thing is freedom