Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri (); (26 July 1899 – 27 July 1997) was an Iraqi poet.Adel Darwish, 'Obituary: Mohammed Al-Jawahri', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 11 August 1997
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. Considered by many as one of the best and greatest Arabian poets in the 20th century, he was also nicknamed The Greatest Arabian Poet, and is considered a leading classical Iraqi poet and one of the big three neo-classical poets of Iraq alongside al-Rusafi, and al-Zahawi. Notable for his Neo-classical, traditional, and political-themed way of writing, his poems can be read in his collections such as ''Diwan al-Jawahiri'', ''Return Post'', and ''To Sleeplessness'', and was honored by many governments, including

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

's government. Al-Jawahiri was born in the Iraqi city of

Najaf Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...

into a family known for its literary interests. After publishing his first poem in 1921, he started to work in journalism and as a teacher in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. Despite harsh criticism towards the Hashemite monarchy, he maintained a good relationship with the royal family and maintained several positions in the royal court, and the Ministry of Education. Through his poetry, he became one of the most socially and politically influential people of his time.

Early life and education

Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri was born in 1899 in Najaf, Iraq. His father, 'Abd al-Husayn was a religious scholar among the clergy in Najaf who wanted his son to be a cleric as well. So he dressed him in a cleric's 'Abaya and turban at the age of ten. The origin of “Al-Jawahiri” goes back to his Najafi, Iraqi family. Since the 11th century Hijri (15th century CE), the most famous people have inhabited Najaf, and individuals named al-Najafi have earned the title “Bejeweled” (or al-Jawahiri) for their relationship to the book of fiqh values (religious scholarship) which one of his family's ancestors Shaykh Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi had written. The books were called “the jewel of speech in explaining the laws of Islam” and were composed of 44 volumes. Afterward, he was known as the “owner of the jewels,” and his family came to be called “bejeweled” (al-Jawahiri). Al-Jawahiri read the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

and memorized it at an early age. Then his father sent him to great teachers to teach him reading, writing, grammar, rhetoric, and jurisprudence. His father and others planned for him to learn speech from

Nahj al-Balagha () is the best-known collection of sermons, letters, and sayings attributed to Ali, Ali ibn Abi Talib (), the fourth Rashidun Caliphate, Rashidun caliph (), the first Imamate in Shia doctrine, Shia imam, and the cousin and son-in-law of the P ...

and poetry from the works of Abbasid Poet

al-Mutanabbi Abū al-Ṭayyib Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Mutanabbī al-Kindī ( – 965 AD), commonly known as Al-Mutanabbi (), was an Abbasid-era Arab poet at the court of the Hamdanid emir Sayf al-Dawla in Aleppo, and for whom he composed 300 folios of ...

. From a young age, he received solid grounding in the Arabic language studies, philosophy, rhetoric, and traditional Islamic sciences, which would help him in his later academic career. Due to Najaf's historic poetic nature, it benefitted the young poet and helped develop him childhood passion for poetry. He would also be inspired by the more modern works of

Hafez Ibrahim Hafez Ibrahim (, ; 1871–1932) was a well known Egyptian poet of the early 20th century. He was dubbed the "Poet of the Nile", and sometimes the "Poet of the People", for his political commitment to the poor. His poetry took on the concerns o ...

, al-Jabal, and al-Rusafi.

Poetry and career

Learning was organized at an early age and even in his childhood al-Jawahiri displayed an inclination for literature. He began to read the Book of Eloquence and Demonstration by

Al-Jahiz Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr al-Kinani al-Basri (; ), commonly known as al-Jahiz (), was an Arab polymath and author of works of literature (including theory and criticism), theology, zoology, philosophy, grammar, dialectics, rhetoric, philology, lin ...

and the

Muqaddimah The ''Muqaddimah'' ( "Introduction"), also known as the ''Muqaddimah of Ibn Khaldun'' () or ''Ibn Khaldun's Introduction (writing), Prolegomena'' (), is a book written by the historian Ibn Khaldun in 1377 which presents a view of Universal histo ...

Ibn Khaldun Ibn Khaldun (27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732–808 Hijri year, AH) was an Arabs, Arab Islamic scholar, historian, philosopher and sociologist. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages, and cons ...

, and collections of poetry. It was early in his life when he first wore the clothing of a religious man and he participated in the 1920 revolution against the British authorities.

