Letter #5
(6//19/1947)
Baghdad
My Kind and Respected Brother, Dr. Suheil Idris,
My sincere best wishes and scented greetings to you.
Your kind letter has overwhelmed me with joy. I am very appreciative of your
good opinion of me, and I hope to remain worthy.
In your letter, you inquire as to what our brother, Kathem (Jawad), and I
meant when we said in our commentary on your splendid novella, “A letter to My
Mother,” that it appeared at the most opportune time. Explaining this could be
very lengthy, but trust me that we intended to speak to you about this even if
you had not asked. This is a topic that concerns every man of letters and every
man who is faithful to his people and nation and who is concerned with their
future and the future of Arabic literature.
There are a group of authors and readers in Iraq who insinuate that even
though al-Adaab concerns itself with Existential literature, it does not devote
any attention to the concern that occupies the minds of the Arab people most,
namely, the attempts aimed at tying literature to military alliances and a call
for peace. We used to defend al-Adaab by arguing that the popular literature,
which it publishes, glorifies the struggle of the Arab people for dignity,
freedom and independence and contributes effectively to the cause of peace. For
those nations that are afflicted with colonialism, the practical aspect of the
cause of peace is exactly its struggle for independence and freedom.
We believe in absolute progressive economic, political and cultural values
and believe that the Arab people will never be free unless they rely on such
values. We also believe that there is no hope for the Arab people in attaining
freedom, save in the shadow of peace, because war, if ignited, will no doubt end
with the victory of one of two camps. We want the Arab people to be victorious
and to liberate themselves by the forearms of their sons because the sovereignty
of world peace requires that the movements of liberation remain continuous until
they achieve ultimate victory.
Nevertheless, there are those few of narrow minds who only believe in
“clichés” and “banners,” and woe to him, he who deviates from the
literal meaning of these clichés and banners. Some people have taken advantage
of these banners and of the ignorance and illiteracy that plagues our people.
They have exploited the people for their own personal gain and for literary fame
at the expense of other writers who do not submit to this “thermometer!”
Likewise, these “antics” have also been applied to some writers in Lebanon. You
were among them, and it was also applied to us, here in Baghdad, in a
provocative and shameless manner. The truth is that we are now fighting an
intellectual battle for the sake of defending honorable values. The last scene
of the battle is a “petition,” whose history we will now share with you:
Some of the defenders of these banners have suggested that Iraqi writers
should support the national front that was recently formed here. This is
considered to be, in fact, a glorious deed rather than an obligation for every
writer. Some of these writers have authored the text of the petition and
included an endorsement of the entire program of the national front except for
two paragraphs which the author intentionally ignored: the Palestinian Problem
and the problem of the Arab Maghrib. We have refused to sign unless these two
critical issues are included in the text of the petition and their importance is
emphasized. They, in turn, rejected our proposal and started to calumniate!!
They even, - what a mockery- decided to “adopt a firm position that will
determine our fate!!”
Based on this, you can understand why the publishing of a story in al-Adaab
that condemns war and depicts its horrors, actually the ugliest of its horrors,
and is written by the editor-in-chief himself, succeeds in casting a stone in
the mouths of these barking dogs. In the meantime, the readers also realize that
Suheil Idris is not an “agent for those who call for war,” and that we were
right all along in defending him and in cooperating with him.
We are determined to fight this battle until the end for it is not a
temporary political battle. It is rather a battle in the defense of vital
national and literary values. We are battling new McCarthyism that is striving
to be reborn here after it died in the country of its origin. The question is:
Do we concern ourselves with (Technique) and neglect man? Or is it that man,
who is the end goal of every struggle, is more worthy of concern? Once again,
the question is: Should literature be international before being national, or
should it begin with “the affairs” of its country and nation and then cross from
there to include the vast humanity? Thirdly, the question is: Couldn’t
literature be “realistic” without totally neglecting form? Isn’t Realism in
literature both form and content together just like it is impossible to separate
the living body from the life that is “in it?”
We are sure that truth is on our side and that unlike our enemies, we are
seeking the correct progressive values, and, therefore, we must not despair.
The literary and political situation in Iraq totally differs from other parts of
the Arab homeland. Politics and literature here are closely intermingled in a
way that makes it impossible to differentiate between them. We will struggle to
preserve our values. The early signs of our success, while seemingly
insignificant so far, have started to loom. I will send you shortly a poem and
a copy of “Arms and the Children,” which is a long poem of mine that we will
finish printing soon.
Take care of yourself.
Sincerely yours,
Al-Sayyab
[From the book, al-Sayyab’s Letters, by Majid al-Samurra’i, (Beirut: Al-Mu’assasa al-‘Arabiya li-al-dirasat wa-al-Nashr, Second Edition, 1994, p.
105) Translated from the original Arabic and with an introduction by George Nicolas El-Hage, Ph.D., Columbia University.]
