Oh green bird,
As long as you are my love,
God is in the sky.
translated by Bassam K. Frangieh & Clementina R. Brown
20th Century Syrian poetry
When I am in love by Nizar Kabbani
When I am in love
I become a liquid light
And in my notebook
The poems become
Fields of mimosas and daisies.
translated by Bassam K. Frangieh & Clementina R. Brown
Your eyes are like a rainy night by Nizar Kabbani
Your eyes are like a rainy night,
My boats sink in them,
My writing disappears in their reflection,
Mirrors have no memory.
translated by Bassam K. Frangieh & Clementina R. Brown
Searching for You by Nizar Qabbani (Kabbani)
Love is my pursuit
You are my pursuit
Love roams over my skin
you roam over my skin
and I
carry the rain-washed streets and sidewalks
on my back . . .and search for you
translated by Lena Jayyusi & W.S. Merwinlove
Vine-Grove by Nizar Qabbani (Kabbani)
Every man that will kiss you after me
will discover on your lips
a small vine-grove
which I planted.
translated by Lena Jayyusi & W.S. Merwin
from When I Love by Nizar Qabbani (Kabbani)
When I love a woman
all the trees
run barefoot toward me . . .
translated by Lena Jayyusi & Christopher Middleton
from Andalusian Diary by Nizar Qabbini (Kabbani)
Miranda Alafidra’s dense hair
breathing like an African forest
is a long love story
I have known many such tales in my time
and how they have nibbled my life away!
translated by Lena Jayyusi & Christopher Middleton
Testimony of Guarantee by Nizar Qabbani (Kabbani)
You want a testimony of love from me
Signed in big letters?
I declare that you are
The last among women.
But why the testimony? Tell me,
Can the sea guarantee forever
The boundaries of an island?
translated by Lena Jayyusi & Jack Collom
A Man’s Nature by Nizar Qabbani (Kabbani)
A man’s needs one minute
to love a woman
and centuries to forget her.
translated by Lena Jayyusi & Christopher Middleton
Education by Nizar Qabbani (Kabbani)
Your love taught me how love
changes the map of ages
taught me that when I love
the earth stops turning.
translated by Lena Jayyusi & Christopher Middleton
