[Note: This is the eighth in a series of translations of selected letters of the noted Iraqi poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab. For more information on the poet, click here.]

Letter #7 2/18/1957

Directorate of Public Trading, Baghdad

My Kind Brother, the Soaring Poet, Mr. Yusuf al-Khal,

Sweet greetings. I have received all four of your letters, but only laziness has caused me to postpone responding to them day after day.

In the month of September I was in Beirut, and I searched for you a lot, but to no avail. I sat at Faisal Restaurant across from the American University, and I roamed the university, but I was not lucky enough to see you or two other brothers whom I was anxious to meet, Khalil Hawi and Munah Khoury. Continue reading The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #8 →

[Note: This is the seventh in a series of translations of selected letters of the noted Iraqi poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab. For information on the poet, click here.]

Letter #8 3/4/1958

Baghdad

Dear Brother, Yusuf (al-Khal),

“I have a million things to do.” These are your words that I now repeat constantly. The truth is that I feel embarrassed in front of you and my dear friend Adunis due to this silence on my part. But… if you were in my place, you would both forgive me. From early morning until long after midnight, I work constantly to earn a few dirhams…I also have a personal commitment to read and write poetry.

I have read what transpired during the Thursday gathering of Shi’r Magazine. I have also read your “exaggerations.” The colloquial language – as Adunis said – is incapable of sustaining the causes that the Modern Arab Poet writes about. Only the Communists insist that the poet should write in a language and a style that the general public understands. The general public lacks cultural awareness. If we wanted to conform to the general public, then we would need to lag behind culturally and intellectually. We would have to relinquish our depth and give up art and many other things. Poetry – like all sublime arts in our present age- is not meant to be for everyone or to be a political instrument. It is neither a movie nor a newspaper article. Continue reading The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #7 →

The Iraqi Poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab

[Note: This is the sixth in a series of translations of selected letters of the noted Iraqi poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab. For more information on the poet, click here.]

Letter #6 3/4/1956

Directorate of Public Trading, Baghdad

My Kind Brother, Dr. Suheil (Idris),

Sweet Arab greetings to you. Yesterday I received your kind letter and welcomed your decision to entrust “the reading of the previous issue” to Mr. Abdul Sabour. We hope that he will be fair in his criticism. Otherwise, our pens are ready, and we look forward to the precious opportunity to reevaluate much of the criteria and points of view. This is my opinion and it is also shared with our brother, Muhyyi al-Din (Ismai’l).

As for our brother, Kathem (Jawad), he blames you because you entrusted the “reading” of the issue of al-Adaab to “a person who is even ignorant of prosody,” but we, brother Muhyyi al-Din and I, have convinced him of the importance of the rationale that prompted you to do this: namely, to reveal the truth through the struggle between values and criteria. As of yet, we have not seen the last issue of “al-Adaab” – we have learned from trusted sources that it will imminently appear in the market. Continue reading The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #6 →

[Note: This is the fourth in a series of translations of selected letters of the noted Iraqi poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab.]

Letter #4 (3/25/1954)
The Directorate of Imported Funds, Baghdad, Iraq

My Kind and Respected Brother, Dr. (Suheil) Idres,

Sweet greetings to you.

The kind letter that you sent me has had a deep effect on my soul. It bears witness anew to the nobility of your spirit, the vastness of your heart, and the sincerity of the pledge that you have assumed in the service of the Arab community and its literature which is advancing towards the light. I have made an elite group of friends, writers, and lovers of literature aware of your letter so they are informed of the biased uproar that a group of “preachers” have attempted to create.

It appears that Divine Justice has wished numerous, simultaneous events to occur so that the truth could become evident. Your letter to me and to our brother, Kathim (Jawad), arrived at the same time that the magazine, al-Adeeb, came out displaying a photograph of the “Preacher of Modern Poetry.” “The preacher” had dedicated the photograph to “the great poet, Albert Adeeb!!” This appeared along with a discussion on the great international poets such as Nathem Hikmat, Pablo Neruda and Aragone!! Is there more falsehood than this? Continue reading The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #4 →

[Statue of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab in Basra, Iraq.]

[Note: This is the third in a series of translations of selected letters of the noted Iraqi poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab. Click here for #1 and click here for #2.]

Letter #3 (5/7/1947)

My Dear Brother, Saleh, (Jawad al-Tu’mah)

As I write to you, I am suffering from the most difficult and severe physical condition, but I feel that loneliness weighs more heavily on me than illness itself. I have waited a very long time for the arrival of a letter from you. You said that you would begin writing… but I forgive you because I can surmise why you have forgotten or have become oblivious to the fact that there is a lonely person out there whose sorrows would be alleviated by your letter. It is spring, and not only flowers blossom in spring, but hearts and souls as well. Perhaps the decadent spring has stretched its tender fingers to your heart, tickling it and awakening it to love or perhaps the approach of final examinations has distracted you from everything except studying and being diligent. Continue reading The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #3 →