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Abdul Wahab Al-BayatI 1926 - 1999

Abdul Wahab Al-BayatI1926 - 1999

Born in Baghdad, a Contemporary Iraqi poet and a pioneer in the free verse movement, published his first collection of poetry, (Angels and Devils) in 1950 In 1953 he founded Iraqi magazine (New Culture). Forced to flee his country in1955. He published his next collections in exile in 1956 and 1957.

After the Iraqi revolution in 1958 he returned to Baghdad and worked in the ministry of education. Published some twenty collections of poetry in addition to a three-act play (Trail in Nishapur). He translated poems by P.Eluard and L.Aragon ,published studies about them and others as

well as a book of prose called my Poetic Experience.

Love and Deathabout:

*Waddah of Yemen : `Abdul Rahman ibn Isma'il , a man of great beauty who lived in Umayyad times during the rule of Caliph Al-Walid ibn `Abd al-Malik. He didn't go out in public unless he was veiled for fear of the evil eye and covetous women . According to legend, the Caliph's wife fell in love with him and during one of his secret visits, she was forced to hide him in a box.

The Caliph was told by his men that Waddah was hidden in the box and he had Waddah

buried inside it in A.D.708.

Love and Death 1.From the cities of magic and the caves: Waddah arises,

Crowned by the moon of death and the fire of a shooting star, Falling into the desert, Carried like an orange nightingale By the ogress with the caravansTo Syria. A red featherIs blown into the air by a magicianHe wrote a charm on it For the ladies of the cities of the wind The words of the stones falling in the wells, The dances of fireAre blown into the chamber of the caliphBecoming sometimes a poem, Sometimes a virgin pearl

Love and Death

Falling at the feet of WaddahWho carries it to bed, A woman crying with desireMaking love with the night and the crazy light of the moon

Raving, singing, ending from where she did not begin, Regaining Rediscovering on the bed her virginity, Ashamed of the nightAnd the crazy light of the moonShe opens her eyes on the ashes of the fire of a shooting starFalling on the desert

Love and Death

Who carries it to bed,

A woman crying with desireMaking love with the night and the crazy light of the moon Raving, singing, ending from where she did not begin, Regaining Rediscovering on the bed her virginity, Ashamed of the nightAnd the crazy light of the moonShe opens her eyes on the ashes of the fire of a shooting starFalling on the desert

And a red featherIs blown into the air by the magician Sometimes turning into a gazelleWith horns made of goldSometimes into a priestess practicing seductionAnd the game of the endIn the harem of the caliphHis night is haunted by ghosts and boredom .

Love and Death III did not find salvation in love, but I found God .

IIII kissed my mistress on the carpet of lightI sang a poem for herI granted her the sun of Bukhara, The fields of wheat in Iraq, The Atlas moon and the spring in ArwadI granted her the throne of Solomon, The fire of the night in the desert, And the gold of the waves in the seasUpon her lips I printed my loveFor all the beautiful women of the world, And the kisses of the loversWithin her I sowedA child from the peopleAnd from the dynasty of the phoenix .

Love and DeathIVWhere do these ghosts come from? While you slept in her bed 0 Waddah, Was it the windows of the palace? Or perhaps the guardians of the walls

Did not close the doors ?VIn my sleep: I saw the river of death on your breast, Forcing its current in the flesh of the silenceA hunting dog bites your breastAs the quail begin their migrationFollowing the orbit of human exile in the world and things A face of a palace slaveEmerges from my eyes and from the mirror of this dawnIn my sleep I saw him kissing your breasts, Lying naked over the bed of rosesSmiling for the future

Love and DeathVIWhere are these ghosts from? While you were sleeping in her bed, O WaddabPerhaps it was the informer who relieved youPerhaps it was the caliph who sent after you The slave, the hunting dog, and the nightmare .

VIIBefore it came to be in the books, In the novels and in the poems, Othello already existed. The scorpions of jealousy bit him, O Waddah! Before it came to be in the booksOthello was a bloody killer, But DesdemonaWill not die this time. It is you who will die. It is you .

Love and DeathVIIIOthello in the turban of the caliphFaces the masses

With his broken sword .VX

I didn't find salvation in love, but I found God .VXII died on the carpet of love, I didn't die by the sword. I died inside a box, thrown in the well of night Suffocated, my secret died with meAnd my mistress, on her bedInnocently caressing the cat, embroidering the moons Inthe glacial darkness, Reciting to the caliphA tale about cities of magic and their buried treasuresAnd the morning surprises Desdemona. _______________________Translate by Bassam k. Frangieh

Secret of Fire272

On the last dayI kissed her hands,Her eyes / her lips.I said to her: you are nowRipe like an appleHalf of you: a womanThe other half: impossible to describe.The wordsEscaped meAnd I escaped themBoth of us collapsed.Now I prayFor the childhood of this light faceAnd for this ripe, burning bodyI bring my face closerTo this gushing spring,Thirsty.

Secret of FireOn the last day, I said to her:You are the fire of the forestsThe water of the riverThe secret of the fireHalf of you cannot be describedThe other half: a priestess in the temple of Ishtar.False CriticsThe Rats of the fields of wordsBuried the head of the poetIn a field of ashesBut the poet on the cross of exileCarried the sun and flewThe Birth of Unborn CitiesI am born in unborn citiesBut in the night of the autumn of the Arab citiesBroken hearted I die.

Secret of Fire

I bury my love in GranadaI say:“Nothing is victorious except love”I burn my poetry and die.On the sidewalks of exileI arise after deathTo be born in unborn citiesAnd to die.

Translate by Bassam k. Frangieh

*Waddah of Yemen : `Abdul Rahman ibn Isma'il , a man of great beauty who lived in Umayyad times during the rule of Caliph Al-Walid ibn `Abd al-Malik. He didn't go out in public unless he was veiled for fear of the evil eye and covetous women . According to legend, the Caliph's wife fell in love with him and during one of his secret visits, she was forced to hide him in a boX. The Caliph was told by his men that Waddah was hidden in the box and he had

Waddah buried inside it in A.D.708 .

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