عيد ميلادها

by Nizar Qabbani, نزار قباني

ديوان

95 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Nizar Tawfiq Qabbani was a Syrian diplomat, poet and publisher. His poetic style combines simplicity and elegance in exploring themes of love, eroticism, feminism, religion, and Arab nationalism. Qabbani is one of the most revered contemporary poets in the Arab world, and is considered to be Syria's National Poet.

When Qabbani was 15, his sister, who was 25 at the time, committed suicide because she refused to marry a man she did not love. During her funeral he decided to fight the social conditions he saw as causing her death. When asked whether he was a revolutionary, the poet answered: “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.” He is known as one of the most feminist and progressive intellectuals of his time.

While a student in college he wrote his first collection of poems entitled The Brunette Told Me. It was a collection of romantic verses that made several startling references to a woman's body, sending shock waves throughout the conservative society in Damascus. To make it more acceptable, Qabbani showed it to Munir al-Ajlani, the minister of education who was also a friend of his father and a leading nationalist leader in Syria. Ajlani liked the poems and endorsed them by writing the preface for Nizar's first book.

The city of Damascus remained a powerful muse in his poetry, most notably in the Jasmine Scent of Damascus. The 1967 Six-Day War also influenced his poetry and his lament for the Arab cause. The defeat marked a qualitative shift in Qabbani's work – from erotic love poems to poems with overt political themes of rejectionism and resistance. For instance, his poem Marginal Notes on the Book of Defeat, a stinging self-criticism of Arab inferiority, drew anger from both the right and left sides of the Arab political dialogue.

Reviews

[Lina AL Ojaili · Rating 3 out of 5]

"ما زلت تسألني عن عيد ميلادي
سجل لديك إذن .. ما أنت تجهله
تاريخ حبك لي .. تاريخ ميلادي"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqTuyY...

[Aliaa Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

كتبتُ (أُحبّكِ) فوقَ جدار القَمَرْ

(أُحبّكِ جداً)

كما لا أحبّكِ يوماً بشَرْ

ألمْ تقرأيها؟

بخطّ يدي

فوق سُور القَمَرْ

وفوق كراسي الحديقةِ..

فوقَ جذوع الشَجَرْ

وفوق السنابلِ

فوق الجداولِ

فوقَ الثَمَرْ..

وفوق الكواكب تمسح عنها

غُبارَ السَفَرْ..

*

حفرتُ (أُحبّكِ) فوق عقيق السَحَرْ

حفرتُ حدودَ السماءِ

حفرتُ القَدَرْ..

ألم تُبْصريها؟

على وَرَقات الزهَرْ

على الجسر، والنهر، والمنحدرْ

على صَدَفاتِ البحار

على قَطَراتِ المطرْ

ألم تَلْمحيها؟

على كلّ غصنٍ

وكل حصاةٍ، وكلّ حجرْ

*

كتبتُ على دفتر الشمس

أحلى خبرْ..

(أُحبّكِ جداً)

فليتكِ كنتِ قرأتِ الخبرْ

[Bilal El Moudden · Rating 5 out of 5]

اذا قيل عني أحس .. كفاني
ولا أطلب الشاعر الجيد ..
اسطورة الورق 3>