“Poetry is not an Arab regime that falls with the death of the ruler. And its also not an alternative to action. Its an art form whose job is agitating, exposing, and witnessing reality, and aspiring beyond the present. Poetry comes before action… Then poetry catches up. Poetry lights the road, and guides our deeds. Back in the day, Nasr Bin Seyar said, “Indeed, war begins with speech.” In reality, speech surrounds war from its beginning to its end through awareness, instigation, and glorification… Indeed, action needs the influence of sincere speech. Because its absence means filling the space with contradictory speech. And we know that this contradictory speech is always present and active, even while truth exists. So imagine that the space was entirely void of truth. There is no resistance on the face of earth that would dispense the poet for the fighter. Every living resistance realizes that there is no use for bloodshed without a moral conscience. The history of our people is the greatest witness to the importance of the poet’s role in war. The fighter has always sharpened both his sword and tongue.”
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Ahmed Matar