Legendary Persian Queen Scheherazade
Storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights
Photo Credit: Wikipedia/Painting by Sophie Anderson

My Poetry Corner March 2016 features the poem “The Marvelous Women” from the poetry collection, E-mails from Scheherazad, by Syrian-American poet and author Mohja Kahf. Born in Damascus, Syria, Kahf was four years old when she migrated with her parents to Utah in 1971. After obtaining their university degrees, her parents moved with her to Indiana. When she was in tenth grade, they relocated to New Jersey where she later obtained her doctorate in comparative literature at Rutgers University. Following her marriage, Kahf settled in Arkansas. An associate professor at the University of Arkansas, she teaches comparative literature and Middle Eastern Studies.

The opening stanza of “The Marvelous Women” caught my attention.

All women speak two languages:
the language of men
and the language of silent suffering.
Some women speak a third,
the language of queens.
They are marvelous
and they are my friends.

I know well the language of men and the language of silent suffering. What was this language of queens? Perhaps the answer lies in the title of Kahf’s poetry collection. Scheherazade is the legendary Persian queen and storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights. Continue reading →