To his eminence Said Hassan Nasrallah Secretary General, Hizbollah I pray to god who protected him from the Zionist missiles, to protect him from the “Arab missiles” as well!
Abdel rahman yusuf
26 / 10 / 2006
Introduction:
Most of the poems in this collection were written during the Israeli aggression on Lebanon in the summer of 2006. Almost all of them, with the exception of “writing the history of tomorrow,” were published in several newspapers in both Cairo and London. Some of the poems were subject to omissions by unjust censors.
Just a few days before the war ended, and before the UN security council called for a cease fire, I started writing the poem “writing the history of tomorrow” in which I tried to define victory. It is also an attempt to meditate on the history of the Arab – Israeli struggle and to predict its future.
I found difficulty in writing this poem. My inspiration was gone and a voice inside me was persisting: “you will not be able to write this poem, unless you go yourself to the liberated south Lebanon.”
I answered this call and went to south Lebanon shortly after the war ended. I visited many of the places where the fighting took place and I saw the ruins and destruction in the south as well as in Beirut’s southern suburb before it was all removed by bulldozers, but most importantly, I saw the heroes who made this victory. Only then did a flow of poetry start, giving in to me like a woman collapsing in the arms of her lover after a long refusal… I contemplated every day on what I have written and think about what is yet to be written till I finished the poem after several weeks in the dawn of Ramadan 26th, 1427 Higry. I wrote this poem between Cairo, Alexandria, Quana, Beirut and Bent Jebil and I consider it a unique poetic experience. And finally, I would like to thank Hezbollah’s officials for their assistance and for helping visit the different sights that I wanted to see. May Allah help us all
