Three (very) short love poems by Nizar Qabbani

Arabic is a famously poetic language and we Arabs adore poetry. An English friend of ours who is a poet says that Syria was the only country he ever visited where, when he declared his occupation on his entry form at immigration, the airport officials shook his hand with joy.

In a nation of poets, one of the most well-loved is Nizar Qabbani. Born in Damascus in 1923, Qabbani was a radical supporter of women’s rights and an opponent of dictatorship.

Qabbani’s first collection of poems, published in 1942 while he was a student, was called ‘The Brunette Told Me’. It was sensuous and full of references to the female form, and seen by many in conservative Syrian society as scandalous. Qabbani was later to say: “Love in the Arab world is like a prisoner, and I want to set (it) free. I want to free the Arab soul, sense, and body with my poetry. The relationships between men and women in our society are not healthy.”

After university, he joined the Syrian Foreign Ministry, being posted to cities including Beirut, Istanbul, Cairo, Madrid and London until his resignation in 1966. His home town of Damascus continued to be one of his muses and inspirations, notably in his poetry collection ‘The Jasmine Scent of Damascus’. Through his poetry, he spoke out against western colonialism and the corruption and cruelty of Arab leaders alike.

Qabbani lived the last 15 years of his life in London, where he died at the age of 75. For many Syrians, he is our national poet.