By 1959, he had translated numerous Arabic poems to Hebrew and vice versa, and also translated the works of German poet Bertolt Brecht, Turkish poet Nâzım Hikmet, Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba and the Persian poet Ashub into Arabic.[1] Hussein was also a member of the left-wing Israeli political party, Mapam, and edited its social weekly Al Mirsad.[2] In the spring of 1961, Al Mirsad became a daily, but soon after the August 1961 Knesset election, it reverted to its former weekly format.[9] Al Fajr and Al Musawwar were both discontinued for lack of funds in 1962, but the former circulated again in 1964.[9] At that time, Hussein began translating the Hebrew works of Israeli poet Hayim Nahman Bialik into Arabic.[3][9]