Royal Court of King Faisal I

In the late 1920s, al-Jawhiri wrote of the relationship between King Faisal I and Arab Nationalists Sati' al-Husri. He recorded that Faisal I was angry with al-Husri due to him trying to inflame sectarianist tensions in Iraq while Faisal I wanted to save Iraq from sectarianism, as such, there were no strong bonds between the two at the time. In 1927, while on a vacation in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, al-Jawahiri wrote some lines admiring Iran and its landscapes which al-Husri, who was general director at the Ministry of Education, used to frame al-Jawahiri as an Iranian loyalist and someone who impugned Iraq and Arabism by preferring Iran and its culture which became a controversial issue in Iraq. In his memoirs, al-Husri claimed that al-Jawahiri was an Iranian who had Iranian citizenship. At the time, al-Jawahiri was still working in Najaf as a school teacher and protested the unrealistic allegations but due to split opinions on the issue, as well as the fears of sectarianist tensions, al-Jawahiri decided to resign from his position respectfully. Even though the case was turning against al-Husri by this point. Due to this case, and also knowing that the poet came from an old Iraqi family that had a patriotic stance, Faisal I recruited al-Jawahiri as part of his royal court. After a meeting with

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' is an honorific title of Hasanid and Husaynid lineage, recognized as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali, Hasan and Husayn ibn Ali, Husayn. The title may also refer ...

Muhammad al-Sadr Sayyid Mohammed Hassan al-Sadr (; 7 January 1882 – 3 April 1956) was an Iraqi Shi'ite statesman.Yaacov Shimoni, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Middle East'', 1991, p.202 He served as Prime Minister of Iraq from 29 January 1948 to 26 June 1 ...

, who was a supporter against al-Husri's allegations, al-Jawahiri put on modest traditional robes and headed to King Faisal I's palace who congratulated him on his new position. The King took a liking to the poet who occupied him during his visits to various shrines, and also a trip south of the country where al-Jawahiri witnessed the King supporting various tribal sheikhs on the issue of agriculture in the region. Al-Jawahiri has also recorded that the King's office was a simple room with a table, a carpet, four chairs, a portrait of himself, and another of French writer

Anatole France (; born ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters.

1936 Iraqi coup

In 1936, al-Jawahiri published the newspaper "''al-Inqilab''", following the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

that was initiated by general

Bakr Sidqi Bakr Sidqi al-Askari (; 1890 – 11 August 1937) was an Iraqi general of mixed Arab- Kurdish origin, Sidqi, the Chief of the Iraq General Staff of the nation's military, was born in 1890 and assassinated on 11 August 1937, in Mosul. a Kurdish ...

. Because of his positions against the coup, he was imprisoned for three months and the newspaper was closed. After his departure and the fall of the military coup government, he reopened the newspaper in the name of "''al-Ra'i al-'Am''". The articles he published were the reason for the newspaper’s closure once again, to the point that pressure prompted him to emigrate to Iran and then return after a while.

Career as a poet

In 1928, al-Jawahiri published the volume "Between Feelings and Emotions," his first poetry collection which he had been preparing since 1924 to distribute under the title "The Dangers of Poetry in Love, Nation, and Ode." After he left Najaf for Baghdad, he went to work in the press, and put out a group of papers – among them was al-Furat (The Euphrates). In 1938, he published what would be known as '' Diwan al-Jawahiri'' which was a collection of the poet's social and political poems in which al-Jawahiri's revolutionary stance is shown. The next edition would be published in three volume separately in 1949, 1950, and 1953. When Iraqi poet

Hussein Mardan Hussein, Hossein, Hussain, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein, Hussin, Hoessein, Houcine, Hocine or Husain (; ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-N (), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", "handsome" or " ...

was arrested on accounts of writing pornography after his poem collection "Naked Poems" was leaked, al-Jawahiri was called into the trial by the court's judge as a witness. Al-Jawahiri stated that Mardan should be praised for his poems, instead of imprisoned. Al-Jawahiri's testament helped Mardan's case. Later, Mardan, along with his friends, would seek advice from al-Jawahiri to advance their works in poetry further. Al-Jawahiri was a part of the flourishing

coffeehouse culture of Baghdad The coffeehouse culture of Baghdad () is a set of traditions and social behaviors in old, local, or traditional Baghdadi coffeehouses in Baghdad, Iraq. Ever since their inception in the 1500s, cafés have acted as social forums and gathering grou ...

in the 1940s and the 1950s. Certain coffeehouses started to be associated with various writers, artists, and poets, especially those with already established respectable reputations like al-Jawahiri. Al-Jawahiri himself was started to be associated with the Parliament Café, and the Hassan Ajami Café on

al-Rashid Street Al-Rashid Street () is one of the main avenues in downtown Baghdad, Iraq. Named after Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid, it is one of the most significant landmarks of the city due to its political, spiritual, urban, and cultural h ...

