Habibullo-Eugene Kiselev
A Synopsis of my Life
February 15th, 2018, Thursday, 09:50:30 p.m.
Yekaterinburg, Russia. GMT 05:00
Today I would like to share some thoughts, ideas, dialogs and rencontres that have recently happened to me. The other day, I had a thought that I might have been an exaggerated poet. In other words, I thought myself up as a poet and exalted myself to this degree. I thought about Arseniy Konetsky (May he rest in peace!) who wrote a wonderful poem for a Victory day when he was around 12. His mother, poet Lubov Ladeishchikova read this poem during one of the meetings of her seminar. I liked it. Regardless of the fact that I do not remember the whole poem, I remembered one line that fascinated me. It said that the soldiers “… erased the swastika from Earth”. (Translation added – E.K.) So, I recalled the days when I was a schoolboy of around 12 years old and we were given a task to write a poem for a Victory day. I wrote such nonsense! I mean, I understand that it was nonsense; however, it did not seem to me such in those days. Maybe this was partly because I have always been skeptical about the glorification of the Soviet Union’s involvement into the Second World War. Arseniy Konetsky wrote a masterpiece when he was at school. He is considered to be a great poet. “What have I done as a young boy?” – I asked myself. “I could not have produced anything like Arsseny Konetsky did. Therefore, I cannot be called a true poet…” – I continued my speculations. Today I decided to talk to my Teacher, Eugene Lobanov, about it. “It is always wrong to compare the two poets no matter who they are. Also, you should not compare yourself to anyone. This is always wrong too. Each of the poets has his own life experience, talent, etc. Arseniy Konetsky was born into a family of poets; therefore, his parents gave him poetry to read and taught him thus. If you could read what I had written at the age of twelve, this might well be perceived as a sort of rubbish. Most of the poets teach themselves, not all of them have teachers or mentors. As for you personally, you should give up doubts and go forward. Do not pay attention to what other people tell you. Just go forward. People say many things; they are often contradictory. You will just not know who to listen to and you will stand still. You should move forward” – my guru said. I was kind of appeased.
Tonight, as I was coming from the University, I met Ibrahim Diallo, a student from Guinea. He was coming down the Weiner Street; I met him at the crossroads of Weiner Street and Kuybyshev Street. We shook hands and went on parleyvooing. He told me he was going to go to Guinea soon. This sort of disappointed me. However, I was happy to meet him! He asked me to call him this week and arrange a meeting at the University. Having had a short conversation, we parted at the same crossroads.
It was also tonight, that I discovered I had learned the new surah from the Holy Qurʿān by heart. This surah is called “Al-Ikhlash”. According to the long-standing tradition of this Journal, I would like to quote this surah now:
Al-Ikhlash
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم Bismillāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm In the name of Allah , the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
112.1.
قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ Qul huwa-Llāhu ʾaḥad Say, “He is Allah , [who is] One,
112.2.
ٱللَّهُ ٱلصَّمَدُ Allāhu ṣ-ṣamad Allah , the Eternal Refuge.
112.3.
لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ Lam yalid walam yūlad He neither begets nor is born,
112.4.
وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌۢ Walam yakun lahu kufuwan ʾaḥadan Nor is there to Him any equivalent.”
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