خوانش و تحلیل مختصّات گونه ‏ی شعری «هایکو» در سروده‏های «الأهوار الجنة الضائعة» از عبدالکریم کاصد

Haiku, one of the world’s most concise yet profound poetic forms, emerges from a unique cultural and philosophical synthesis. Its origins can be traced to three major Eastern traditions: Indian Spirituality – The meditative brevity of haiku echoes the contemplative traditions of India, particularly the Zen Buddhist emphasis on sudden enlightenment (satori). The form’s ability to capture a fleeting moment of awareness aligns with the Buddhist concept of mindfulness—being fully present in the here and now.

Chinese Pragmatism – From Chinese classical poetry, particularly the Jueju, haiku inherits its structural economy and focus on nature. Chinese poets like Wang Wei mastered the art of conveying deep meaning in just a few lines, a technique that influenced early Japanese verse.

Japanese Appreciation for Simplicity – Japan refined this poetic sensibility into the haiku as we know it today, emphasizing kireji (cutting words) and kigo (seasonal references). The Japanese aesthetic principle of wabi-sabi—finding beauty in imperfection, transience, and austerity—became central to haiku’s philosophy.

At its core, haiku is not merely a literary form but a way of seeing the world. It treats existence itself as inherently poetic, distilling profound truths into just 17 syllables (traditionally structured in a 5-7-5 pattern). Unlike Western poetry, which often relies on metaphor and elaborate imagery, haiku thrives on direct, unadorned observation. It captures a single, ephemeral moment—a frog leaping into water, a crow perched on a bare branch, the first snowfall—and lets it resonate with universal significance.

In the Arab literary world, haiku gained prominence in the late 1990s, initially through indirect translations from Japanese via English. These fragmented yet influential introductions sparked curiosity among Arab poets, leading to more direct translations and experimentation in the early 2000s. Literary societies dedicated to haiku emerged, and poets began adapting the form to reflect Arab cultural and existential themes. Among these pioneers, the exiled Iraqi poet Abdul Karim Kasid stands out. Having lived in England for decades, Kasid absorbed Western modernist influences while retaining a deep connection to his Iraqi heritage. His poetry reimagines haiku, infusing it with themes of displacement, memory, and the haunting landscapes of his homeland.



This study examines how Abdul Karim Kasid’s poetry engages with the eight core principles of Zen Buddhism—fundamental to traditional Japanese haiku—and explores his motivations for adopting this form. The research analyzes the intersection of Kasid’s work with Zen’s philosophical tenets, such as Right View, Right Intention, and Right Mindfulness, while investigating his use of haiku to express Arab existential and aesthetic concerns.

A comparative framework is employed, contrasting classical haiku’s Zen-infused principles with Kasid’s adaptations. Special attention is given to his subconscious evocation of Iraq’s southern marshes—liminal spaces of memory and loss—through haiku’s imagistic brevity. These wetlands, recurring in Kasid’s poetry, serve as metaphysical landscapes where personal exile merges with collective cultural trauma. Additionally, the study examines Kasid’s visual-textual hybrid works ("poem-paintings"), which resonate with Ezra Pound’s imagist techniques. Pound’s fascination with fragmented imagery and Eastern poetics significantly influenced 20th-century modernism, creating an intertextual dialogue with Kasid’s work. This triangulation of traditions—Japanese haiku, Anglo-American imagism, and Arab lyrical modernism—forms the study’s analytical foundation.

The findings reveal that Kasid’s engagement with haiku extends beyond stylistic imitation. He repurposes the form to reconstruct Iraq’s southern wetlands—pristine marshes and ancient waterways—as sites of ecological and cultural memory. By incorporating motifs central to classical haiku, such as nature’s ephemerality and the beauty of simplicity, Kasid reinterprets his homeland’s landscapes through a dual lens: one grounded in Iraq’s natural beauty, the other in haiku’s philosophical minimalism.



His poetry frequently features untouched ponds and migratory birds—imagery that mirrors traditional haiku’s reverence for nature while subverting it to address Iraq’s endangered ecosystems. In doing so, Kasid situates local environmental concerns within global discourses of loss and preservation. Furthermore, his work demonstrates an unconscious alignment with Zen principles, particularly Right Mindfulness (a heightened awareness of the present moment) and Right Effort (the disciplined crafting of verse). However, rather than strictly adhering to Zen doctrine, Kasid adapts these concepts to articulate themes of exile, nostalgia, and cultural survival.



Kasid’s visual-textual experiments—where poetry merges with painting—echo Ezra Pound’s imagist techniques, reinforcing the transnational fluidity of haiku. Pound’s modernist approach, deeply influenced by East Asian aesthetics, finds an unexpected parallel in Kasid’s fusion of Arabic lyricism with haiku’s brevity. This interplay highlights how poetic traditions evolve through cross-cultural exchange.



Abdul Karim Kasid’s haiku experimentation transcends mere stylistic borrowing, repositioning the form as a transnational medium for expressing universal human experiences—exile, impermanence, and the search for meaning. His work demonstrates how Zen’s universal principles adapt to localized contexts, offering a model for future dialogues between Arab and Asian poetic traditions.

The implicit influence of Ezra Pound underscores the reciprocal nature of literary modernism, shaped by East-West syntheses. Ultimately, Kasid’s haiku do not merely adopt Zen principles—they dissolve cultural dichotomies, revealing how ancient philosophies persist and transform in the diasporic imagination. In his hands, haiku becomes a cross-cultural episteme—a mode of perception that bridges historical trauma and aesthetic transcendence. Through this fusion, Kasid not only revitalizes Arabic poetry but also reaffirms haiku’s enduring relevance as a global art form.