, in which he would recite poems that gave crowds motivations in demonstrations. Among al-Jawahiri's favorite coffeehouses was the Hassan Ajami Café, a coffeehouse that has a respectable reputation from the circle of Baghdad's artists and writers. In this coffeehouse, al-Jawahiri would meet various younger poets, including a young Mardan, seeking his advice and encouragement. Between 1930 and 1961, he edited a total of twelve newspapers, usually short-lived, which were often closed due to the uncompromising opinions he expressed, among others, freedom of speech. In the years between 1947 and 1948, he sat in the Iraqi parliament again, which was a goal he wanted to achieve so that he can have a platform to speak from on behalf of the Iraqi people, but resigned from his seat in protest against the provisions of the 1948 Anglo-Iraqi treaty. Al-Jawahiri played a big role in demonstrations against the 1948 Anglo-Iraqi treaty signed by the Salih Jabr government. However, his brother, Ja'far, was killed during the

al-Wathbah uprising The Al-Wathbah uprising () or simply Al-Wathbah (), which means The Leap in Arabic, was the term that came to be used for the urban unrest in Baghdad in January 1948. The protests were sparked by the monarchy's plans to renew the 1930 Anglo-Iraqi ...

of 1948 on al-Ma'mun Bridge, which inspired one of his most famous poems,
''My Brother Ja'far''
" Al-Jawahiri was touched by the event and he would famously recite the poem at the

Haydar-Khana Mosque The Haydar-Khana Mosque () is a historic mosque situated on al-Rashid Street at the Haydar-Khana locality in Baghdad, Iraq. Originally built on top of an older mosque built by the Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid Caliph al-Nasir, the modern mosque was ...

to an audience of Muslims, and Jews forty days after his brother's funeral. A verse from the poem, "Do you know or do you not know / that the wounds of victims are a mouth?" became an icon of modern Iraqi poetry. Al-Jawahiri had also invited fellow Iraqi poet al-Sayyab to deliver a poem which also honored Ja'far. In 1954 he decided to write a poem on the occasion of the coronation of

King Faisal II Faisal II (; 2 May 1935 – 14 July 1958) was the last King of Iraq. He reigned from 4 April 1939 until July 1958, when he was killed during the 14 July Revolution. This regicide marked the end of the thirty-seven-year-old Hashemite monarchy ...

, who reigned from 1953 until his murder in 1958, and his situation improved, although he was later to regret this step. After the monarchy was overthrown by the revolution of 1958, he was showered with honors by the new government, including being appointed. President of the Union of Iraqi Writers. Thus, al-Jawahiri was elected the first head of the

Union of Iraqi Writers Union of Iraqi Writers or officially The General Union for the Literaries and Writers in Iraq () is a nonprofit professional cultural NGO that is concerned with Iraqi literary affairs. Founded in 1959 in Baghdad under Iraqi Republic (1958–68) ...

His poetry on Palestine

Before 1948, al-Jawahiri can be regarded as the most distinguished Arab writer on the

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

issue who paid great attention to the ongoing situations regarding Palestine, European imperialism, and

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

. In a 1929 poem titled "Bleeding Palestine", he wrote: ''Why is it whenever a violent storm shakes us thoroughly we resort to pen and paper?
Did the writers or the poets rescue Sham yriaor Baghdad by their writings?'' In these lines, al-Jawahiri conveys to the reader that only forceful action can be useful and relied on by the people to fight against the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Arguing that speeches without action are useless, a common trait found in his writings. Al-Jawahiri continues by saying: ''Let the cannon testify to your words when speaking or if you want your words to reach the deaf
Ask history and its events; has it ever seen any right unprotected by force respected?'' The second criticism that the poet conveyed through these lines centers around the Arabs relying on British and French support and their complete trust in them. Who would later support Zionism and create the state of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Relations with the Republic of Iraq

As a result of constant harassment by the police due to his harsh criticism of

Nuri al-Said Nuri Pasha al-Said Al-Qaraghuli CH (; December 1888 – 15 July 1958) was an Iraqi politician and statesman who served eight terms as Prime Minister of Iraq. He served in various key cabinet and governmental positions in Iraq during its Briti ...

