Contents -- Foreword by Roger Allen -- Preface -- Translator's Note -- Introduction -- Muti' ibn Iyas -- [Stars Whirling in the Dark] -- [Raindrops of Dust] -- 'Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak [The Pious Ascetic in Baghdad] -- Anon. [Paradise Lost] -- Anon. [House of Calamity] -- Anon. [Men's Souls Are Sick] -- Anon. [I Am Leaving] -- Anon. [Mean as They Are] -- Anon. [Ornamented Rhetoric and Lies] -- Anon. [Comparison] -- Anon. [Never Again] -- al-'Abbas ibn al-Ahnaf -- [Oh Sun of Baghdad!] -- [From Harun al-Rashid's Mouth] -- [The Eye's Greatest Delight] -- Harun al-Rashid [I Will Not Forgive Myself] -- Shamsa (eigth century) [Separation] -- Anon. [I Weep Blood] -- Anon. [Compulsory Pilgrimage] -- Mansur al-Namari [Breeze] -- Ashja' al-Sulami [Palaces] -- Abu Nuwas (al-Hasan ibn Hani al-Hakami) -- [Pilgrimage] -- [Ships] -- [April Morning] -- 'Inan (eigth century) [Plowing] -- 'Amr ibn 'Abd al-Malik al-Warraq (?-815) -- [An Evil Eye] -- [Disgrace] -- Tahir ibn al-Husayn al-Khuza'i [Your Night, Oh Baghdad] -- 'Ali ibn Jabala al-Ansari (known as al-'Akawwak) [Exile] -- Ishaq al-Khuraymi (?-829) [Elegy] -- Ishaq al-Mawsili [Weeping] -- Al-Husayn ibn al-Dahhak (778-870) -- [Only Sorrow] -- [Their Veils Were Torn] -- 'Abd Allah ibn Tahir (798-844) [The Wailing Pigeon] -- 'Umara ibn 'Aqil (798-853) -- [Dung] -- [Tranquil Abode] -- [Nothing Is Like Baghdad] -- 'Ali ibn al-Jahm -- [Does' Eyes] -- [At al-Karkh's Gate] -- [Ceaseless Rain] -- 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Bafi [Communion] -- Ibn Dust [Tuesday] -- Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Brujardi [Tuesday Is for Plea sure] -- al-Walid ibn 'Ubayd Allah al-Buhturi [Desire between Ribs] -- Ibn al-Rumi -- [Tuesday Is Not Only Tuesday] -- [Imagination] -- [Wahid, the Singer] -- [Red-Dyed Finger] -- Adam ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Umawi [Deprived of Sleep] -- Abu al-'Aliya [The Hand of Generosity Is Crippled].

'Ali ibn Abi Hashim [Builders Build for Ruins] -- 'Abd Allah ibn al-Mu'tazz -- [The Traces of Her Bite] -- [Squeezed by an Old Woman] -- [Thick Smoke] -- [Waistbands] -- [White Roses] -- [Full of Blood] -- Muhammad ibn Dawud al-Isfahani [Pain of Skinning] -- 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Tahir [Could a Lover Leave?] -- 'Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Wasiti [Temple for the Hearts] -- al-Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj -- [Tell the Gazelle] -- [Ordained by Christ] -- [I Am Whom I Love] -- [States] -- Abu 'Abd Allah Ibrahim ibn Muhammad Nift awayhi [Perpetual Rain] -- Anon. [Only Death] -- Anon. [The Breast Beater] -- Ibn al-Tammar al-Wasiti [Golden Bridge] -- 'Ali ibn Muhammad al-Tanukhi [Moon and River] -- Mansur ibn Kayaghlagh [Moon] -- Abu Ishaq al-Sabi [Basra and Baghdad] -- Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Jurjani -- [Garments of Mourning] -- [Downpour of Tears] -- al-Sharif al-Radi [Camels' Saliva] -- al-Tahir ibn al-Muzaff ar ibn Tahir al-Khazin [Sweeter than Wine] -- 'Ali ibn al-Faraj al-Shafi 'i [Elephants on Mercury] -- Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Salami [Busy Square] -- Ma'dan al-Taghlibi [Promised Land] -- Abu Sa'd Muhmmad ibn 'Ali ibn Khalafal-Nayramani [I Am Your Ransom] -- 'Ali ibn Zurayq Abu al-Hasan al-Baghdadi -- [Moon over Baghdad] -- [Baghdad's People] -- Abu Muhammad 'Abd al-Wahhab al-Maliki -- [Baghdad's Air] -- [A Qur'an in an Unbeliever's House] -- [Like a Friend] -- al-Sharif al-Murtada [Gazelle] -- Abu al-'Ala' al-Ma'arri -- [Love] -- [Farewell] -- [Sadness] -- [Deserted Beloved] -- [Oh Treasurer!] -- Abu al-Ma'ali [Bearded Boy] -- Abu al-Fadl ibn Muhammad al-Khazin al-Katib -- ['Antar and 'Abla] -- [No Nobleman in the Valley] -- Usama ibn Munqidh [Scales of Justice] -- Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Shumay'a al-Baghdadi [The "How Are You?" People] -- Muhyi al-Din ibn al-'Arabi -- [Melancholic Dove] -- [The Most Beloved City].

