Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri: Iraq's 'third river' remembered 27 years after death

DAMASCUS, Syria — Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri, widely regarded as one of Iraq's most prominent poets, died on July 27, 1997, in Damascus at the age of 98 after decades spent in exile. Born in 1899 in Najaf, he divided his later life between Baghdad, Prague and Damascus, working as a journalist while writing poetry. The hardships of those years earned him the moniker "Iraq's third river," alongside the Tigris and Euphrates. Al-Jawahiri was celebrated for fusing classical Arabic forms with a revolutionary voice. His works include the epic poems "Ahi Ja'far," "Amentu bi'l-Husayn" and "Ritauahi'l-Qasim," which became touchstones of 20th-century Arabic literature. His poetry on Kurdish freedom, particularly the line "Qalbi li-Kurdistan" ("My heart is for Kurdistan"), cemented his reputation as a poet of justice across ethnic lines. Kurdistan occupied a central place in his political and personal outlook. He was known for wearing a traditional Kurdish kelawo cap inscribed with the word "Kurdistan," a gesture widely read as a public statement of solidarity with the Kurdish cause. Al-Jawahiri maintained a deep respect for the Kurdish leader Mullah Mustafa Barzani and developed an intellectual friendship with President Jalal Talabani, relationships that reinforced his support for Kurdish rights. Marked every July 27 since his death, al-Jawahiri is remembered in both Arab and Kurdish literary traditions as a poet whose work bridged struggles for justice and freedom across the region.