Poetry from the MENA
The Middle East and North Africa have a literary tradition rich in poetry, so in honor of World Poetry Day, we asked some of our staff to share their favorite Arabic or French language poems from MENA writers.
“غريب على الخليج” (A Stranger by the Gulf) - by Badr Shakir Al-Sayyab
Badr Shakir Al-Sayyab was an Iraqi poet born in 1926. His work was influenced strongly by the revolutionary time period in which he lived as well as his own outspoken political views. He is credited with initiated the free verse movement in Arabic language poetry.
“الكوليرا” (Cholera) - by Nazik Al-Malaika
Cholera is considered one of Nazik Al-Malaika’s most famous works, and was written in 1947. Al-Malaika is another Iraqi poet and also an early writer of free verse poetry. She passed away in 2007.
“لا شيء يبقى” (And Nothing Remains) - by Fadwa Tuqan
Fadwa Tuqan, 1917 - 2003, was from a wealthy Palestinian family, and many of her poems describe the suffering and resistance of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation.
“سقط الحصان عن القصيدة” (The Horse Fell Off the Poem) - by Mahmoud Darwish
Mahmoud Darwish is a well-known and well-published Palestinian poet and his writing career spanned from 1964 to his death in 2008. He’s considered the Palestinian national poet, and many of his poems are political in nature and speak to the Palestinian people. You can read this particular poem on Poetry Foundation.
“لي اسم موسيقي” (I Have a Musical Name) - by Iman Mersal
Iman Mersal was born in Egypt in 1966, and later settled in Canada, where she teaches Arabic Language and Literature at the University of Alberta. You can read more about Mersal and some of her work on Words Without Borders.
“أعينيّ جودا ولا تجمُدا ألا تبكيانِ لصخرِ النّدى ؟” (Oh My Eyes) - by Al-Khansa
Al-Khansa was born in the 6th century CE in what is present day Saudi Arabia. She is one of the most well known and influential pre-Islamic and early Islamic poets. Al-Khansa was also celebrated during her own time for the elegies she wrote.
“La fable de l'aimance” (The Fable of Love) - by Abdelkebir Khatibi
Abdelkebir Khatibi, born in 1938 in Morocco, was a poet, literary critic, novelist, playwright, and sociologist. His writings challenged and informed Morocco and other North African states during their independence and establishment in the 1960s. Khatibi wrote in both French and Arabic.
“Au bord de l'eau” (At the Water’s Edge) - by Habib Tengour
Habib Tengour moved from his birthplace in Algeria to France at the age of 5, and has lived there since. Most of his work is written in French. You can read this poem by Tengour on the Scottish Poetry Library.
“De guerre en guerre” (From War to War) - by Tahar Bekri
Tahar Bekri was born in 1951 in Tunisia, but has spent most of his adult life living in France. Bekri teaches at Université Paris X.
“Gamr al-lil” (Moon of the Night) - by Abdallah Ben Kerriou
Abdallah Ben Kerriou was a great love poet of the late 19th early 20th centuries. He was born on the edge of the Sahara in the Algerian town of Laghouat.
“Contes d'une tête tranchée” (Tales of a Severed Head) - by Rachida Madani
Rachida Madani was born in 1951 in Tangiers, Morocco and remains there today. Her published poetry has been exclusively in French, and deals with themes such as feminism, liberalism, and intellectualism in modern Morocco. You can read this collection of poems on Words Without Borders.
Contributors included Rana Shihabi, Program Coordinator at Amideast Education Abroad in Jordan, and Deena Faraby, Intern at Amideast Education Abroad HQ.
