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This story was written with support from IJNet Arabic’s Mentoring Center for Media Startups
Written by: Ibrahim Al-Munifi
Translated by: Yasser Mohammed
In the year 2001, a Yemeni delegation from the Ministry of Culture participated in the event of The Arab Capital of Culture for the year in which Kuwait was selected. The organizers of the event in Kuwait asked about a Yemeni poet and gave his full name, however, the delegation did not know this poet. Managers at the Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain Prize for Poetic Creativity insisted on connecting with this poet. They sent word back to Sana’a and asked about the mysterious poet, unfortunately, no one knew who he is. Al-Babtain Prize Foundation had announced a competition for Arabic poetry. Following that, a friend of Al-Shami submitted a poem and signed it with the poet’s first three names without including any contact information, after all, it was a coin toss. Fortunately, the poem was published in a book containing the best 22 poems submitted to that year’s event based on the judgment of the event organizers
The poem was authored by poet and writer Mohammad Ahmad Qasim Al-Shami, who was born on June 6, 1977, in Al-Shaghaderah district, Hajja governorate west of Sana’a the capital of Yemen
The poem in question is titled “Al-Adeem Istaqar” which is the same title of Al-Shami’s poetry collection, printed and published by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2004. Al-Shami has a few other unpublished poetry collections, and many poems published in newspapers and magazines. He also won the President’s Award for Poetry in 2005. Al-Shami was mentioned in “Prominent Figures and Authors of Yemen” encyclopedia, authored by Dr. Abdulwali Al-Shamiri under entry no. 9045 as an author and a poet
Al-Shami graduated from the Teachers Institute in Hajja governorate, 1995. Later, he became an instructor in the Public Relations Department of the prestigious University of Science and Technology
Al-Shami spoke to the Media Center for Persons with Disability about his close relationship of the late poet Hassan Abdullah Al-Sharafi, but his poetry was greatly influenced by Yemen’s great poet Abdullah Al-Baradoni
“I met the great poet Abdullah Al-Baradoni for the first time in 1994, during the 12th book fair, which was held inside Sana’a University, and ever since then, I have visited him regularly every Friday, and I will never forget what he said to me one day: “Mohammad, your recognition and fame will come from outside Yemen,” said Al-Shami
Al-Baradoni’s prophecy came true in the year 2000
Al-Shami enjoys a sizable in-house library, after all, he used to read for more than 10 hours a day before 2015. However, after that year, the poet was forced to abandon his library
The Tragedy in Noqum Area and the Poet’s Survival
The United Nations organizations in Yemen mark the start of the conflict in Yemen in 2015 and call it “the world’s worst humanitarian disaster”
No sound was being heard other than that of bullets, warplanes and anti-aircraft artillery. Al-Shami and his family were living in the high-risk area of Noqum, because of that, he opted to move his family from the area due to fear of air strikes
On the afternoon of May 11, 2015 Al-Shami was accompanied by his mother while checking up on their home when all of a sudden a massive explosion rocked the apartment’s walls and blow the windows away and people ran from their homes frantically. Al-Shami saw destruction of biblical proportions
“I ran out of the house and looked at the direction of the sound, the fire crawled rapidly towards me, without thinking, I looked away and began to retreat I did not dare to look again at the fire, I hit a wall behind me and fell to the ground, shrapnel were flying in every direction, I lost consciousness completely and did not wake up until I was in a clinic in a terrible condition,” said Al-Shami
After that accident, Al-Shami was getting violent convulsive seizures for almost 30 minutes each day. This condition continued for two months, as if he was “half conscious,” as he put it. Al-Shami started to lose his eyesight slowly, until he woke up one day completely blind. A friend of his took him to the hospital. According to Al-Shami’s medical reports he was suffering from a problem in his optic nerve and the possibility of recovery was high. The reports also recommended that the patient is quickly transferred abroad for treatment
Patience is a Virtue During Trying Times
After Al-Shami lost his sight, everything changed in his life. Al-Shami bitterly spoke to the MCPD about his longing for the books and magazines that crowded his personal library, how he used to read for many hours, and how he used to write comments and footnotes in the books he has
“How I wish I could even I review my notes in books, or find someone to read them to me,” said Al-Shami
Many of Al-Shami’s circle of friends abandoned him. Leaving him to face the hardships of life alone until his eldest son was forced to leave school in the eighth grade to work in a water bottling factory for a meager wage (less than two dollars per day) to provide for the family, after the family’s breadwinner suddenly lost his sight
Despite the possibility of recovery and the appeals submitted by the Writers Syndicate to the official authorities to sponsor the treatment of Al-Shami, there was no response
Furthermore, 15 of the area’s prominent figures submitted a petition to the Office of the Presidency in 2020, for the same purpose, and according to Al-Shami, to this day, there is also, no response. So, will the Fund for the Care and Rehabilitation of Persons with Disability take the initiative and perform its much needed role?
What is even more painful and striking about Al-Shami’s story is that many of his friends abandoned him, causing him to sink into forced isolation for three years during which he was cut off from the world. Al-Shami did not know that the visually impaired people could use phones through the narrator feature in smart phones until mid-2018, when he began using his phone to read and communicate after a period of isolation which he described as “cruel”
Al-Shami wrote a poem to his friends who abandoned him titled: “My friends”
My friends, Where have you gone?
Patience is a virtue during crisis,
Should I call you? Many times were you called upon!
There is no response, other than the silence,
My friends, Where have you gone?
Patience is a virtue during crisis,
Should I call you? Many times were you called upon!
There is no response, other than the silence,
Al-Shami wonders about the responsibility of the competent bodies,
“What has the Ministry of Culture done? What has the Writer’s Syndicate done? What has the Ministry of Youth and Sports done?,” wondered Al-Shami
Adding “I was promised when I received the President’s Award that I would be cared for as a poet and a writer. What has the Teaching Union done? I’m a full member there, they have been taking part of my salary since 1995, even when some teachers are paid half a salary the fees are still deducted. What has it done?”
Neglecting Al-Shami, both as a human being and a victim of war first, and then as a poet and writer second, is both shameful and sad
It is also unfortunate that a poet is famous outside his country, while being unknown inside it
From the tin-roofed house of Al-Shami, we bid you farewell, until we meet in again with “Behind the War” after the blessed month of Ramadan