Ahmet Baitursynuly (1872–1937) was a highly influential Kazakh intellectual, both creatively and politically. Not only a leading member of the Kazakh nationalist group Alash Orda, Baitursynuly also adapted the Arabic script to be used with the Kazakh language. After his execution in 1937, his work in politics, education, poetry, and linguistics was mostly forgotten. Though he fell victim to the Great Purge, his memory has since been rehabilitated, and he is appreciated as one of the intellectual forefathers of modern Kazakhstan. These poems come from his distinctly political and most well-known collection, Masa (Mosquito).