The Poetry Corner

A Damascene Moon

By Nizar Qabbani

Green Tunisia, I have come to you as a lover On my brow, a rose and a book For I am the Damascene whose profession is passion Whose singing turns the herbs green A Damascene moon travels through my blood Nightingales... and grain... and domes From Damascus, jasmine begins its whiteness And fragrances perfume themselves with her scent From Damascus, water begins... for wherever You lean your head, a stream flows And poetry is a sparrow spreading its wings Over Sham... and a poet is a voyager From Damascus, love begins... for our ancestors Worshipped beauty, they dissolved it, and they melted away From Damascus, horses begin their journey And the stirrups are tightened for the great conquest From Damascus, eternity begins... and with her Languages remain and genealogies are preserved And Damascus gives Arabism its form And on its land, epochs materialize