This article examines a book that establishes a poetic movement and lays down its foundational principles. The book's author provoked the ire of critics by claiming pioneering free verse, regardless of whether this claim is true or not. Nevertheless, she retains the credit for establishing this poetic movement. I am not among those whose pens hasten, upon reading a book that has stirred the interest of literary circles, to expose its weaknesses and faults. Rather, a book that establishes a poetic movement and lays down the principles by which it is governed must necessarily be a work of high literary and critical value because of the contribution it offers. Whether the claim that the author of that book — whose attribution of leadership in free verse poetry provoked the anger of critics — was truly a pioneer of free poetry or not, she still deserves credit for laying the theoretical foundations of a poetic movement whose authentic connection to, and deep roots in, the original Arab literary heritage no one else attempted to examine as she did.

For Al-Malaika was not willing for this movement to be tainted by the notion that, merely because of its modernity, it was a wavering movement that accepted errors and sought to break the rigid steel restraint that had guided poets from ancient times up to the present day. Let us return and look at our reality after the long centuries that have passed since the beginnings of composing poetry, first undertaken by people who lived in the pre-Islamic era. What was it, one may ask, that led a person, amid such simple circumstances, to composing a line of poetry? Was there not a psychological and social need that drove him to do so? Therefore, the need to compose and listen to poetry is not a passing or insignificant need; rather, it is a means of expressing the inner thoughts and emotions of the mind and soul. And those emotions must inevitably harmonize with the demands of the age.

Thus, it is only natural that after the long centuries through which poetry has evolved, and with our entry into an era in which the difficulties of life continue to increase, a new poetic form should emerge that keeps pace with such change. Poems then began to appear that moved away from adherence to the traditional vertical structure of poetry and broke the constraints of rhyme. However, these poems still preserved the most essential element of poetry: its musicality and the careful selection of words that penetrate the mind and speak to the soul.