The Permanence and The Change

The terms of al-tsabit dan al-mutahawwil came from a modern Arab poet and cultural observer, Adonis. He used this term for the title of his book discussed widely in the Arabic world in the ‘80s, Al-Tsabit wa-Al Mutahawwil: Bahts fil al-Ittiba’ wa al-Ibda’ ’inda al-’Arab”(the permanent and the changing: Study about Epigonism and Innovation in the Arabic World). The book consists of three volumes analyzing the intellectual, political and cultural roots causing stagnancy of Arabic creativity.