Badr Shakir al-Sayyab
Encyclopedia
Badr Shakir al Sayyab (December 24, 1926–1964) is an Iraqi
and Arab poet
, born in Jekor, a town south of Basra
in Iraq
. The eldest child of a date grower and shepherd. He graduated from the Higher teachers training college of Baghdad in 1948. Badr Shakir was dismissed from his teaching post for being a member of the Iraqi communist party.
, whose experiments helped to change the course of modern Arabic poetry
. At the end of the 1940s he launched, with Nazik al-Mala'ika,and shortly followed by Abdulwahab albayati and Shathel Taqa
, the free verse movement and gave it credibility with the many fine poems he published in the fifties. These included the famous "Rain Song," which was instrumental in drawing attention to the use of myth in poetry. He revolutionized all the elements of the poem and wrote highly involved political and social poetry, along with many personal poems. The Palestinian
poet Mahmoud Darwish
was greatly impressed and influenced by the poetry of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab.
The publication of his third volume, Song of Rain, in 1960 was one of the most significant events in contemporary Arabic poetry. He started his career as a Marxist
, but reverted to mainstream nationalism
without ever becoming fanatical. While still in his thirties, he was struck by a degenerative nervous disorder and died in poverty. He produced seven collections of poetry and several translations, which include the poetry of Louis Aragon
, Nazim Hikmet
, and Edith Sitwell
, who, with T. S. Eliot
, had a profound influence on him.
Badr went to England for the first time in Autumn of 1962, at a time when his health was deteriorating. He attended Durham University for translation studies http://www.diwanalarab.com/spip.php?article3216.
Iraqi people
The Iraqi people or Mesopotamian people are natives or inhabitants of the country of Iraq, known since antiquity as Mesopotamia , with a large diaspora throughout the Arab World, Europe, the Americas, and...
and Arab poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, born in Jekor, a town south of Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. The eldest child of a date grower and shepherd. He graduated from the Higher teachers training college of Baghdad in 1948. Badr Shakir was dismissed from his teaching post for being a member of the Iraqi communist party.
Biography
Badr Shakir al-Sayyab was one of the greatest poets in Arabic literatureArabic literature
Arabic literature is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is adab which is derived from a meaning of etiquette, and implies politeness, culture and enrichment....
, whose experiments helped to change the course of modern Arabic poetry
Arabic poetry
Arabic poetry is the earliest form of Arabic literature. Present knowledge of poetry in Arabic dates from the 6th century, but oral poetry is believed to predate that. Arabic poetry is categorized into two main types, rhymed, or measured, and prose, with the former greatly preceding the latter...
. At the end of the 1940s he launched, with Nazik al-Mala'ika,and shortly followed by Abdulwahab albayati and Shathel Taqa
Shathel Taqa
Shathel TAQA, Shathel TAQA, Shathel TAQA, (in Arabic: (شاذل طاقة (28) April 1929 – 20 October 1974), an Iraqi poet, diplomat and politician. He is one of the pioneer founders of the School of Modern Arabic Poetry, which emerged in Iraq in the late 1940s and early 1950s....
, the free verse movement and gave it credibility with the many fine poems he published in the fifties. These included the famous "Rain Song," which was instrumental in drawing attention to the use of myth in poetry. He revolutionized all the elements of the poem and wrote highly involved political and social poetry, along with many personal poems. The Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
poet Mahmoud Darwish
Mahmoud Darwish
Mahmoud Darwish was a Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet...
was greatly impressed and influenced by the poetry of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab.
The publication of his third volume, Song of Rain, in 1960 was one of the most significant events in contemporary Arabic poetry. He started his career as a Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
, but reverted to mainstream nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
without ever becoming fanatical. While still in his thirties, he was struck by a degenerative nervous disorder and died in poverty. He produced seven collections of poetry and several translations, which include the poetry of Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon , was a French poet, novelist and editor, a long-time member of the Communist Party and a member of the Académie Goncourt.- Early life :...
, Nazim Hikmet
Nazim Hikmet
Nâzım Hikmet Ran , commonly known as Nâzım Hikmet , was a Turkish poet, playwright, novelist and memoirist. He was acclaimed for the "lyrical flow of his statements"...
, and Edith Sitwell
Edith Sitwell
Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell DBE was a British poet and critic.-Background:Edith Sitwell was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, the oldest child and only daughter of Sir George Sitwell, 4th Baronet, of Renishaw Hall; he was an expert on genealogy and landscaping...
, who, with T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
, had a profound influence on him.
Badr went to England for the first time in Autumn of 1962, at a time when his health was deteriorating. He attended Durham University for translation studies http://www.diwanalarab.com/spip.php?article3216.
Poetry
- Wilting Flowers (أزهار ذابلة, 1947)
- Hurricanes (أعاصير, 1948)
- Flowers and myths (أزهار وأساطير, 1950)
- Dawn of peace (فجر السلام, 1951)
- The Grave Digger (Long Poem) (حفار القبور, 1952)
- The Blind Prostitute (المومس العمياء, 1954)
- Weapons and Children (الأسلحة والأطفال, 1955)
- Rain song (انشودة المطر, 1960)
- Drowning Temple (1962, المعبد الغريق)
- Alaguenan? Home (1963)
- (1964, شناشيل ابنة الجلبي)
Suggested reading
- Placing the Poet: Badr Shakir Al-Sayyab and Postcolonial Iraq by Terri DeYoung State University of New York Press (31 May 1998) ISBN 0791437329
External links
- Badr Shakir al-Sayyab Biography
- Badr Shakir al-Sayyab Poems
- al-ahram Badr Shakir Al-Sayyab Youssef Rakha outlines the life course of a modern legend.
- Extended Biography