As the movements of Modern Arabic Poetry were shaped by social, cultural and political change, so was the poetic career of celebrated Iraqi poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab. Discussing al-Sayyab’s poetry necessitates a simultaneous discussion of the origin of free verse experimentation which was the movement he helped define.

Al-Sayyab began to compose in the early 1940’s when the Romantic Movement was gaining visibility in Iraq. The Romantics wrote poetry that challenged the thematic limitations of Classical Arabic Poetry, but while they moved from traditional to more personal themes and offered a diverse range of imagery, they remained loyal to classical structure. The Romantic Movement was instrumental in guiding the transition to Free Verse Poetry, in which al-Sayyab’s mastery is so celebrated.

During this time, al-Sayyab was influenced by writers like ‘Ali Mahmud Taha and Ilyas Abu Shabaka,“the first, known for his wandering, searching romantic poems set in high-sounding words: the second for his tender lyrics on love and nature” (Boullata 248), as well as by Western poets such as Keats, Shelly, T.S. Eliot and Edith Sitwell (El-Azma, 673).

In the mid-1930s Ali Ahmed Bakathir experimented with writing poetry that strayed from the strict structure all Arabic poetry had previously adhered to and a decade later al-Sayyab, working with Nazik al-Mala’ika, improved upon Bakathir's pioneering efforts. Their experimentation led to the formation of the Iraqi school of free verse.

Al-Sayyab’s first collection of poetry, Azhar dhabila (Withered Flowers), published in 1947, remained submissive to classical structure but reflected popular romantic themes. A single poem in this collection experiments with free verse.

Asatir (Legends), published three years later, explored free verse style more extensively and marked the continued evolution of Sayyab’s poetic individuality. In this collection Al-Sayyab had begun to develop his rhythmic elegance that when fully honed would lend to his later poems the flow and harmony that make the thought and emotion surging in them so communicable. Asatir hints at the eminent thematic shift from romantic to political in al-Sayyab’s poetry with a few pieces containing social and political commentary.

The 1950s witnessed an infusion of subtleties in al-Sayyab’s poetry which enriched its expression and symbolism while doubling as disguised ideological commentary. The content of these works was increasingly political, thanks to his skill with indirect expression. He wrote of the Arabs’ struggle with the “modern world,” grappling with occupation, exploitation, and a craving for revolution, independence, and autonomy. These works were collected and published under the title Unshudat al-matar (Hymn of the Rain) in 1960. Because he was so successful in using traditional myth as a framework for modern social commentary, the work in this collection is regarded as some of his best.

"Rain Song" is perhaps the most salient representation of al-Sayyab’s unique flair for combining, sometimes in a single stanza, traditional Iraqi folklore, political and cultural ideology, and arresting imagery to produce intelligible yet brilliant poetry.

I can almost hear Iraq husbanding the thunder,
Storing lightening in the mountains and plains,
So that if the seal were broken by men
The winds would leave in the valley not a trace of Thamud.
I can almost hear the palm trees drinking the rain,
Hear the villages moaning and emigrants
With oar and sail fighting the Gulf
Winds of storm and thunder, singing

In referring to Thamud, a mythical pre-Islamic tribe said to have perished at the hands of God for infidelity (DeYoung, 16), al-Sayyab draws upon myth to deepen our understanding of the present, and perhaps insinuate the cyclical nature of human history. The “villages moaning and emigrants/with oar and sail fighting the Gulf” refer to socio-cultural obstacles of occupation and oppression.

In the 1960s, though plagued by illness, al-Sayyab continued to write, again donning new poetic attire. In a philosophical homecoming al-Sayyab seems to have arrived at a new threshold beyond which he would truly find himself. Self-analytical and reflective of his struggle with disease, the poetry of this time covers darker themes, “moaning the withering greenness and the delay of rebirth.” (El-Azma, 675) Themes of despair, the ephemeral quality of happiness, and the ultimate acceptance of death dominated al-Sayyab’s work of this period. Shortly before his death in 1964, al-Sayyab writes in Death and the River: “I want to run out and link hands with others in the struggle/ clench my fists and strike Fate in the face/ I want to drown in my deepest blood/ that I may share with the human race its burden/ and carry it onward, giving birth to life/ My death/ shall be a victory.”

By readers al-Sayyab is appreciated for poetry that offers itself unconditionally. Despite the potential complexity of his imagery and continuously present political philosophy al-Sayyab used everyday speech and images from traditional folklore that helped him reach a wider audience. This is especially the case in the choice of the “rajaz,” used in simple and traditional songs, as his preferred foot.

Al-Sayyab was influential in the progression of the Free Verse movement and essential in its popularization. For these contributions to Modern Arabic poetry he is highly regarded in the literary world. Al-Sayyab’s principal biographer Terry DeYoung says he uses “…the power of Arabic in its magnificent literary tradition at its most dignified and eloquent levels of expression” (viii).

His soft and familiar rhythms, the honesty of his prose and the lucidity of his words bathe the poetic expression of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab in a beauty that transcends interpretation. Truly a poet of the people, al-Sayyab invites us all to share the magical and equally severe world painted by his poetry.

Works Cited/Consulted

Allen, Roger, ed. Modern Arabic Literature. New York : Ungar Pub. Co., 1987.

Benson, Eugene and L. W. Conolly. The Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English. 2 vols. New York: Routledge, 1994.

DeYoung, Terri. Placing the Poet : Badr Shakir al-Sayyab and Postcolonial Iraq. Albany: State Unversity of New York Press, 1998.

Meisami, Julie Scott and Paul Starkey. Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature. 2 vols. New York: Routledge, 1998.

Serafin, Stephen R., ed. Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century. 4 vols. Detroit: St. James, 1999.