Marouf Al Rusafi Statue

In the heart of Al-Rasheed Street, specifically at Al-Ameen Square near Al-Saray Market and the historic Al-Mustansiriya School, stands the statue of the great Iraqi poet Ma’ruf al-Rusafi, considered one of the most prominent cultural and artistic landmarks in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The statue was unveiled in 1970, as a memorial commemorating a poet who represented the conscience of his era, and the voice of the people in moments of transformation and protest.

This enduring statue was designed by artist and sculptor Ismail Fattah al-Turk, using bronze, and it rises tall with its precise details, expressing al-Rusafi’s contemplative stance and confident gaze — in a rare blend of artistic realism and symbolic depth — making the statue a lasting witness to al-Rusafi’s literary stature and his enlightened spirit that left a deep imprint on Iraqi memory.

The statue represents the figure of Ma’ruf Abd al-Ghani al-Jabari al-Husseini, born in Baghdad in 1875, to a Kurdish father who worked in the Ottoman administration, and an Arab mother from the Qaraghol tribe. He grew up in a poor environment in the Al-Mahdiya district, and received his early education in kuttab schools and religious schools, then studied under some of Baghdad’s senior scholars, such as Abdul Wahhab al-Na’ib, Qasim al-Qaisi, Qasim al-Bayati, and Mahmoud Shukri al-Alusi, whom he accompanied for twelve years and graduated under his tutelage. Al-Alusi gave him the name “al-Rusafi”, to match in nobility and reputation a Sufi sheikh known as Ma’ruf al-Karkhi.

Al-Rusafi began his career as a teacher at Al-Rashidiya School, then moved to teach at the secondary school in Baghdad, and traveled to Istanbul where he taught at the Shahaniyya College, and worked in journalism, including for Sabīl al-Rashād newspaper. He was elected to the Ottoman parliament (Majlis al-Mab'uthan) in 1912 and 1914, then appointed to the Teachers' House in Jerusalem in 1920, before returning to Baghdad where he founded Al-Amal newspaper, was elected a member of the Arabic Language Academy in Damascus, and held various educational positions such as inspector in the Directorate of Education and professor at the Higher Teachers' House (Dar al-Muallimeen al-‘Aliyah). His travels between Istanbul, Jerusalem, Baghdad, Constantinople, and Damascus shaped his literary and intellectual personality, which combined Arab identity, social awareness, and influence from religious and political reform.

Al-Rusafi’s style was marked by strong language, rigorous expression, and firm logic, and he held bold critical views on politics, religion, authority, and society. His poetry was compiled in the famous “Diwan al-Rusafi”, which was divided into eleven chapters addressing topics such as the universe, religion, philosophy, politics, society, war, elegy, descriptions, women’s world, and more. In it, he tackled national issues, expressed the misery of the poor, resisted colonialism, exposed tyranny, and called for social and political revolution for justice and freedom.

Al-Rusafi was a contemporary of poet Jamil Sidqi al-Zahawi, and they both advocated for women’s liberation and the removal of the traditional cloak (abaya). However, their relationship was not without literary rivalry and sharp competition, and several debates and clashes were recorded between them, reflecting the intellectual vitality of Iraq’s early 20th-century renaissance.

Thus, the al-Rusafi statue is not just a sculpture by the roadside, but a visual representation of a rebellious poet, a defiant mind, and a resilient national spirit, which remained present in literature, politics, and social consciousness.

And so, the statue of Ma’ruf al-Rusafi stands today at the crossroads of time and pavement, reminding passersby that when a word is sincere, it remains stronger than the sword, and more enduring than any passing power.