Baathists Bloom, Enemy Is Hollow

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New York Times
January 4, 2007

Following is the first half of a poem attributed to Saddam Hussein, as transcribed and translated by The New York Times from a reading by his cousin Muayed Dhamin al-Hazza.

Unbind It
Unbind your soul. It is my soul mate and you are my soul’s beloved.
No house could have sheltered my heart as you have
If I were that house, you would be its dew
You are the soothing breeze
My soul is made fresh by you
And our Baath Party blossoms like a branch turns green.
The medicine does not cure the ailing but the white rose does.
The enemies set their plans and traps
And proceeded despite the fact they are all faulty.
It is a plan of arrogance and emptiness
It will prove to be nothing but defeated
We break it as rust devours steel
Like a sinner consumed by his sins
We never felt weak
We were made strong by our morals.
Our honorable stand, the companion of our soul,
The enemies forced strangers into our sea
And he who serves them will be made to weep.
Here we unveil our chests to the wolves
And will not tremble before the beast.
We fight the most difficult challenges
And beat them back, God willing.
How would they fare under such strains?
All people, we never let you down
And in catastrophes, our party is the leader.
I sacrifice my soul for you and for our nation
Blood is cheap in hard times
We never kneel or bend when attacking
But we even treat our enemy with honor. ...

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company