With the rise of the various intellectual streams in the Western world in the second half of
the twentieth century modern Arab poets recognized the need to promote the Arabic poem. They
knew that the road of self exploration and promotion begins in the ancestral legacy. The Road
to Self-Revival explores the tendency of modern Arabic poetry to summon Sufi figures thinking
philosophy terms attitudes and practices. Specifically this volume focuses on the poetry of
four Arab modernists: Abdul Wahab al-Bayyati (1926-1999) Ali Ahmad Said known as Adonis
(1930-) Salah Abdu-s-Sabur (1931-1981) and Mahmud Darwish (1941-2008). The book traces a
number of Sufi figures in the poetry of these poets: Bishr ibnul-Harith Al-Hafi (767-840)
Al-Husain Ben Mansur Al-Hallaj (858-922) Farid ed-Din Al-'A ar (1145 46-1221) Muhyi ed-Din
bnul-'Arabi (1165-1240) and Jalal ad-Din Mohammad Rumi (1207-1273).
