Al-Baradoni is still alive in people’s minds

The talented Yemeni poet, al-Baradoni, was born in Baradon village, Dhamar Governorate in 1928. At the age of five, he was stricken by smallpox which resulted in vision loss and ultimately blindness. Al-Baradoni started his basic education in 1934 in his village where he learned reading, writing and memorized about third of the Holy Koran.

After that he moved to Dhamar to complete his Qur’anic studying. In 1941, Al Baradoni starting writing poetry but it landed him in prison in 1948 where he served 9 months imprisonment, stated in al-Baradoni website.

After his release, he moved to Sana'a in which he joined the Sciences House and got a certificate in legal sciences. He lived a very tough life, full of suffering and misery but he was strong at heart. He advocated love and freedom for his country which was clear from his poetry as he dealt with many issues related to the country. 

On August 30, 1999, Al-Baradoni passed away on his 70th birthday, after immortalizing his name as one of the 20th century’s greatest and most famous Arab poets. Each year Yemen celebrates the anniversary of al-Baradoni. This year, many people, headed by the minister of culture, Yemeni literature and Writers Union and others celebrated the anniversary in the Yemeni Culture House last Saturday. 

All generations should be connected with each other, and that can only be done through respecting literature of all generations. "Literature in many Arab countries suffers from the weak relationships between generations; there is no loyalty to the former writers and their literature. Yemen is still far away from such a thing; writers of the present, like the former writers, respect their works," said Abdul-Aziz al-Maqaleh, Advisor to the President, Director of the Yemen Center for Studies and Research. He hoped that Yemeni writers will keep on trusting and respecting former writers and their literature. "If writers of this time respect the former writers before them, they- writers of today- will be respected by the coming generations." 

"Those who wonder why there is such trouble in the Arab countries, they do not realize the real reason behind it is loyalty that many people do not appreciate.  The absence of loyalty between generations is the real reason behind the disconnected between generations," added al-Maqaleh.  

Though al-Baradoni died nine years ago, he is still alive in memory for his great work and creativity. "We have not felt his absence; he is still in our minds as if he was still alive and his body moved around us," stated al-Maqaleh. "He is a great poet that will never die in our memory; he is the poet of past, present and future. He reached this position by his hard work to overcome the pain and difficulties that he faced; by saying pain we do not mean physical pain but pain related to his literature and creativity."  "To reach this position, al-Baradoni paid greatly and lost many things to reach his goal. No one can achieve what he wants without losing many precious things." 

Death for some means the end of life, but for some means a new life. "For creative people, death means a new life because he will be more famous after his death, and many people will start looking for his good work. This great poet will never die; he will stay in peoples memories until the last breath of the last person in this life," said al-Maqaleh. 

"He cared more about improving the Arabic poetry, so that, his works became special and noted. His impact is not only confined to his poems and lectures but to peoples lives; many Yemeni poets have learned a lot from his experience. They learned how to be patient, enduring and loyal to their lovely country," said Mohammed al-Muflehi, Minister of Culture.

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