A Critical Introduction to Modern Arabic Poetry

ABU RISHA 177

to some extent to the political development in the area before and after the

Second World War, culminating in the creation of Israel at the expense of

Arab Palestine. Abu Risha's interest in Arab nationalism, however, goes back

to the early years of his career as a poet. The verse play Dhi Qar, which he

wrote when he was barely twenty years old, deals with the wars between

Arabs and Persians.^160 His early poetry shows the poet's propensity for

heroic themes, as in, for instance, 'Joan of Arc'. 'Martyr' is an elegy on an

Arab youth martyred for the cause of Arab nationalism, and 'Glimpse'

reveals the poet's anger at the eclipse of Arab glory and the decadence of

present-day Arabs.^161 In the succeeding volumes, however, Abu Risha's

political themes become much more pronounced. 'Muhammad', which is

designed to be a prologue to his epic on the Prophet sketching out the birth,

rise and struggle of Muhammad, ends with the hope that the glory of the

Arabs may be revived:

Life may bloom again after it has faded

And time may go our own way.

In the other narrative poem on early Islamic history, 'Khalid' which deals

with the career of the great Muslim general, Abu Risha writes bitterly:

My people woke up in might and glory

But their evening is submerged in shame.

Their tattered throne made of invader's spears.

Their banners of shrouds.^162

He celebrated the French evacuation of Syria and wrote many poems inspired

by the Palestine tragedy, including one, 'Talk in a Trench', describing the

heroic death of a soldier who dies in the battle. In 'After the Disaster' he

draws an angry contrast between the noble behaviour of the Abbasid Caliph,

al-Mu'tasin, in sacking Amorium in response to the cry of help uttered by

an Arab woman (celebrated in Abu Tammam's famous poem) and the

shameful and treacherous actions of some modern Arab leaders in the first

Arab-Israeli war:

How can the wolf be blamed for his aggression

When the shepherd proved to be the sheep's foe?I6S

In the course of time in response to Arab military defea^, Abu Risha's attitude
became one of sorely wounded pride, utter despair and merciless self-
condemnation, as we see in a poem entitled 'Those' written in 1970:
You ask what is it that keeps alive those wretches.
Weary as they are, their road deserted and their target is nought.
Before the coffin of their prid« they stand, speechless and distraught.