The Preamble of the Iraqi Constitution

The preamble to the Iraqi Constitution, enacted in 2005, is eloquent and lengthy. You can feel that it is brimming with pride in the nation’s history. Here is just the opening portion of it:

“In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate, ‘We are the children of the glorious Adam.’ We, as Mesopotamians, are a people who dwell in the homeland of countless apostles and prophets, the abode where virtuous leaders lived, the cradle of civilization, the birthplace of writing, and the wellspring of numbers. On this land the first written law was enacted, the oldest just covenant of governance was inscribed in stone, many saints and ascetics who followed the prophets prayed upon this soil, many philosophers and scientists left behind their theories, and outstanding writers and poets lived here (the rest omitted).”

p82, Kang Kyung-sun, “The Foundations of the Constitution,” Korea National Open University Press, 2017