What Have You Left Us You Disgraceful Leaders?

I ask you to agree with me

that a scar is never ugly.

Those who create scars want you to think otherwise.

But you and I have to make a pact to stand up to them.

Because from my experience,

Scars mean 'I survived'.

I didn’t fall in love, I walked right into it with steady steps and eyes open to their limit. I’m standing in love, not fallen in it. I want you with my full awareness.

| Ghada al-Samman

The most beautiful sea, hasn't been crossed yet. The most beautiful child, hasn't grown up yet. Our most beautiful days, we haven't seen yet. And the most beautiful words, I wanted to tell you I haven't said yet...

― Nâzım Hikmet

Jerusalem

I wept until my tears were dry I prayed until the candles flickered I knelt until the floor creaked I asked about Mohammed and Christ Oh Jerusalem, the fragrance of prophets The shortest path between earth and sky Oh Jerusalem, the citadel of laws A beautiful child with fingers charred and downcast eyes You are the shady oasis passed by the Prophet Your streets are melancholy Your minarets are mourning You, the young maiden dressed in black Oh Jerusalem, the city of sorrow A big tear wandering in the eye Who will halt the aggression On you, the pearl of religions? Who will wash your bloody walls? Who will safeguard the Bible? Who will rescue the Quran? Who will save Christ? Who will save man? Oh Jerusalem my town Oh Jerusalem my love Tomorrow the lemon trees will blossom And the olive trees will rejoice Your eyes will dance The migrant pigeons will return To your sacred roofs And your children will play again And fathers and sons will meet On your rosy hills My town The town of peace and olives.

-Nizar Qabbani

"I deliberately read the writings of the miserable, the missing, and those whose hearts are broken, I read their cries to make me cry with them. My alphabet no longer accommodates this huge amount of sadness, so I started looking for someone to share it with me. It is a disaster to search for yourself in the writings of others, a disaster to lose yourself to this extent."

-unknown

The Glance That Shattered Silence

In the kingdoms of sand, where the moon lies cracked like a blade, And palaces rise from bones of sages and ruins of caravans made, There ruled a Caliph named Yazan ibn Subh, Seated upon a throne of fire, guarded by jinn and the whispering hush.

And far in a rival land, across the cursed river's sweep, Lived Princess Zahra, whose eyes could make angels weep. Her grandfather had fallen to Yazan's kin in a war of old, So between their houses, hatred ran bitter and cold.

But hearts know no borders when first they ignite, They met in a souk where shadows flirt with light. Zahra was trading with spirits, in spells and silver dust, Yazan watched, enchanted—his duty undone by lust.

"Why stare so boldly, O stranger in royal thread?" She asked, voice laced with dread. "Because," he said, "I have never seen dawn in flesh, And now I must chase it, though the world turn to ash."

And the Spirits Moved in the Shadows

The enemies of love allied: Yazan’s kin from one side, And Zahra’s sorceress-mother from the other, steeped in pride. They summoned seers of stars, bound jinn in chains of fate, Wove spells to turn passion into a poisoned plate.

The markets burned with rumor, the alleys whispered of doom, Slaves were stirred to fury, rebels were led from gloom. The witches spat curses upon the Caliph's crown, Sowing chaos like wheat, hoping to strike him down.

A secret faction rose: The Sacred Shadow, sworn to dethrone, A band of fanatics who claimed justice but wanted the throne. They whispered of Yazan's sins and Zahra's foreign blood, Till the streets turned against them, like rivers turned to mud.

An End Written by Darkness, with Ink of Starlight

The rebels came at moonrise, like wolves with steel for teeth, Yazan stood on the palace roof, the wind a dying wreath. Below him, fire and fury, above, a sky too still, And in his hands, her final note—a prayer, a will.

"If you fall today, know you have my heart in your hand, If you flee, take me far in search of nameless land: No thrones. No homeland. Just you and I— The shadow and the prayer, beneath one sky."

They fought like myths, but myths too must die, Yazan fell with blade in hand, and Zahra fled with a cry. For forty years the sun refused to shine on that sand, Till travelers claimed to see two ghosts walk hand in hand.

They say on moonlit dunes, when the stars are brave, You may see a Caliph and his beloved beyond the grave. Still they dance, still they sing, love stronger than time, A tale told in sorrow, in rhythm, and rhyme.

Thus ends the scroll—but never the longing...

بيني وبينك

ليالٍ صيفية و لحن اهديته لك بالخفاء وديوانٌ من حروف غزلية وقهوة المساء

بيني وبينك شوارع لا تنتهي وطرق مليئة بالغرباء

بيني وبينك همس واطياف وقصص لا تحكى بالكلام

بيني و بينك نجوم الليل و مطر الشتاء و رياح الخريف و زهور الربيع

بيني و بينك اشتياق نيسان و احباء ديسمبر و سكارى يناير

بيني وبينك اسهم عشاق سامة

بيني وبينك لا شئ وكل شئ في آن واحد

Onu yalnız gördüm,

bir deri bir kemik, gözleri iri, gerçekten yorgun,

"Kimi seviyorsun?" diye sordum.

Kalbini kim yaraladı ve parçaladı?

Geceleri gözlerini kim eritip seni huzursuz etti?

Dedi ki: Onu suçlama.

Kalbimin ona taptığını bilmiyor,

Onu aylarca gizlice sevdim,

Yüreğim hasretten öldü.

"Onu ölesiye seviyor musun?" diye sordular.

"Mezarımda ondan bahset ve beni nasıl hayata döndürdüğünü izle" dedim.

- Mahmoud Darwish

Let the coffee cool...

Don't answer the phone.

Put both hands in your pocket.

Watch the opportunities pass by.

Let anxiety take what it takes from you.

Get close to what you fear.

accept the fact that not everything is necessarily going to be okay, and that you don't mind it anyway, nothing matters now.

Don’t juggle the weather with clothes.

Never buy an umbrella for sun or rain.

shorten your words.

Make sure that everything that is likely to break, already broken.

After trying every possible defeat.

You will return with a heart that has experienced disappointment, and no longer fears it, with a face that has had a moment of bruises, you will feel for the first time real courage, you will proceed undisturbed, and you will sleep peacefully at night.

- Farid Emara