Zaid Al-Harb Explained
Zaid Abdullah Al-Harb (Arabic: زيد عبدالله الحرب) (1887 – February 21, 1972) was a Kuwaiti poet.
Biography
Al-Harb was born in Kuwait in 1887 in the Sharq area (Arabic: منطقة شرق|links=no). He grew up in his grandfather's house, and he worked with his uncles as a sailor then as a Nokhitha (Arabic: نوخذة|links=no). Al-Harb worked in trade and traveled to India, Yemen and the East coast of Africa. He participated in the battle of Al-Jahra (Arabic: معركة الجهراء|links=no) in 1920, defending Kuwait. In 1952, Zaid lost his eyesight.
His works
He discussed the social and political life in Kuwait and the Arab world. In his poems he had described the struggle and the tough life of Kuwaiti divers who were diving for pearls as the main source of their income before producing the oil in Kuwait.
و القيض كله نجالب الغوص بحبال *** ماي جما الزرنيخ و زاده نهيبهو الغيص يشكي الضيم من بحر الاهوال *** و السيب واقف دوم مثل النصيبهو يركض على المجداف لي صاح (يا مال) *** و نوم الملا بالليل ما نهتني بهو رحنا السفر و الموج يا جنه جبال *** في غبة فيها المنايا قريبةلا حولنا ديرة و لا حولنا يال *** و لا من ذرا بالضيق نبنلتجي بهإلا سواد الليل من دونهم حال *** و بحر كسيف دوم تطبخ غبيبةAll the summer we struggle diving with ropes ** The water is like hellThe diver is complaining about the terrifying sea ** And the rope man is always standing like a wallAnd he runs to the oar as he yell (Ya mal) ** And we don't know how is the sleep at nightWe went to travel, and the billows are like mountains ** In the darkness the death is very closeNo country around us, neither a coast ** And no one we could run toExcept the darkness of night that falls on them ** And an unknown dark sea
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