It feels like forever since I wrote here. It’s embarrassing, to say the least. However, one of the things I learned from last year is that it’s okay not to write every day, but that it should also get as much attention as my daytime, 9-to-5 job that puts food on the table. And so I started thinking: Should I make more plans for this year? Considering that I hadn’t done a good job at it the last times, I was hesitant. In the end, however, I decided that this was it.
I’ve questioned myself over and over again, and as I thought about the topics I’m interested in, I couldn’t decide what would be the best option, because writing is everything to me. I have tried several options so far for different projects, which didn’t help to decide either. Until I thought about something that might work.
I decided long ago I wanted to be a sha’ir, and one of the elements of the role is being a poet, so I started reading Arabic poetry. Right now, it’s only been contemporary, but I want to be able to read the Mu’allaqat before the end of the year.
Speaking of reading, I want to finally get started on those lists I kept doing over and over again:
- 1001 Nights: I already read the Mahdi and Haddawy edition but I also want to start with the Burton edition and Lyons edition. Also, I plan to include A Hundred and One Nights, by Bruce Fudge. I also have The Annotated Arabian Nights: Tales from 1001 Nights
- A History of the Arab Peoples
- Book of Idols (Kitāb al-ʾAṣnām)
- Islam, Arabs, and the Intelligent World of the Jinn
- This specific edition of the Mu’allaqat
- Picatrix (Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm): I want to read and compare the edition of Dan Attrell and David Porreca and the one by John Michael Greer and Christopher Warnock
- The Arabic Influences on Early Modern Occult Philosophy
- The Orphan Tales
- The Satanic Verses
- Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange: A Medieval Arab Fantasy Collection, translated by Malcolm C. Lyons
- The Faith of the Druze: Not Pagan at all, but I still want to get to know more of my roots
- I also want to get back to basics as well, so I’ll keep in mind the Witchcraft Books for Newcomers I shared
- And just for the sake of entertainment, some Arab-Inspired Fantasy books, including The Wrath and the Dawn, both the original book duology and the webtoon adaptation
Part of the plan is also to be able to write at least once every two weeks as I work my way up to a weekly basis. I miss writing here, and I want to spend more time doing it, learning, and developing my skills.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In