Upset and amazed, competitions and contests

Overview of the book Oppressed and Enchanted, Encounters and Confrontations - Abdullah Al-Rashid: Literature is layered, and each layer has its people, and sometimes several layers meet at one creator. Look wherever you wish in the collections of some greats, you will find poems with sharpness, and prose elevated by a reader, while another looks at it with disdain. There is no blame on the satisfied, nor reproach on the dissatisfied; everyone can appreciate or despise. This is because reception depends on the fundamental knowledge of literature, especially poetry. And with this, I say: it is time for the critics to respect the tastes of the connoisseurs, who are delighted by (the housewife’s tambourine), and are moved by (the tears of sorrow). Let the critics cry as they wish (by the slope of Al-Liwa between the entrances and the Hawmil), and let those pleased enjoy the shouting (of nine hens and a melodious rooster). This book is an effort to descend from the ivory tower, by presenting formal literature to various classes. Perhaps it will attract the critic, satisfy the angry, and bring back the stray. It is a very dangerous attempt—because the author is certain that his path is fraught with many pitfalls, with critics’ hooks snatching at him, and opinions’ claws grabbing him. Yet he persists, turning away from mentioning the consequences. And whoever is displeased with this book’s table, let him consider that as a shortcoming on the part of the author in his hospitality, not a deficiency in formal literature, and judge it by the limited means of the author, not by the narrowness of classical Arabic.