Badr Shakir Al-Sayyab, pioneer of modern Arabic poetry, remembered 60 years on from passing

BAGHDAD — A commemoration event marking the 60th anniversary of the death of Badr Shakir Al-Sayyab, one of the most influential figures in modern Arabic poetry, was held on Friday at The Al-Mada Foundation for Culture and Arts on Al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. The session, led by critic Ahmed Al-Zafiri, brought together literary critics and writers to discuss the life, struggles, and poetic legacy of Al-Sayyab.

Al-Sayyab was born in Jaykur, Basra in 1926. He died in 1964 at the age of 38. Al-Sayyab is widely regarded as a pioneer of Arabic free verse poetry.

Speaking to 964media, Ali Al-Haddad, head of the Ishaan Foundation for Folk Culture, highlighted Al-Sayyab’s academic journey, noting that after leaving the Arabic language department, he switched to studying English with the approval of his college dean back then.

Throughout his life, he experienced significant personal and political upheavals that shaped his work and poetic voice.

In 1956, Al-Sayyab participated in a conference in London. This period followed his departure from the Iraqi Communist Party, despite coming from a family deeply involved in communist politics in Basra.

“Al-Sayyab began as a communist because his family in Basra was affiliated with the Communist Party; his uncle and brother were among the party’s leadership. He moved to Baghdad, where he became the head of the Student Union at the Teachers’ College,” Al-Haddad said.

Al-Sayyab fled to Iran between 1952 and 1954 amid crackdowns on communism during Iraq’s monarchical era. Al-Haddad added that in Iran, “Al-Sayyab noticed that Arabs were considered second-class citizens, but he stated that in Iraq, there were no issues between ethnic groups. This incident marked a turning point in his life.”

Upon returning to Iraq, Al-Sayyab aligned himself with nationalist circles and began contributing to Al-Hurriya newspaper under the prominent journalist Qasim Hammoudi, a well-known figure at the Iraq’s monarchical era.

However, tensions remained with his former communist colleagues. “Among them was the poet Rashid Yassin, who stated that he met Al-Sayyab on a street and spat in his face because he had abandoned them,” he added.

After various political and personal struggles, Al-Sayyab returned to Basra, where he worked at the port authority. His health deteriorated, and he relied on a wheelchair to continue his duties.

During this period, Al-Sayyab wrote some of his most celebrated works, including “An Ode to Rain” and “Stranger by the Gulf”.

Throughout his life, Al-Sayyab expressed deep emotional pain, shaped by the early loss of his mother at age four and the subsequent remarriage of his father. Raised by his grandmother, he immortalized her memory in a poignant elegy.

“These struggles, transitions, and setbacks that Al-Sayyab endured, which can be considered inhumane, are what shaped his poetry. He is a poet whose life cannot be separated from his poetry, as his poetry is a reflection of his life,” Al-Haddad concluded.

Ali Hassan Al-Fawaz, president of the Union of Writers and Authors, described Al-Sayyab as a poet deeply affected by existential struggles, emphasizing that his political involvement was secondary to his personal and existential concerns.

Despite his short life, Al-Sayyab’s contributions to Arabic poetry remain influential. His groundbreaking collection, “An Ode to Rain”, first published in Al-Adab magazine in 1953, marked a defining moment in Arabic literary history.

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