Jabbar Al-Kawaz: The Claysmith and Guardian of Babylonian Memory

Muhammad Ali Muhyi al-Din When poetry is mentioned in Babylon, breezes of sadness and water pass between the ribs, and from between the palm trunks emerges a name written with dreams and wounds: Jabbar al-Kawaz. Al-Kawaz was born in the Mahdiya neighborhood, where the alleys embrace the Euphrates River, and where the first words are ablutions with the ink of knowledge and the authenticity of the soul. He grew up in a family where poetry was the …