Pilgrimage

by Isa Kamari, Harry Aveling (Translator)

In 2001, the prolific Singapore author Isa Kamari undertook the pilgrimage to Mecca. Two years later, he wrote a series of 100 poems based on this experience which was published in Malay as Munajat Sukma. The collection was subsequently republished as a triptych of chapbooks in 2006. Pilgrimage is a translation of a selection of these poems.

Arranged by Isa to form a sequential narrative of his journey, Harry Aveling’s English translations are a conduit for new readers into the deep recesses of the pilgrim’s mind and soul as they complete the Hajj. Through the poet’s inner responses to his faith, this collection opens up for English readers an awareness and understanding of a practising faith of a people from a different language.

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003