Adonis and Christianity

Adonis’ references a variety of different faiths in his poems, I believe this makes his poetry even more meaningful.  It shows that he can take the time to learn and understand other people’s beliefs, even relate to them, then reflect those relations in his poetry, while not even actually being a part of that faith himself.  Nothing makes a person’s view more irrelevant than not taking to time to inform themselves of the others, but if someone can learn about people who are different, relate to, and understand them, their words take on a whole new meaning.

I believe Adonis is doing a few things with his references to Christian beliefs in “Concerto for the Veiled Christ”.  The first would be showing that everyone is free to have his or her own beliefs.  He also seems to make the point of relating his own Arabian culture, showing that we are all alike, and can all get along. I do not think Adonis is considering himself to be Christ-like with his poem.  He does however seem to be making a point of life being biblical, full of meaning, and effected by all others, in the past and present.

Adonis makes a lot of interesting references in “Concerto for the Veiled Christ”.  “Do you think the dust that covers the gray tiles on the church’s threshold comes from      Aquinas’s body or Giotto’s? Is the hand of that dust now touching my shoulder? And the air of this era, from which dust is it coming?”  Here Adonis is referencing the bible verse stated at the Catholic ritual of Ash Wednesday “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” Genesis 3:19.  The bible verse is interpreted as a memento mori, or a reminder of death.  Here, I think he is saying that everyone is going to die, even men who accomplished great things in that place passed away, and someday he will pass away as well.  This could be a reference to his age and his death, which he does make multiple times.  I think he is just reflecting on his life, considering what turns it will take, and where it could go before his death, not necessarily projecting his death to be soon.  The last sentence in the quote above mentions the current air, and the dust from which it is coming.  This seems to reference that the present has come from the past, it has the remnants of the past in it and the past and history affect the current way of life, and for that they should be recognized.  He also mentions the dust touching his shoulder specifically.  I think he is asking if either of their lives directly affected his in any way.

Another reason I think Adonis references Christianity in his poem is because his recognizing history of his region.  Christianity originated in the Middle East in the first century AD.  According to the Christian doctrine and the bible, Jesus Christ, with whom the church worships, was born in Bethlehem, spent his entire life in the Middle East, and died in Jerusalem.  After his death, his believers started the church of Christ.  Christianity was the major religion in the Middle East for over six hundred years.  The Arab Muslim Conquests of the seventh century ousted most Christians in the regions, resulting in the Islamic majority of today.  Currently the majority of the Christians in the Middle East live in Egypt.  With Christianity being a part of the Middle Eastern religious history, it is not a surprise Adonis would be interested in it.  He relates to it in his poems and in turn connects with a more variety of an audience, showing his openness to others and finding common ways to connect people who are different.