Thirteen years after his death, during the early stages of the Arab Spring, his revolutionary poetry inspired millions of young people in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and then in his native Damascus. He was outspokenly critical of Anwar Al Sadat of Egypt and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for their respective peace deals with Israel, only praising one Arab leader by name, being Jamal Abdul Nasser. This revolutionary used a pen not a sword, and Nizar Qabbani’s fearlessness shines in his writing still.Damascus: Today marks the 20th anniversary of the passing of legendary Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani, who died at a London hospital, aged 75, back in 1998.Īn Arab nationalist at heart and a Nasserist, he was always critical of military dictatorships and firmly opposed to any peace with Israel.ĭuring a prolific career that started in 1943 and lasted until his death, he often made indirect reference to Arab presidents and kings in his poetic verse, mocking their incompetence, corruption, and submissiveness to the United States. In my country the rocks are in love, and the vines are addicted Our country was there … and all times came after it. The relationships between men and women in our society are not healthy.”Īt the back of Beloved Syria is Qabbani’s poem ‘My Country’, which takes up another theme touched on in this magazine.
Nizar qabbani poetry translated and analises free#
I want to free the Arab soul, sense and body with my poetry. “Love in the Arab world is like a prisoner, and I want to set free. Asked if he was a revolutionary, the poet answered: A poet of his calibre can hold his readers in thrall as he explores the contradictions and frustrations of life and at other times points to life’s extraordinary beauty.
With Qabbani’s poetry, there can be ambiguity and puzzle, which only adds to the delight and depth of it. But is the poem really about a woman? It might be argued that it expresses the poet’s response to the contrary nature of his country. Loren could certainly play the woman Qabbani describes in ‘I have no power’. His poem ‘I have no power’ translated on these pages was being recited in the Middle East when across other parts of the world Sophie Loren was on cinema screens playing women of great independence and seductive power. As a consequence, she committed suicide, which may explain why Qabbani became a strong advocate for women’s emancipation. When he was a teenager, Qabbani’s family tried to force his sister to marry someone she did not love. Most importantly for this issue of Beloved Syria is the fact that Nizar Qabbani wrote poetry with respectful reference to women and their point of view. However, as well as expressing despair in his writing, Qabbani’s poetry is also romantic and elegant and accessible to a general reader.
In 1954, one of his most famous poems, ‘Bread, Hashish, and the Moon,’ was debated in the Syrian parliament, with some delegates contending that legal action be taken against the poet. (After the First World War, Syria came under the control of France, and opposition to French rule was brutally crushed.)Īs the son of a Syrian nationalist, Nizar Qabbani couldn’t but be political. His father was a businessman, who was frequently arrested because of his anti-French activities. Nizar Qabbani was born in Damascus in 1923. Someone highly revered by Syrians across the political spectrum is Nizar Qabbani, the 20th century Syrian poet. Stay that way … About Author Nizar Qabbani – Poet, feminist and revolutionary You are the Bedouin woman, who went with all tribes, You are the tree of femininity, that grows in the darkness … You are the queen of chaos, of madness, belonging to no one Nor does my fatherly advice do you any good … Never believe what a man says about himself,Īnd the man who signs at the maternity hospital Neither guidance nor temptation worked with you…Ī body sensing a man’s scent by instinct … It’s he who orbits around the sun of her eyes Woman comes from one of their ribs are false…
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