Master of the White House
By Amal al-Juburi*
Translated by Salih J. Altoma
Master of the White House
Give me back my city without coffins
Give me back my city without mourning
Master of the White House
Give me back the country
Which was once my homeland
“My country My country”
Freedom was absent
When it came
Extremism came
Violence spawned
Fear grew rampant
Death proliferated
And tyrants multiplied
“We do not want
We do not want
A ruined homeland
And uprooted youth
We do not want
We do not want.”
Master of the white house
No. You are not the Messiah
All the dead shout
Here, in my homeland
There, in your homeland
Master of the White House
I am not Jesus
I will never forgive you
I swear by my homeland
Master of the White House
Go back where you came from
Go back from where you ended up
All the victims cry out
All victims cry
“We will not become
For the enemies
Like slaves, Like slaves.”
Go back from where you ended up
From where you ended up…
You ended up…
You ended up
Master of the White House
“My country My country.”
__________________________________________________ _________-
(*)Amal al-Juburi (also known al-Jubouri) a noted Iraqi poet was born in Baghdad in 1967and has lived in Germany since 1997 when she fled homeland for political reasons. She has published several volumes of her poems and translated into Arabic Herbert Mason’s dramatic narrative The Death of Al-Hallaj which revolves around the crucifixion of the medieval Muslim mystic in Baghdad in 922.
al-Juburi’s poetry reflects a wide range of themes deeply rooted in her country’s ancient and modern history including her fascination with mysticism and the life and hymns of the Mesopotamian poetess and priestess Enheduanna (c.2334-2279), the first known author in world literature. al-Juburi has founded in Berlin an institute under the name of “West-Eastern Diwan” for promoting German-Arab literary relations and served since 2002 as the chief editor of the German –Arabic journal Diwan.
As an activist poet opposed to the American occupation of her homeland al-Juburi has dedicated her recent writings and activities to the tragic consequences of the war in Iraq. She is leading what may be called “an anti-war literary or poetic campaign” [the word “crusade” is avoided here for its obviously negative associations in the Arab/Muslim world] not only in Iraq, but also in other Arab and European countries. Her latest poem or chant “Master of the White House has been turned into a widely circulated video which highlights the war’s horrors through lyrics and disturbing graphic scenes. The message of the poem is reinforced or intensified by al-Juburi’s skillful allusion to an old Palestinian poem entitled “My Country” [Mawtini] by Ibrahim Tuqan (1905-1941). Tuqan’s poem which was written in the early 1930s was set to music in 1934 at a time when the Palestinians were fighting for the independence of Palestine as an Arab state. It was soon adopted and memorized by millions of Palestinians and Iraqis for many years as one of their patriotic songs. Like other national anthems, Tuqan’s poem brings into focus in a terse and highly lyrical language the splendor and the glory of the homeland and the citizenry’s determination to maintain or preserve its liberty as illustrated in the following stanza:
My country My Country
The youth will never tire
For you to be free or they die
We will drink from death [’s cup]
And will never become for the enemies
Like slaves like slaves
We do not want
We do not want
An eternal humiliation
And wretched life
We do not want
But we seek to restore
Our time-honored glory
Our time-honored glory
My country My country.”
By echoing this popular poem whether in its spirit or the use of some of its repeated refrains (such as my country my country, we do not want/ we do not want) al-Juburi seeks not only to assert her people’s determination to be free, but to remind us also of the Palestinian struggle for independence. It is relevant to add that the original Palestinian poem has been revived today as (1) the national anthem for Iraq, following the American invasion and occupation and (2) as a song of resistance performed in different parts of the Arab world. The extent of the poem’s appeal or popularity can be readily noticed by searching the internet under such related words as “My country, my homeland, mawtini, Master of the White House [=Sayyid al-Bayt al-Abyad], Ibrahim Tuqan and Amal al-Juburi.”
** Salih J. Altoma, professor emeritus of Arabic and Comparative Literature, Indiana University has published other works or translations relevant to modern Arabic literature. His most recent book is entitled Modern Arabic Literature in Translation: A Companion (London: 2005).
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