Ilham   إِلْهام                        Arabic

Ilham is a particular subconscious state suddenly overwhelming the heart and the mind at the same time. This feeling, if carrying positive meanings will be followed by the most marvelous words and pictures combine together to be translated into wonderful literature, poems and fine arts. It is not surprising that if you ask the artist: “How did you do it?“ Or “under what conditions did this happen?“ the reply is usually…. “ I don’t know what exactly happened to me but a secret feeling was behind this work“

Arabs were and still are shaping the operation of producing a “verse“ by “labor”. It is the meaning of creating something wonderful and new. In addition to this the Arab poets used to call Ilham  the Devil of Poetry . The Devil of Poetry is a great sensation attacking the heart and the mind spontaneously without permission giving a wonderful feeling, torturing but sweet. Subconsciously, between sleeping and awakening, Arabic poems created with the most wonderful meanings immortalized the Arabic language and revealed how rich it is.

The folk tales "Thousand and One Nights", were created by common inspiration and are very rich with images and adventures. It shows the richness and the depth of the common mind in the East. It is a real piece of Eternal Literature, which with time has become a source that has affected all fine arts in both East and West. These folk tales still have significant power to keep the spirit of inspiration interacting between the mind of the reader and the Creatures of the tales. They represent marvelous continuation between the tangible and intangible and between the conscious and subconscious. It is the Ilham which stimulates emotions, visions and opens the mind to a wonderful interaction between life and Sub-life.

From the point of view of the Arabic Language, Ilham, can also provoke negative visions if the spirit is not pure and clean. In this case the secret feeling attacking the heart and the mind can do something quite unbelievable and harmful. This bad feeling could affect one person or group of people depending on how bad it was.

 Iham, either positive or negative, represents a sudden feeling overwhelming the heart and the mind, shaking them and uniting them. It is a hidden feeling that reveals the beauty and the atrocity of the human being.

Interview Questions

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Edwin: Do you recall your first experience of being inspired or experiencing Ilham?

Could you be more specific and tell me more about the visions and what exactly happened when you were 6 years old?

When I was six years old: In " Daraw " this village, when I was six we, my family and I, lived a very simple life with no electricity most of the time. My friends and I were depending mostly on our imaginations as the only way to enjoy our time playing together. I still remember, there were no rules for any game. Every day there was a new game, with new feeling. We would imagine ourselves to be roses and our bodies were the instruments to create real roses, and so on. We were statues, fishes or anything else you can imagine. I was at this age crazy about singing and dancing, and I liked to use my body to act and imitate anything or any creature. Most adults around me considered me strange as a girl. In that time girls were not supposed to be quiet, shy and were not allowed to dance and sing in front of others. Some adults used to tease me and sometimes used to say bad things and make me cry. I used to resist these thoughts since I was six years old. It was hard and tough to do this, but it was this inspiration which led me to keep struggling with great satisfaction for my choices. I accepted the challenge, that I am strange, but also special.

Do you know of any Arabic or Egyptian Art that explores or express the theme of Ilham?

Of course all the world now know the name of Naguib Mahfouz. Mahfouz won Nobel prize in Literature some years ago. Before devoting his life to writing he studied Philosophy and he used to say:" while I was holding a book in Philosophy in one hand in the other I was holding a novel. The Philosophical thoughts were attacking and attracting my mind and, at the same time, the Characters of the novel were the people who were practicing these Philosophical thoughts. In my mind there was great struggle between Literature and Philosophy."

These were Naguib words, they confirm what I wrote before that "Ilham" is great sensation attacking the heart and mind at the same time. It is like a battle torturing but sweet specially if it explores the real "Ilham". Mahfouz first short story collection was under the title: "Whisper of Madness."  The title itself expresses the theme of "Ilham".  His works have been recorded in the American Congress Library as one of the  most famous writers in Arabic Countries.

I sent 2 paintings, one of them represents Egypt and It's  name is: Villager woman in the field. Salah Taher painted it 1949. The other one was painted in 1977, and in spite of the long time between both of them I see there is deep relationship between them. They both assuring  that this artist has special feeling towards Egyptian women.

References;

bitshop.com - an article mentioning Ilham.