Nizar Qabbani Poems

Do not ask me, the name of my love
I fear for you, from the fragrance of perfume
contained in a bottle, if you smashed it,
drowning you, in spilled scent
...

And of me say the fools:
I entered the lodges of women
And never left.
...

Good morning sweetheart.
Good morning my Saint of a sweetheart.
It has been two year mother
...

Raise me more love… raise me
my prettiest fits of madness
O’ dagger’s journey… in my flesh
and knife’s plunge…
...

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
...

Do not say my love was
A ring or a bracelet.
My love is a siege,
Is the daring and headstrong.
...

If I were promised safety,
if I could meet the Sultan
I would say to him: O my lord the Sultan!
...

1
My voice rings out, this time, from Damascus
It rings out from the house of my mother and father
In Sham. The geography of my body changes.
...

She sat with fear in her eyes
Contemplating the upturned cup
She said 'Do not be sad, my son
You are destined to fall in love'
...

We are accused of terrorism:
if we defended rose and woman
and the mighty verse ...
and the blueness of sky ...
A dominion .. nothing left therein...
No water, no air ..
No tent, no camel,
and not even dark Arabica coffee!!
...