Adalberto Alves: 40 Years of Literary Life

Organized and presented by coordinators Fabrizio Boscaglia and Maria João Cantinho, Edições Universitárias Lusófonas, in partnership with the Islamic Community of Lisbon, held the launch session of the book “Adalberto Alves: 40 years of literary life”. The volume brings together unpublished documents, essays and materials, in honor of Adalberto Alves, lawyer, poet, scholar, promoter and interpreter of the Arab-Islamic civilization, particularly from the period of al-Andalus (Iberian Peninsula, 711-1492) and which embraces several domains of knowledge, although the two main aspects of his work are poetry and Arabist essays.

One of the greatest examples, or perhaps the best known, of the work of Adalberto Alves is the translation into Portuguese of the poetry of al-Muʿtamid and Ibn ʿAmmār, two of the greatest Arab poets of al-Andalus. However, he still contributes in the areas of Islamic spirituality (Sufism), law, linguistics, ecology and citizenship, in addition to poetry, which constitutes his “most distinctive vocation, which animates his intellectual inspiration”.

The book presented on the afternoon of March 11, follows the homonymous exhibition held at the National Library of Portugal, in the year 2020 and contains “more than thirty texts, tributes and testimonies of Portuguese poets, intellectual writers and academics and international publications, as well as unpublished documents, interviews and dozens of color archival images”.

In the Salão Nobre of the Central Mosque of Lisbon, the launch session began with the opening sura of the Koran and was followed by statements from the coordinators and organizers of the event.

Maria João Cantinho began her speech by reading parts of the works: “A flower in silence” and “Infinitude”, by Adalberto Alves, starting with an overview of the writer's work. He referred to the importance of “Arabic and Persian poetry” in current contemporary poetry and characterized Adalberto Alves’ writing as a “unique and representative voice”, characterizing him as “a very inspired poet”, who has “eclectic poetic themes”.

Fabrizio Boscaglia reserved an opening moment for acknowledgments and stated that joining the event, that is, participation “is a sign that Adalberto's work has reached many people”. According to him, Adalberto has for himself one of the biggest objectives, which is: “to help us improve as human beings”, taking into account that “it has been a gateway to a community of readers who are interested in Islamic Arabic culture”, being “bridge between cultures and communities”, mainly because of the fact of “awakening curiosities about the theme of Islam”. For him, the writer's work and life help to “deconstruct prejudices”, as he tries to “affirm Islamic Arab studies in an academic context” in a “self-taught, intellectual and independent way”, with “energy and passion”.

When the floor was given, Adalberto Alves began by describing himself as an “apprentice” and “permanent debtor of thanks”, immediately afterwards demonstrating his “joy and honor” in holding the launch session in a place which, for him, is “a reference to tolerance and culture”. He stated that the presentation is a passage to his 40 years of literary life and made reference to one of the greatest secrets in life: “being humbly humble”. He also related the importance of family, friendships and work and left for a moment of quotes. He finally announced an autograph session and ended his intervention with an invitation to read: “Don't let us die, read our poetry!”.