Let Me Tell You What I Saw

'Uruk's Anthem' has been described as beautiful, powerful and courageous and at the same time apocalyptic and terrifying in its unwavering scrutiny of, and opposition to, oppression and dictatorship wherever it occurs in the world.

Fusing ancient Arabic and Sumerian poetic traditions with many innovative and experimental features of both Arabic and Western literature, Uruk's Anthem might best be described as a modernist dream poem that frequently strays into nightmare; yet it is also imbued with a unique blend of history, mythology, tenderness, lyricism, humour and surrealism.

It took twelve years to write (1984-1996). During eight years of that time Adnan was forced to fight in the Iran-Iraq War. Many of his friends were killed and he spent eighteen months in an army detention centre, a disused stable and dynamite store, dangerously close to the border with Iran. Parts of 'Uruk's Anthem' were adapted for the stage and performed in 1989 at the Academy of Fine Arts and in 1993 at the Rasheed Theatre in Baghdad where the play received wide acclaim but angered the government.

Adnan fled the country with his family and sought asylum first in Amman, then Beirut and then Sweden, where extracts of 'Uruk's Anthem', together with the poems of Adnan's friend, the Nobel Laureate Tomas Transtroemer, formed a play which was performed in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2014 as well as in Egypt 2007 and 2008. It was also performed in Morocco 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2014.

A smaller selection of extracts from 'Uruk's Anthem' (translated by Jenny Lewis and Ruba Abughaida) was published in English for the first time in 'Singing for Inanna' (Mulfran Press, 2014) a first step towards this important, more comprehensive translation. 'Let Me Tell You What I Saw' includes notes to the text and an introduction by Jenny Lewis, and a note from Ruba Abughaida, translator.