Introducing the poet

05Introducing the poet

• Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad (1889–1964): one of the signs of poetic renewal and critical thought in the modern age.
• With al-Mazini and Shukri he formed the group of al-Diwan.
• In the prefaces to his own diwans and to those of his colleagues and friends he set out the essence of poetry as he saw it:
  • Poetry is the expression of its owner's self and feeling, not the versifying of occasions.
  • Exalting the role of the image in carrying the poet's sensation.
  • Care for the coherence of the poem and its unity.
• Among his diwans is "A Passing Traveller".