P. 1
al-Khidr A mythical personage alluded to in the Quran. He walked on water. In his memory, Iraqis light candles and place them on plates made of rushes which they float down the Tigris.
The flood In spring, the Tigris is in spate.
Gilgamesh Gilgamesh is a mythical king, the hero of the great national epic of Iraq.
P. 2
But there are the cats For a considerable section of the first and of the last part of Plague Lands the poet utilises an ancient form of cadence – called the rajaz – which evokes the sound of horses’ hooves: Fa‘aloun, Fa‘aloun, Fa‘aloun etc. I have attempted to suggest this rhythm here.
P. 3
I read The Book of Beasts by al-Jahiz I might have put this thus:
I read the Kitab al-Hayawan by al-Jahiz
And in the Wafayat al-A‘yan
And in al-Mustatraf I read deeply,
The Thamarat al-Awraq by my side…
The poet cites the names of these well-known works of ancient Arabic literature not so much for their significance as for the music of their titles. But then we would lose the humour of the imaginary titles he then claims for himself.
The margin Arabic manuscripts often contain two texts: a principal text, and one in the margin, distinct from the first.
P. 4
a stiff arak The word for the alcholic spirit also means ‘sweat’ in Arabic.
The roasting of a thigh The prime minister of Iraq was lynched and burnt during the revolution of 14 July, 1958. One of his legs was dragged along by the demonstrators – who passed close to the house of the poet.
P. 5
Summer shows Baghdad in its true colours Iraqi coups d’état always occur in the summer.
The ninth-century Ibn al-Rumi, as distinct from Rumi the Sufi poet, was a Rabelaisian figure and a major satirist. Abu Nuwas was a ninth-century poet who admired male ephebes and courtesans’ behinds. Abu al-Tayyib al-Mutanabbi (referred to simply as al-Tayyib in the poem) is a major poet of the tenth century at the court in Aleppo of Saif al-Dawla. Many of the other poets mentioned, including al-Baghdadi, Ibn Nabata, al-Sallami, Ibn Sokara and Ibn al-Hajjaj are ‘marginal’ poets of the tenth and eleventh centuries. Renowned, or castigated, for their black humour, they led dissipated lives, for the most part, while offering unhesitant criticism of society and power.
Saqt al-Zand ‘Flint-sparks’, by al-Ma‘arri, a great poet and a philosopher.
Shorja The souk of Baghdad.
P. 6
Neither our crown prince nor caliph A classical form of versification is used here, admitting of two readings – following either the margin or the indentation – or this is how I have attempted to render it in English.
P. 7
It sets forth blithe as a girl Quoted from a pre-Islamic poem by Omar Ibn Ma’ado Karb.
P.8
And the hangings stretched across the Eastern Gate While this passage alludes to Turkish atrocities of previous centuries, it is worth noting that of the seven gates of ancient Baghdad, this gate has a great circular gathering space where demonstrations often take place. Since 1968, the corpses of more than thirty people have been hung there, often on the pretext of espionage.
P. 9
Variations on a theme dear to Rilke and Miłosz: the callousness of nature as opposed to the hypersensitivity of the soul.
Pp. 10 and 11
Gilgamesh/Enkidu For Gilgamesh, see note to p. 13. Enkidu is the companion of Gilgamesh, whose brute nature is to some extent tamed by society.
P. 12
I get in touch with its djinni Or genie – as in Aladdin’s lamp. This passage is inspired by Faust and one of the Three Tales in the film by Antonioni. It concerns the temptation of a pact with the devil. Fawzi Karim is an authority on Western classical music.
P. 13
The Jumhouriyya Bridge ‘The Bridge of the Republic’, one of the most beautiful bridges over the Tigris. The poet would take this bridge to cross over to the bars of Abu Nuwas Street. It was hit in 1991, during the First Gulf War. From the bridge’s apex, one can see Bab al-Sharqi, the open space by the Eastern Gate, which was the scene of the hangings alluded to in Part 1.
P. 14
al-Abbasiyya no longer exists al-Abbasiyya was the old quarter of Baghdad, on the right bank of the Tigris. Situated between the old parliament building and the presidential palace, it was one of the first districts to be demolished by the powers that were. The waters of the Tigris were forbidden since the palace and the homes of those in power gave onto the water.
P. 15
I drift from Bab al-Mu‘adhem toward al-Maydan Square Bab al-Mu‘adhem is one of the western gates of Baghdad, where universities are to be found as well as the Ministry of Defence. Al-Maydan Square was once the location for brothels and cabarets. It now has a few cafés and a bus station.
P. 16
The Ba‘thists got him Zaïm – ‘Leader’ – was the title of President Kassim, chief of the liberating officers who led the revolution of 1958. He was killed in 1963 in a coup instigated by the Ba‘thist party. Saddam Hussein participated in his murder. The Zaïm was popular and close to the people and held in affection by the poor. There was a rumour that he was still alive. To cut this short, the Ba‘thist generals exhibited his bullet-riddled corpse on television.
P. 17
Opera house Covent Garden.
P. 18
Abu Hayyan Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi (c. 930–1023) was an Arabic litterateur and philosopher, probably of Persian origin.
P. 19
punka A fan, mainly associated with India, made of a palm frond or strip of cloth hung from the ceiling and operated by a servant. In Iraq, the word is commonly used for an electric fan.