Celebrating the Malayalam Translation of The Memory of Silence by Ashraf Aboul-Yazid at the First Afro-Asian Literary Forum at the Darna Museum

Coinciding with World Book Day, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, the first edition of the Afro-Asian Literary Forum was launched, hosted by the Darna Museum on the banks of the Nile. This inaugural gathering offered a unique opportunity to engage with Indian culture through the lens of translation and its challenges, which were the focus of the forum’s opening session.

The second session was dedicated to celebrating the Malayalam translation of Ashraf Aboul-Yazid’s selected poems, published under the title The Memory of Silence, and translated by academic Dr. Sabina K. This marks the second publication of the poet’s work in Malayalam; his novel A Backyard Garden was previously translated by academics Dr. Abdul Majeed and Dr. Mansoor Ameen of Calicut University and M.E.S College in Mambad.

Malayalam is spoken by over 40 million people. It is the official language of the Indian state of Kerala and is also spoken in the Lakshadweep Islands, and by large Indian communities in the Gulf, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, and Australia. Egyptian writer Ashraf Aboul-Yazid has visited Kerala several times, witnessing the release of the Malayalam edition of his novel and attending the defense of a doctoral dissertation titled The Poetics of Narrative in the Novels of Ashraf Aboul-Yazid, presented by researcher and translator Dr. Sabina K. under the supervision of Professor Muhyiddin Kuti A.B., former head of the Arabic Department at Calicut University.

The translator’s speech, read on her behalf by her husband, Dr. Abbas K. P., who also participated in the first session, highlighted her deep connection with the poet’s work:

“Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good evening—a night of poetry and love, a gathering beyond languages and borders.
In this moment, pulsing with the warmth of meaning, I stand before you holding a rare flower, blooming from the soil of Arabic poetry and nourished by the soul of Malayalam. My translation of fifty poems by the great poet Ashraf Aboul-Yazid is not merely a transference of words from one language to another. It is a journey through the spirit of the poems—from Rain to Garden of Desires, from Travel to Under a Spider’s Sky, from Prison to The Memory of Silence.
These are poems that walk the tightrope of death and return to light up the night of the soul. They are keys to inner realms, encoding love, awakening the sleeping child within us, and confronting the world’s darkness with the light of the word.
I have tried, with love and humility, to be an echo of Ashraf Aboul-Yazid’s voice, and to make our Malayalam language a true bridge for this beauty to reach Indian readers in Kerala—where poetry, too, is cherished like in the gardens of the East.
This is not my first encounter with Arabic poetry. I had the honor of translating the works of the great poetess Suad Al-Sabah, including Urgent Telegrams to My Country and Love Poems, into Malayalam. Each time, I realized that Arabic poetry is not only an art, but a message. And that translation is not transfer, but rebirth in another language.
I thank poet Ashraf Aboul-Yazid for his trust, and for his poetry that granted me discovery and awe. I thank everyone who believed in and supported this project.
Let us keep this bridge open—between Arabic and Malayalam, between poem and soul, between East and East. May the word remain free and soaring. Thank you.”

This new poetry collection was published by Al-Nasher Publishing House in Egypt, as part of the Silk Road Creations series. This same series has also published The Poetics of Narrative in the Novels of Ashraf Aboul-Yazid and a number of international literary works, including a translated collection by Indian poet Hemant Devathi, in addition to the Silk Road Anthology Series, comprising five epic volumes. Poet Magdy Aboul-Kheir, founder of Al-Nasher, participated in the celebration of the book’s launch in Malayalam.

The author also showcased covers and editions of his translated works, including A Street in Cairo and The Whisper of the Sea in Spanish, translated by Dr. Nadia Gamal El-Din and published by Casa de Poesía – University of Costa Rica. His Turkish selection Yaralı Güvercinler Irmağı (The River of Wounded Doves) was released by Artshop in Istanbul in 2012, translated by poet Metin Fındıkçı. In 2013, The Memory of Butterflies was published in Persian, translated by Dr. Nasrin Shakibi Momtaz, by Afraz in Tehran. His English collection The Memory of Silence was released by Poetrywala in Mumbai in 2016. Additional translations of A Street in Cairo include Sindhi (translated by Naseer Aijaz, Dareen Publishing, Germany, 2020), German (same publisher), and Russian, with two editions: in Baku and Moscow (translated by Dar Akhadov). It has also been rendered into Urdu (by Shabbir Somro), Azerbaijani (by Tirana Mohamed, Cairo, 2023), and Serbian (by Dr. Ana Stelia).

In fiction, his novel The Road to Shamawes was translated into Korean (Shamawes-ro-ui Gil), published in Seoul in 2008, translated by Professor Kim Suk-Young. His novel A Backyard Garden was rendered into Malayalam by novelist Anil Kumar and published in Calicut, India, in 2017. The English version was published by Dareen Novels, Germany, in 2020, translated by Mohamed El-Wafi. In 2024, the English edition of The Road to Shamawes was released by Al-Nasher Publishing House in Cairo and within the Kanon Series in Germany