(6//19/1947)
Baghdad
My Kind and Respected Brother, Dr. Suheil Idris,
My sincere best wishes and scented greetings to you.
Your kind letter has overwhelmed me with joy. I am very appreciative of your
good opinion of me, and I hope to remain worthy.
In your letter, you inquire as to what our brother, Kathem (Jawad), and I
meant when we said in our commentary on your splendid novella, “A letter to My
Mother,” that it appeared at the most opportune time. Explaining this could be
very lengthy, but trust me that we intended to speak to you about this even if
you had not asked. This is a topic that concerns every man of letters and every
man who is faithful to his people and nation and who is concerned with their
future and the future of Arabic literature.
There are a group of authors and readers in Iraq who insinuate that even
though al-Adaab concerns itself with Existential literature, it does not devote
any attention to the concern that occupies the minds of the Arab people most,
namely, the attempts aimed at tying literature to military alliances and a call
for peace. We used to defend al-Adaab by arguing that the popular literature,
which it publishes, glorifies the struggle of the Arab people for dignity,
freedom and independence and contributes effectively to the cause of peace. For
those nations that are afflicted with colonialism, the practical aspect of the
cause of peace is exactly its struggle for independence and freedom.
We believe in absolute progressive economic, political and cultural values
and believe that the Arab people will never be free unless they rely on such
values. We also believe that there is no hope for the Arab people in attaining
freedom, save in the shadow of peace, because war, if ignited, will no doubt end
with the victory of one of two camps. We want the Arab people to be victorious
and to liberate themselves by the forearms of their sons because the sovereignty
of world peace requires that the movements of liberation remain continuous until
they achieve ultimate victory.
Nevertheless, there are those few of narrow minds who only believe in
“clichés” and “banners,” and woe to him, he who deviates from the
literal meaning of these clichés and banners. Some people have taken advantage
of these banners and of the ignorance and illiteracy that plagues our people.
They have exploited the people for their own personal gain and for literary fame
at the expense of other writers who do not submit to this “thermometer!”
Likewise, these “antics” have also been applied to some writers in Lebanon. You
were among them, and it was also applied to us, here in Baghdad, in a
provocative and shameless manner. The truth is that we are now fighting an
intellectual battle for the sake of defending honorable values. The last scene
of the battle is a “petition,” whose history we will now share with you:
Some of the defenders of these banners have suggested that Iraqi writers
should support the national front that was recently formed here. This is
considered to be, in fact, a glorious deed rather than an obligation for every
writer. Some of these writers have authored the text of the petition and
included an endorsement of the entire program of the national front except for
two paragraphs which the author intentionally ignored: the Palestinian Problem
and the problem of the Arab Maghrib. We have refused to sign unless these two
critical issues are included in the text of the petition and their importance is
emphasized. They, in turn, rejected our proposal and started to calumniate!!
They even, - what a mockery- decided to “adopt a firm position that will
determine our fate!!”
Based on this, you can understand why the publishing of a story in al-Adaab
that condemns war and depicts its horrors, actually the ugliest of its horrors,
and is written by the editor-in-chief himself, succeeds in casting a stone in
the mouths of these barking dogs. In the meantime, the readers also realize that
Suheil Idris is not an “agent for those who call for war,” and that we were
right all along in defending him and in cooperating with him.
We are determined to fight this battle until the end for it is not a
temporary political battle. It is rather a battle in the defense of vital
national and literary values. We are battling new McCarthyism that is striving
to be reborn here after it died in the country of its origin. The question is:
Do we concern ourselves with (Technique) and neglect man? Or is it that man,
who is the end goal of every struggle, is more worthy of concern? Once again,
the question is: Should literature be international before being national, or
should it begin with “the affairs” of its country and nation and then cross from
there to include the vast humanity? Thirdly, the question is: Couldn’t
literature be “realistic” without totally neglecting form? Isn’t Realism in
literature both form and content together just like it is impossible to separate
the living body from the life that is “in it?”
We are sure that truth is on our side and that unlike our enemies, we are
seeking the correct progressive values, and, therefore, we must not despair.
The literary and political situation in Iraq totally differs from other parts of
the Arab homeland. Politics and literature here are closely intermingled in a
way that makes it impossible to differentiate between them. We will struggle to
preserve our values. The early signs of our success, while seemingly
insignificant so far, have started to loom. I will send you shortly a poem and
a copy of “Arms and the Children,” which is a long poem of mine that we will
finish printing soon.
Take care of yourself.
Sincerely yours,
Al-Sayyab
[From the book, al-Sayyab’s Letters, by Majid al-Samurra’i, (Beirut: Al-Mu’assasa al-‘Arabiya li-al-dirasat wa-al-Nashr, Second Edition, 1994, p.
105) Translated from the original Arabic and with an introduction by George Nicolas El-Hage, Ph.D., Columbia University.]
