Dubai – Al Arabiya.net
Posted on: September 01, 2023: 03:10 PM GST Last updated: September 01, 2023: 04:19 PM GST
“Tired, O Joyful… Thirsty, O Joyful.” Perhaps those words of the late Iraqi poet, Karim Al-Iraqi, applied to his condition for years before he passed away.
For four years, the sixty-year-old struggled with cancer, without leaving a smile on his face.
And “more than 90 chemical doses, and more than 25 surgeries, did not abort Abu Difaf’s resolve,” according to what was confirmed by the deputy chairman of the board of directors of the Cultural Club in Baghdad, Abd al-Razzaq al-Rubaie.
Al-Rubaie published two photos of the late man on his Twitter account, explaining that the first was taken in Sharjah in 2019, while the second was before he went to receive his last chemotherapy treatment.
The disease did not break her
But the irony is that “Karim Odeh”, which is his original name, seemed as if his smile had not changed, and it was not broken by the disease.
And the Iraqi Artists Syndicate announced earlier, today, Friday, the death of the most famous writer of the Iraqi folk poem, outside the country, at the age of 68, affected by a terminal illness, while a large group of Iraqi and Arab writers, artists, and intellectuals in general mourned him.
Al-Iraqi was famous for composing the lyrics of hundreds of songs, as he collaborated with great singers, such as Hussein Nima, Saadoun Jaber and Reda Al-Khayyat.
He also formed a successful duet with Kazem El Saher, for whom he wrote about 70 songs.
In addition, the late, who was known for his closeness to the poor class, wrote many patriotic poems that spread, especially during the period of the economic blockade against Iraq in the nineties of the last century. Among the most prominent of these patriotic songs that he composed, in addition to “Al-Shams Shamsi” with the voice of the Iraqi lyric composer Jaafar Al-Khafaf, “Iraq Al-Karama” with the voice of the Moroccan singer Samira Said.
He was also famous for his enthusiastic poems addressed to the Iraqi fighters during the Iran-Iraq war.
The Iraqi, who began his artistic career writing children’s songs in the early seventies, is considered one of the most important writers of children’s literature in Iraq in the field of scenarios, stories and plays for children. He also has a number of collections and audio albums in his credits.
Born in Baghdad in 1955, he obtained a diploma in psychology and children’s music from the Teachers Institute in Baghdad, then worked as a teacher in schools in the capital for several years.
As for his most famous poems, they are still unchallenged: “The sun is my sun, and Iraq is Iraq / What other than the intruders are of my morals / Tyrants trampled on all my ears of time, so creativity erupted from my depths / I ran tables in the sterile rock and carried the light of God in my eyes / I, since the dawn of the earth, wear my helmet and my will over the poor my domain”.