's policies, he left for Syria in 1956 as a self-inflicted exile. He would return to Iraq in 1958 and would at first welcome the

14 July Revolution The 14 July Revolution, also known as the 1958 Iraqi military coup, was a ''coup d'état'' that took place on 14 July 1958 in Iraq, resulting in the toppling of King Faisal II and the overthrow of the Hashemite-led Kingdom of Iraq. The Ira ...

, which was led by

Abd al-Karim Qasim Abdul-Karim Qasim Muhammad Bakr al-Fadhli Al-Qaraghuli al-Zubaidi ( ' ; 21 November 1914 – 9 February 1963) was an Iraqi military officer and statesman who served as the Prime Minister and de facto leader of Iraq from 1958 until his ...

and toppled the monarchy. By this time, a volume of al-Jawahiri's Diwan was published in Damascus in 1957 and Najaf in 1959 to celebrate Qasim's revolution. However, he would soon start to edit his last newspaper that was the

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

''al-Ra'i al-'Am'' (The Public Opinion) which was characterized by its opposition towards Qasim's rule which was described as "authoritarian." After the

Ramadan Revolution The Ramadan Revolution, also referred to as the 8 February Revolution and the February 1963 coup d'état in Iraq, was a military coup by the Iraqi branch of the Ba'ath Party which overthrew the prime minister of Iraq, Abdul-Karim Qasim in 1963 ...

in 1963, the Iraqi government withdrew Iraqi citizenship from al-Jawahiri due to his rejection of the coup led by Abd al-Salam Arif. He returned to Iraq after the

17 July Revolution The 17 July Revolution () was a bloodless coup in Iraq in 1968 led by Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, Abd ar-Razzaq an-Naif, and Abd ar-Rahman al-Dawud that ousted List of Presidents of Iraq, President Abdul Rahman Arif and Prime Minister of Iraq, Pri ...

of 1968 at the invitation of the Iraqi government which restored Iraqi citizenship to him and provided him with a retirement salary of around 150 dinars every month. 1980 he left Iraq to settle in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. Some sources state that al-Jawahiri moved to Syria in 1983 in response to an official invitation. Other sources state that al-Jawahiri lived in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

in 1980 AD. Al-Jassani, who is al-Jawahiri’s nephew, says that he spent 30 years in Czechoslovakia after his first political crisis with the Iraqi government, and at the end of his life he moved between it and Damascus from time to time. In the 1990s, his Iraqi citizenship was withdrawn from him again due to his participation in the annual al-Jenadriyah Festival held in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

in 1994. Al-Jawahiri had divided his life between living in either

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

and Damascus with short stays in Iraq. But al-Jawahiri never continued his patronage or involvement with the political or literary classes. Al-Jawahiri thought the

Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...

suffered from legitimacy. Despite this, he was reportedly friendly with then-Ba'athist official and poet

Salih Mahdi Ammash Salih Mahdi Ammash (; 1924 – 30 January 1985) was an Iraqi historian, writer, author, poet and Iraqi Regional Branch politician and Iraqi army officer who sat on the Regional Command from 1963 to 1971. Life He was born into a peasant family ...

. He would also show some support for the leaderships of al-Bakr and Saddam Hussein, especially during their relations in the National Progressive Front. Al-Jawahiri would later state in an interview with the London-based Arabic newspaper ''

Asharq al-Awsat ''Asharq Al-Awsat'' (, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted for its distinctive green-tinted pages. Although pu ...

'' in November 1991 that he was nostalgic for the days of the

Kingdom of Iraq The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq was the Iraqi state located in the Middle East from 1932 to 1958. It was founded on 23 August 1921 as the Kingdom of Iraq, following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Mesopotamian campaign of the First World W ...

, which he recalled as days of freedom compared to what came after, which is shared among many Iraqi literary figures.

