The Beautiful Ache in The Last Love by Faiza Saeed

Yemenat

Mohammed Al–Mekhlafi

Faiza Saeed is a Saudi poet who belongs to a generation of Saudi writers, both men and women, who have established a strong presence in the Arab literary scene through serious and coherent creative experiences.

This generation approached literary texts as human experiences before considering them formal exercises. It distanced itself from ease and repetition and presented a diverse and rich image of the Saudi cultural landscape.

She has published several poetry collections, beginning with (Anthem of Desire) in 2005, followed by (Half an Apple) in 2006. Her poetic output continued until the publication of (The Last Love) in 2021, which remains her most recent collection and the work examined in this study as an advanced milestone in her poetic journey.

From this perspective, my reading of the collection is a personal one. It does not arise from preconceived critical assumptions, but from the experience of a reader who enters the text, becomes entangled in it, and reshapes his expectations with every page.

When I began reading (The Last Love) by Faiza Saeed, I did not expect more than familiar love poems, those that usually begin with a call and end with a sigh of regret.

I assumed I was encountering another emotional collection that I would read quickly and then set aside once finished.

However, from the very first pages, I realized that I was facing a different experience, one that does not merely confess, but gently draws the reader into a deeper space, resembling an existential journey written in the language of love.

The collection, published by Tawous Publishing House in Saudi Arabia in 2021, consists of 321 pages and includes seventy-five poetic texts. It opens with (You Are the Morning) and closes with (Our First Love).

This arrangement did not appear accidental to me.