By Sameer Ibrahim
The poem ‘Anschūdat al-Maṭar’ (The Rain Hymn) is considered one of the most important works of modern Arabic poetry. The Iraqi poet Badr Shakir as-Sayyab wrote it in 1953 in Kuwait, where he had fled into exile to escape political persecution.
‘Your eyes are two palm groves in the dawn
Two balconies from which the moon departs
When your eyes smile, the vine becomes leafy
And like moons, the lights dance in the river
Gently rippling it with the oar at dawn
Pulsating stars in the depths of your eyes’
(German translation by Stefan Weidner, 1995)
This is how ‘The Rain Hymn’ begins, which first appeared in a Beirut magazine in 1954 and initially went unnoticed. Soon, however, the poem gained enormous resonance and became a milestone and model for modern Arabic poetry, and was translated into numerous languages.
Free from rhyme and metrical conventions
This was initially due to the author freeing himself from the constraints of Arabic rhyme and metre traditions in order to introduce Arabic poetry to the modern poetry of world literature as a ‘pioneer of free verse’. Above all, however, the poem allows for a wealth of interpretations and symbolic meanings that continue to touch readers to this day.
In his poem, Sayyab assigns two different roles to rain: merciful rain, which revives the earth and seeds—a symbol of life and fertility since the beginning of advanced civilisations in Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago; and cursed rain, which brings wrath, destruction and death because it does not stop.
Diversity of interpretations
At the same time, the rain can also be read as a symbol of hoped-for renewal, of revolution against the autocratic regimes of Iraq and other Arab states. ‘The Rain Hymn’ thus also expresses the collective pain of the Arab people and their longing for freedom.
But very personal interpretations are also possible: for example, rain as a symbol of the beloved, with the beloved’s eyes as pulsating stars. Later in the poem, rain is compared to milk from a mother’s breast, and so the text could also represent mourning for Sayyab’s mother, whom he lost at the age of six, a lifelong trauma for him. Finally, the song also sings of Iraq and the countless palm trees that symbolise Iraq (see tun24060509). The song thus also expresses the poet’s homesickness for Iraq while in exile.
This diversity of possible interpretations is what makes the poem so appealing, turning it into a passionate song that some critics attribute with a beauty comparable to sacred texts.
Short life—long impact
But who was this Badr Shakir al-Sayyab? He was born in 1926 in the village of Jikur near Basra in southern Iraq, the son of a date farmer and shepherd. He studied English language and literature in Baghdad and initially worked as a teacher and later in the civil service. He was very active politically from a young age, holding a leading position in the Communist Party, which forced him into exile, but he returned to Iraq. His final years were marked by illness. Sayyab died in 1964 at the age of only 37 in Amiri Hospital in Kuwait from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an incurable disease of the nervous system that leads to complete muscle paralysis. His body was transferred to Basra. On a cold winter’s day when the rain seemed never-ending, a simple funeral was held in his home village of Jikur: only a few relatives and neighbours said their goodbyes—a quiet end for a great poet whose work was born of deep pain.
The entire poem can be found in English translation at:
Washington Square Review | Badr Shakir al-Sayyab
The Arabic text on the internet:
Ad Diwan | Poem
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