Personal life

Al-Jawahiri, despite his conservative upbringing, was not particularly a very religious man. As a poet, he was described as someone who had "no roots in the

Ottoman period The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

" and, or the mix of Turkish, Persian, and Arabic literature which was common in the Ottoman Empire. Due to being a member of the

Iraqi Communist Party The Iraqi Communist Party ( '; ) is a communist party and the oldest active party in Iraq. Since its foundation in 1934, it has dominated the left in Iraqi politics. It played a prominent role in shaping the political history of Iraq between it ...

as early as his early 30s, he was a

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

but did not subscribe to ideas of pan-Arabism. His poems were also very critical of the Western world, which is one of the reasons why they were never translated into English. Al-Jawahiri loved various poets such as al-Mutanabbi, and

al-Ma'arri Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri, ,(December 973May 1057), also known by his Latin name Abulola Moarrensis; was an Arab philosopher, poet, and writer from Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, Syria. Because of his irreligious worldview, he is known as one of the "forem ...

. He had most of

al-Buhturi Al-Walīd ibn Ubaidillah Al-Buḥturī () (821–97 AD; 206–84 AH) was an Arab poet born at Manbij in Islamic Syria, between Aleppo and the Euphrates. Like Abū Tammām (), he was of the tribe of Tayy, This references the Biography in McG. de ...

's poems memorized by heart. Being a traditionalist, he often liked to take inspiration and imitate the works of

Ibn al-Khatib Lisan ad-Din Ibn al-Khatib (; 16 November 1313 – 1374) was an Arab Andalusi polymath, poet, writer, historian, philosopher, physician and politician from Emirate of Granada. Being one of the most notable poets from Granada, his poems decorate ...

which can be seen in his first volume of the Diwan.

Al-Jawahiri's hat

The hat that al-Jawahiri always wore sparked controversy and attracted attention. According to an interview with his daughter, Khayal al-Jawahiri, conducted by

al-Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pr ...

: “My father caught a cold when he was participating in a literary conference in the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, and the doctors advised him to wear a head covering due to an allergy in his head, so a velvet hat that was on display in a store caught his attention.” The hospital, so he wore it, and since then it stayed with him until his death, and he did not take it off even while sleeping." His daughter adds that she still keeps a number of these hats that were gifted to her father from

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

Death and burial

Al-Jawahiri died at dawn on Sunday, 27 July 1997 AD in a hospital in the Syrian capital,

, and his funeral was attended by the political and military officials of the state, in addition to a large popular presence. Al-Jawahiri was buried in the al-Ghuraba'a cemetery in the Sayyida Zeinab area in Damascus next to the grave of his wife, Amna al-Jawahiri. On his grave, a map of Iraq was carved from granite with the inscription “''He rests here far from the Tigris of Goodness,''” about one of his poems.

Legacy

Due to his skilled talent and keen patriotism, al-Jawahiri gained great recognition both among literary critics and the widest layers of Iraqi society. His work was noted for responding to the demands of the Iraqi audience for poetry that was engaged and at the same time continued old Arab literary traditions. For this reason, al-Jawahiri is considered to be "the last great classicist of the traditional school." Additionally, after listening to al-Jawahiri's poetry, Egyptian writer

Taha Hussein Taha Hussein (, ; November 15, 1889 – October 28, 1973) was among the most influential 20th-century Egyptian writers and intellectuals, and a leading figure of the Arab Renaissance and the modernist movement in the Arab world. His sobriquet ...

held al-Jawahiri's work to be "the height of the Arabic literary heritage." His works has been noted to have a significant use of rhetorical usages, allusions, and other Arabic literary devices that made it hard to translate his work into other languages. During his lifetime, al-Jawahiri was known by many public titles and nicknames such as "Emir of Poets" and "The Great Jewel." In 2022, the house of al-Jawahiri, built in 1971 and located in al-Qādisīyah district of Baghdad, was renovated to become a cultural museum dedicated to the poet and his career. It may also become a center where cultural seminars, poetry and literary sessions, and painting exhibitions will be held. Former Iraqi prime minister, who visited the museum in honor of the poet, Mustafa al-Kadhim said “The government is keen to sponsor culture and to evoke the vivid biographies of Iraqi innovators, and their intellectual and cultural achievements” in a statement given to Iraqi News. That same year, plans to build a statue dedicated to the poet in Baghdad near the Tigris river were discussed. On January 2, 2024, the Iraqi government initiated a construction project to develop a new residential city named “Al-Jawahiri City” west of

with “30,000 housing units spread across more than 17.8 million m2”.

References

Works cited

* * * * * * *

External links

Muhammad Mahdi Al-Jawahiri Network

Muhammad Mahdi Al-Jawahiri CenterMy Brother Ja'far in Arabic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jawahiri, Muhammad Mahdi 1899 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Iraqi poets People from Najaf Iraqi Shia Muslims Iraqi male writers