Elia Abu Madi
Elia Abu Madi Poems
He said: Lo, the sky is somber, and frowned.
I said: Smile just the same! Enough frowns in the sky
He said: Youth has left me and fled; I said: Smile!
Sorrow will never bring back your vanished youth
...
l came ,l don't know from where or how l came to be l am, or why l came ?l don't know!
l saw a path in front of me l began to walk,l must keep on walking willingly or unwillingly ,whether l agree or not.
How did l came to be? How did l sighted my way? l can't perceive the matter ,l don't know!
Am l new or am l old in this existence ?
...
At one time, Mr. Clay forgot that he was no more than mud
So, he walked insolently, bragged and boasted.
Body covered with fine silk,
He glorified himself in a self-admiring manner,
...
As it shrouded the White City,
The star-studded Night heard a groan
...
O you who complain without an illness
how will you do if you become really ill?
that who is the worst on earth
is that who look for leaving before it is the time
...
Here I am O' my staring country home
Look… do you remember who I am?
Could you glance into the far past?
Of a young boy naïve, careless.
Cheerful, always happy on the farm,
...
You were patience but O` it does not have a benefit after you,
Had it been beneficial, which other soul would need to be patience.
Weeping as for men is abhorred,
Except that, abstainess from it in your case is ingratitude.
...
Nay! It is rather a pathway for the soft breeze
It is a source of water for the birds to drink.
It belongs to the luminaries
To bathe in its cool water, in the summer nights.
...
Elia Abu Madi Biography
Elia Abu Madi (also known as Elia D. Madey; Arabic: إيليا أبو ماضي Īlyā Abū Māḍī [note 1]) (1889 or 1890 – 23 November 1957) was a Lebanese-American poet. Abu Madi was born in the village of Al-Muhaydithah, now part of Bikfaya, Lebanon, in 1889 or 1890. At the age of 11 he moved to Alexandria, Egypt where he worked with his uncle. In 1911, Elia Abu Madi published his first collection of poems, Tazkar al-Madi. That same year he left Egypt for the United States, where he settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1916 he moved to New York and began a career in journalism. In New York Abu Madi met and worked with a number of Arab-American poets including Khalil Gibran. He married the daughter of Najib Diyab, editor of the Arabic-language magazine Mirat al-Gharb, and became the chief editor of that publication in 1918. His second poetry collection, Diwan Iliya Abu Madi, was published in New York in 1919; his third and most important collection, Al-Jadawil ("The Streams"), appeared in 1927. His other books were Al-Khama'il (1940) and Tibr wa Turab (posthumous, 1960). In 1929 Abu Madi founded his own periodical, Al-Samir, in Brooklyn. It began as a monthly but after a few years appeared five times a week. His poems are very well known among Arabs; journalist Gregory Orfalea wrote that "his poetry is as commonplace and memorized in the Arab world as that of Robert Frost is in ours."[note 2] he died in 1957.)
The Best Poem Of Elia Abu Madi
Smile
He said: Lo, the sky is somber, and frowned.
I said: Smile just the same! Enough frowns in the sky
He said: Youth has left me and fled; I said: Smile!
Sorrow will never bring back your vanished youth
He said: The one whose love was my heaven,
Has tormented my soul
And turned my love into an inferno
She has betrayed my affection,
After I made my heart her sole possession.
So how can I smile
I said: Smile and enjoy yourself;
If you dwell on the hurt she dealt you, you will spend
The rest of your days in pain and suffering
He said: Business is in such turmoil,
As a traveler, almost dying of thirst
Like a consumptive young lass, in dire need of blood;
Wasting her life blood, with each gasp
I said: Smile, you are not the cause of her disease,
Nor will you be able to heal her.
Smile, for a smile may help
If someone else is a culprit,
Must you lose sleep worrying,
As if you yourself were the culprit
He said: The loud cries of my enemies
Are blaring around me,
How can I be happy when enemies are roundabout
I said: Smile, they are not after you
For a crime you have committed;
They would have ought against you if you weren't
Better and greater than themselves
He said: The sales' season is upon us,
Yet my merchandise of clothes and toys
Is not selling at all
I have an obligation toward my loved ones,
Yet, I have no single penny in my hand
I said: Smile, it is enough you are still living,
And not lacking in friends and well wishers
He said: The days have forced me to swallow bitter gall.
I said: Smile, even if bitter gall was given to you in strong doses
Perhaps if someone saw you in good spirits
Will discard gloom and rejoice instead
Will complaining ever earn you a penny?
Will you lose anything for being cheerful
There is no danger, friend, in parting your lips;
Your face will not disfigure if you smile
Laugh, for the stars laugh when night is darkest;
It is for this reason we love the stars
He said: Cheerfulness makes no one happy,
People come to this world and leave it against their will
I said: Smile as long as a short span
Separates you from death;
For once dead, you will not smile again
Elia Abu Madi Comments
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3/2/2026 10:42:32 AM # 1.0.0
One striking theme that runs through Abu Madi's poems is asceticism (zuhdiyah) . I'm not sure if he was a Zahid like Abu Al Alaa Al Ma'arri. It is amazing how the poet wrote these placid, spiritual poems in the hustle and bustle of New York City, where he lived!