Nazik Al-Malaika
Nazik al-Malaika (23 August 1923 – 20 June 2007) was an Iraqi poet. Al-Malaika is noted for being among the first Arabic poets to use free verse.
Also recorded as Nazik Al-Mala'ikah · Nāzik al-Malāˀika · Nazik al- Malaika · Nasik al-Malaika
Nazik Al-Malaika

Ayat Jaryan · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Nazik Al-Malaika
- Born
- 23 August 1923
- Birthplace
- Baghdad, Kingdom of Iraq
- Died
- 20 June 2007
- Place of death
- Cairo, Egypt
- Nationality
- Iraq
- Occupation
- poet · writer · university teacher · critic · literary scholar
- Fields
- poetry
- Education
- Institute of Fine Art in Baghdad · University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Languages
- Arabic
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Documentary summary
Nazik al-Malaika (23 August 1923 – 20 June 2007) was an Iraqi poet. Al-Malaika is noted for being among the first Arabic poets to use free verse.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q446761 · wikipedia · Nazik Al-Malaika
In this article
Biography
Biography
Nazik Al-Malaika studied at Institute of Fine Art in Baghdad and University of Wisconsin–Madison. The recorded working language is Arabic. The field of work recorded is poetry. Employment is recorded with Kuwait University, University of Baghdad and University of Basrah.

تمثال الشاعرة العراقية نازك الملائكة في بغداد
Ayat Jaryan
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Nazik Al-Malaika • Born — 23 August 1923 • Birthplace — Baghdad, Kingdom of Iraq • Died — 20 June 2007 • Place of death — Cairo, Egypt • Language — Arabic • Subject — Poetry • Native Name — نازك الملائكة
Early life and career
Early life and career
Al-Malaika was born in Baghdad to a cultured family. Her mother Salma al-Malaika was also a poet, and her father was a teacher. She wrote her first poem at the age of 10. During her life, she studied English and French literature, Latin, and Greek poetry. Al-Malaika graduated in 1944 from the College of Arts in Baghdad and later completed a master's degree in comparative literature at the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a Degree of Excellence. She entered the Institute of Fine Arts and graduated from the Department of Music in 1949. In 1959 she earned a Master of Arts in Comparative Literature from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the United States, and she was appointed professor at the University of Baghdad, the University of Basrah, and Kuwait University.
Career
Career
Al-Malaika taught at a number of schools and universities, most notably at the University of Mosul.
Leaving Iraq
Leaving Iraq
Al-Malaika left Iraq in 1970 with her husband Abdel Hadi Mahbooba and family, following the rise of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party of Iraq to power. She lived in Kuwait until Saddam Hussein's invasion in 1990. Al-Malaika and her family left for Cairo, where she lived for the rest of her life. Towards the end of her life, al-Malaika suffered from a number of health issues, including Parkinson's disease. She died in Cairo in 2007 at the age of 83.
Works
Works
• "The Nights Lover" (عاشقة الليل), her first book of poetry, after her graduation; • "The Cholera" (الكوليرا) (1947) is considered by critics as a revolution in modern Arabic poetry; • "Shrapnel and Ashes" (شظايا ورماد) (1949); • "Bottom of the Wave" (قرارة الموجة) (1957); • "Tree of the Moon" (شجرة القمر) (1968); • "The sea changes its color" ("يغير ألوانه البحر")(1977)
English
English
Emily Drumsta translated a selection of Al-Malaika's poems into English, collected in a book titled Revolt Against The Sun.
Nepali
Nepali
Some of Al-Malaika's poems were translated into Nepali by Suman Pokhrel, and collected along with the works of other poets in an anthology titled Manpareka Kehi Kavita.
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
The authorities additionally record the headings Nazik Al-Mala'ikah, Nāzik al-Malāˀika, Nazik al- Malaika and Nasik al-Malaika. Her recorded language was Arabic. Her recorded confession was Islam. She was the child of Salma Al-Malaika. She married Abdel Hadi hbooba. Other recorded relations include Abd al-Sahib Al-Malaika.
Identity
Identity
Nazik Al-Malaika is recorded as poet, writer, university teacher, critic and literary scholar.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1922
Nazik Al-Malaika born at Baghdad.
2007
Nazik Al-Malaika died at Cairo.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Nazik Al-Malaika was born in Baghdad.
Birthplace
Nazik Al-Malaika died in Cairo.
Deathplace
Baghdad.
Birth place
Cairo.
Death place
Influence on other artists
One of her poems, Medinat al Hub, inspired the Iraqi artist and scholar, Issam al-Said to produce an artwork with the same name. One of her poems, New Year, inspired the Lebanese Palestinian artist Jassem el Hindi to produce his performance Laundry of Legends.
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q446761: Nazik Al-Malaika
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Nazik Al-Malaika”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Literature
Literature
Literature
A Comparative Study of Foucauldian Models of Discipline in Nazik Al-Malaika’s “Cholera” and Camisha Jones’s “On Working Remotely” Transcultural Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2023. التحولات الإدراكية والحسية لموضوعة الموت الاستعارية في شعر نازك الملائكة Cognitive and sensory transformations of the metaphorical theme of death in Nazik Al-Malaika's poetry, Maǧallaẗ Kulliyyaẗ al-Luġaẗ al-'arabiyyaẗ bi-Assiut, 2025. Al-Kulira’s Poetry Works of Nazik al-Malaika: Sociological Literature Analysis, Arabiyat, 2023.
The Challenges of Translating Poetry from Arabic into Persian: Investigating the Poems by Nizar Qabbani, Badr Shakir al-Sayyab, and Nazik al-Malaika, پژوهشهای ترجمه در زبان و ادبیات عربی, 2013
Scholarly footprint
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Nazik Al-Malaika studied at Institute of Fine Art in Baghdad and University of Wisconsin–Madison. The record notes the qualification master's degree.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
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