Rain Song (al-Sayyab) explained

Rain Song (انشودة المطر “Unshūdat almaṭar”) is a famous 1960 poetry collection and Arabic poem by Badr Shakir al-Sayyab^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} One of the "great poems in modern Arabic poetry", it has been compared to T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land.^[5]

Song

The poem was set to music by Saudi singer and composer Mohammed Abdu in 1992.^[6]

Notes and References

1. Desmond O'Grady Ten modern Arab poets 1992 - Page 53 187379004X His third collection. Rain Song, 1960, "was one of the most significant events in contemporary Arabic Poetry".
2. Stefan Sperl, C. Shackle -Qasida poetry in Islamic Asia and Africa 1996 9004103872 "... 'Rain song', is perhaps the single most famous example of modern Arabic free verse. It is particularly rich in ..."
3. Abdullah Udhari Modern Poetry of the Arab World 1986
4. Moneera Al-Ghadeer Desert Voices: Bedouin Women's Poetry in Saudi Arabia -0857711962 2009 Page 228 "An example is Al-Sayyab's poem, 'Rain Song', an innovative composition that influenced modern Arabic poetry especially in its mediation on life and death and its mythical references. More importantly, its musical and rhetorical aspects show ..."
5. Laura Cowan T.S. Eliot: man and poet 1990 Page 158 -"I would like to demonstrate this kind of impact from the text of a poem which is considered one of the great poems in modern Arabic poetry. "The Rain Song" is, to some extent, The Waste Land in Arabic, and ..."
6. Web site: أنشودة المطر - بقلم : حبيب الزيودي. 2022-01-10. alrainewspaper. ar.