So that you don’t became like Al-Motanabi or Sadam

It does not appear that this book is defending anyone, not even Al-Mutanabbi himself. Rather, it grants an individual a cosmic capacity—one that precedes time itself—allowing us to perceive eternity in a single shock.

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These poems are an exercise in learning to appear a lesser poet than you are, yet nobler than your foundations allow. You find yourself in the amusing predicament of either remaining a small, gentle poet—credited with such heightened sensitivity that you cannot crush an insect—or becoming a towering poet who uses the death of insects merely as metaphor.

A colossal poet, like a galaxy, would not hesitate to end other lives beneath his feet in pursuit of false eloquence or an ancient, diabolical whim. At times, one feels as if struggling not to become an Al-Mutanabbi or a Saddam.

Remain a small, muted poet, for the butterflies will delight in playing around you forever.

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Amer Al-Tayeb
An Iraqi poet, born in 1990, Al-Tayeb has published several collections of poetry, including:

“More Than Death With One Finger”

“Standing Alone Like Two Trees”

“The Scrolls of Green Blood”

“The Rest in the Life of Another Person”

His work explores the boundaries of existence, consciousness, and human experience, often confronting mortality, solitude, and the profound mysteries of life with intense lyricism and philosophical depth.