Majd al-Din Husayn ibn al-Dawami [Earthquake] -- al-Majd al-Nashabi [Turning a Child's Hair White] -- Taqi al-Din ibn Abi al-Yusr [Burned to Ashes] -- Sa'di Shirazi [A Bird in a Falcon's Grip] -- Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Kufi [Kings and Slaves] -- Shams al-Din Mahmud ibn Ahmad al-Hashimial-Hanafi -- [Stars to Be Followed] -- [Vow of Fidelity] -- Abu al-Khayr 'Abd al-Rahman Zayn al-Dinal-Suwaydi [Tears and Weeping] -- 'Abd al-Ghani al-Jamil -- [Complaint] -- [Inner Storm] -- [Once Glory Nested Here] -- Shihab al-Din Abu al-Th ana' Mahmud al-Alusi [Longing and Craving] -- 'Abd al-Ghaff ar al-Akhras al-Mawsili [Peace Be with Baghdad] -- Radi al-Qazwini [Baghdad and Tibriz] -- 'Abd al-Hamid al-Shawi [I Remember Baghdad] -- Ahmad al-Shawi -- [Memory] -- [Leaders] -- Jamil Sidqi al-Zahawi -- [Baghdad Days] -- [Behind Bars] -- [Migration] -- Ahmad Shawqi [Baghdad and Rome] -- Hafiz Ibrahim [Tenderness and Gentleness] -- Ma'ruf al-Rusafi -- [The Bridge] -- [The Flood] -- Oh Lover of the Orient! -- Iliyya Abu Madi When Fate Came Knocking -- Anwar Sha'ul -- [Happy in Baghdad] -- [Love of the Arabs] -- Murad Michael Oh My Fatherland! (Excerpts) -- Mir Basri [Oh Friends of Life!] -- Mishil Haddad The Books -- Nizar Qabbani -- A Baghdadi Song -- Glory to the Long Plaits -- Nazik al-Mala'ika The Passionate River -- Ibrahim Ovadia A Guest in Tehran -- 'Ali Sidqi 'Abd al-Qadir Baghdad and the Black Eyes -- Badr Shakir al-Sayyab -- Death the Fox -- Brothel -- Because I Am a Stranger -- Buland al-Haydari -- On the Way of Exile from Baghdad -- The City That Was Lost because of Her Silence -- Apology -- 'Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayyati -- A Sigh in Baghdad -- The City -- An Elegy to an Unborn City -- Words on al-Sayyab's Tomb -- A Profile of a City -- Al-'Abbas ibn al-Ahnaf: Impossible Love -- Shadhil Taqa And When We Took Over Her -- Adonis.

Elegy for al-Hallaj -- Poetry Presses Her Lips to Baghdad's Breast (Baghdad 1969) -- Salute to Baghdad -- [Time Crushes into Baghdad's Body] -- Muhammad Jamil Shalash Baghdad and Dawn -- Salah 'Abd al-Sabur The Tatars Have Attacked -- Sa'di Yusuf -- The New Baghdad -- Solitude -- Baghdad -- The Spoliation -- Ahmad 'Abd al-Mu'ti Hijazi A Poem for Baghdad -- Sadiq al-Sa'igh This Is Baghdad . . . (Excerpts) -- Samih al-Qasim Baghdad . . . (Excerpts) -- Fadil al-'Azzawi -- Mr. Edward Luka's Profession -- In Baghdad's Night -- The Ten New Commandments -- Forgotten Maps -- Sami Mahdi Ruins -- May Muzaffar The City -- Mahmud Darwish Iraq's Night Is Long -- Su'ad al-Sabah -- Hulagu -- Below Zero -- Sharif al-Rubay'i Harun al-Rashid -- Sargon Boulus -- In the Garden of Sa'di Shirazi (When He Was in Prison) -- Hulagu Praises Himself -- There -- Hangman -- I Have Come to You from There -- Hulagu (New Series) -- An Elegy for al-Sindibad Cinema -- Abdul Kader El Janabi -- One Day We Will Have a History -- The Immigrants of the Interior -- What a Moment Is That -- Bildung -- In Baghdad, Where My Past Generation Would Be -- Faruq Juwayda Baghdad, Don't Be in Pain! (Excerpts) -- 'Ali Ja'far al-'Allaq Sketches in the Notebooks of Ibn Zurayqal-Baghdadi -- 'Abd al-Rahman Touhmazi What Do You Want? -- Bushra al-Bustani A Sorrowful Melody -- Ronny Someck -- Baghdad, February 1991 -- The Shaving Razor That Cut the Meta phor of Poetry -- A Personal Note on the Margin of a Renewal Form for an Iraqi Passport -- Wafa' 'Abd al-Razzaq The River -- Ahlam Mustaghanimi [Baghdad's Date Palms Apologize to You] -- Ibrahim Zaydan and Qays Majid al-Mawla A Joint Poem on the Live Half and the Dead Half -- 'Abid 'Ali al-Rammahi Baghdad, Sing! -- Sinan Antoon -- A Letter to al-Mutanabbi (Street) -- The Milky Way -- Illumination -- Wars -- Dalya Riyad.

The Myth of the Tigris and Euphrates -- Roadmap -- Manal al-Shaykh Baghdad -- Afterword by Abdul Kader El Janabi -- References -- Index of Poets -- Index of Titles.