An exerpt from
'Unshudat al-matar ('Song of the Rain') by
al-Sayyab, generally acknowledged as one of the greatest poems in modern
Arabic language:
In every raindrop
A red or yellow flower-bud.
Each tear of hungry and naked people,
Each drop spilled from the blood of slaves,
Each is a smile awaiting new lips,
A teat rosy on a babe's mouth
In tomorrow's youthful world, giver of life.
Rain, rain, rain,
Iraq will blossom with rain.