برنامج أديبات من فلسطين

مقابلة إذاعية - برنامج حارسة نارنا د. فيحاء عبد الهادي

I started to learn literature and poetry at an early age when I was first learning my alphabets. I learnt by heart a good amount of poetry verses that I used to recite with love as did my parents who made me love the Arabic language, poetry and all forms of literature.
Poetry has formed a space for freedom where I could breathe and has opened windows for my soul that could not be unlocked by the social ambience of my city, Nablus. There was no better time spent than that with our family friend, the poet Fadwa Touqan at our residence in Yasmineh. We listened with passion to her lovely poetry. The best time I had, was when someone asked me to recite some of her poetry.
At the elementary school level, I used to go with my sister Fadia and read books at the Municipality Library in Nablus. We read literature, historical literature, philosophy, etc. We read Najib Mahfuz, Yousef Elsibaie, Abdelhalim Abdallah, were introduced to history through the stories of Gurji Zeidan, and had a look at philosophy when reading Plato, Aristotle, and Alsafa Brothers’ Letters. Nablus Municipality Library had its great educational impact on us, as it was our spring of knowledge, and remained a beautiful trip to enjoy during our stay in Nablus city.
I imitated my sister in writing letters to my friend Abeda signed by Alsafa Sisters after I got across her letters to her friend Suhair with the same signature. Those letters formed the early stages of my revolt against ignoring women and marginalizing them in areas of knowledge, namely, in philosophy. I was attracted to the vagueness that contained the Alsafa Brothers’ Letters, to the philosophical questions raised such as metaphysics versus natural existence or the issue of destiny versus choice. They were known to be one of the oldest chains that communicated between Arab Islamic thought and other philosophies and religions. I was amazed by their religious openness that renounced fanaticism, and by their use of mind in what they discussed in their Letters. They declared that they do not refuse any science, ignore any book or fanaticize with any ideology, as they believe that their opinion encompasses all other thoughts and overwhelms all other sciences.
During my academic studies, I was attracted to literature and was unmoved by historical studies. I felt the difference between the human history and written history. I never liked abstract memorizing to acquire good grades, the matter that made me escape the humanities studies to the sciences at the high school level. This was not because I liked science courses, but escaping the rigid humanities material that requires rigid memorization such as history as taught by my school at the time.
Literature accompanied me all my life and was my savior and companion in difficult circumstances at school, in prison, at the university and all through the broader life.


Faiha Abdul Hadi