Knowing him is like finding a pearl inside an oyster in a foreign ocean, gleaming with its own light and carrying stories from unknown shores. Yes, I am speaking of Ashraf Aboul-Yazid — a poet, novelist, translator from Egypt, an author and translator of 44 books that encompass poetry, novels, biographies, criticism, children’s literature, and translations. He is also a journalist whose career has taken him across Egypt, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Korea. He has been honured with many prestigious awards across all the fields of his work.

        Dr. Ashraf Aboul-Yazid was born on 13th March, 1963, in Benha – a city on the world’s longest river, the Nile — about 50 km north of Cairo, Egypt, a land renowned for its mysterious pyramids and rich history.

       He studied English literature and earned a Ph.D. in the sociology of literature for his thesis Crisis Management in Arabic Novels and Its Social Impact from the American University of Science and Technology (AUST). He began his career as a translator before moving into cultural journalism. He introduced non-Arab cultural icons in his TV program The Other on Kuwait Television. His travel writings, covering 37 countries, have been published in cultural magazines, primarily Al Arabi. He is a member of the Egyptian Writers Union, Editor-in-Chief of The AsiaN in Arabic, and President of the Asia Journalist Association (AJA) in South Korea. In 2021, he served as a jury member for the XVII Kazan International Muslim Film Festival.

        It was during the time of COVID -19 – a period of great despair for the world, a time that revealed how vulnerable we humans truly are beyond what we say, believe, or built, no matter how many powerful weapons we possess. During that time, I met Ashraf on one of the social media platforms. Later, I realised that there is always hope – even in the moments of great despair, there is a silver lining behind every cloud. There are people who still believe in goodness and bring hope to the world. Ashraf is one of those remarkable people I was fortunate to meet in my life.

        In mid-2022, I learned that he was compiling poetry from across the world for the “Silk Road Literature, Anthology Arabian Night series”, — a collection curated and edited by him. That was thrilled to know about the poetry anthology especially the theme: Arabian Nights. The first thought came into my mind after reading the theme in the submission call was a translated book in Manipuri – the stories of Arabian Nights I read during my summer holidays as a little girl. One after another, all the stories of Sindbad Jahaji (Sindbad the sailor) and Alibaba and the Forty Thieves began floating in mind like Aladdin’s flying carpet. Then, I let all my childhood memories of Arabian Nights settle firmly on the linen of my poetry – and so began my friendship with Ashraf Aboul-Yazid through the poem I wrote for his collection, Silk Road Literature: Anthology Arabian Night series. It seems as if Literature has connected the Nile and Barak rivers, as the friendship between Ashraf – a multidimensional personality from Cairo – and me, a poetess born in the place where Barak River flows, begins.

      In 2023, I translated one of his poems titled “The Monk at top of the Mountain with a Gray Head” into Manipuri, my mother tongue. The poem was profound and stirred questions about one’s existence.  I hope I translated it by the words perfumed by the original thoughts, without losing its essence. On 2nd January 2024, he attended as the chief guest at the official release of the second volume of my curated anthology series, entitled “Beyond the Language”. It was an online book release. As the book is a multilingual international poetry anthology, I chose to host the event online so that all contributing poets and the editors of the respective languages could attend. Although it was initially difficult to find a convenient time for everyone due to our different time zones, we eventually managed to fix a suitable time. I must say that my honourable friend Ashraf is a very cooperating and understanding person as well. Despite his busy schedule, he made time to attend the event and supported me throughout.

        We have started working on the third volume of the poetry anthology series ‘Beyond the Language,’ which will feature seven languages: Arabic, Russian, Sindhi (an Indian language), Malayalam (an Indian language), Nepali, Bodo (an Indian language), and my mother tongue, Manipuri, with English translations for all. Ashraf is the editor of the Arabic section. The book is under publication now.  I am deeply grateful to him for taking on this role and for all the support he continues to give me on my literary journey.

    I believe that a man should be known more for his heart than for his work. But when I came to know Ashraf better through our literary exchanges and conversations about writings, I realised that he is a man of his word- and best known for his heart!