Abdul Wahab Al-Bayati (1926-1999) was an Iraqi modernist poet born in Baghdad. A 2004 book, Love, Death and Exile, features many of his poems in Arabic with English translation, and can be viewed online.
الطريد
حلمت
أني هارب طريد
في غابة
في وطن بعيد
تتبعني الذئاب
عبر البراري السود والهضاب
حلمت
والفراق يا حبيبتي عذاب
أني بلا وطن
أموت في مدينة مجهولة
أموت
يا حبيبتي
وحدي بلا وطن
I dreamt I was a fugitive
Hiding in a forest.
The wolves in a distant country
Hounded me through black deserts and over rough hills.
My dear, our separation was torture.
I dreamt I was without a home,
Dying in an unknown city,
Dying alone, my love, without a home.
Hiding in a forest.
The wolves in a distant country
Hounded me through black deserts and over rough hills.
My dear, our separation was torture.
I dreamt I was without a home,
Dying in an unknown city,
Dying alone, my love, without a home.
Translated by Abdullah Udhari (taken from Modern Poetry of the Arab World)
