there, in Damascus

 arabic poem about Syria

poem’s name : there, in Damascus

(هناك في دمشق)

Poet's name : Muhammad Ali Ahmed

(محمد علي أحمد)

date of writing the poem :  1 january 1965 

→ listen to the poem

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في بلدة بعيدة عن نيلنا المتلألأ

In a town, far from our sparkling river

نجومها يا غنوتي شلال ورد مونق

Its stars are like a waterfall of beautiful flowers

دروبها نسرينة هامت بعشق الزنبق

Its paths are two flowers in love

سماؤها صدر رحيب للمغني المرهق

Its sky is a wide chest for the tired singer

نسيمها همس الربى لطائر مصفق

Its breeze is a whisper of the hills for a clapping bird

تلالها تلك السطور البيض حول المشرق

Its hills are those white lines surrounding the east

جبالها درع الأمان معجزات المرتقى 

Its mountains are the shield of safety and the miracles of ascension

الناي والنغمات في السفح الخصيب المغدق 

The flute and the tunes in the generous prolific foothill  

والحور والتفاح في الوادي العميق الضيق 

And the beautiful damsels and the apples in the deep, narrow valley

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هناك في دمشق في ربيعها المموسق 

There, in Damascus in its musical spring

يوم التقينا فرحة عمت رحاب الفندق

The day we met is a joy spreading all over the hotel

في مهرجان زاخر مضحك ومطرق 

In a vibrant, funny and sad carnival

ضج الهوى في صدره مودع وملتقى 

The love has made noise in his chest 

من كل ناء شده السحر إلى الشرق التقى 

From every distant person who is attracted by the magic of the east

يا فتنة الوادي وقف بالضفاف زورقي 

Oh magical valley! My boat has stopped on the banks

أسعى إلى نبع الجمال أستقي وأستقي

I seek the spring of beauty to draw from it and draw more

أمشي على درب الهوى من أعمق لأعمق 

I walk along the road of love, from deep to deeper

قلبي به جرح قديم من هوى مشوق 

My heart has an old wound from a yearning love

كوني به رحيمة.. تمهلي.. ترفقي

Be merciful, wait, and be kind to him

An explanation of this piece from the arabic poems :

This poet expresses love in one of the most famous Arabic capitals: Damascus which is the capital of Syria. Muhammad Ali Ahmed shows his happiness with the beauty of his city in some words: a waterfall of beautiful flowers, sparkling river, musical carnival ,etc. In this condition the poet finds love. he still expresses the stunning world he lives in which is similar to a heaven. Until he reminds the reader of his pain :

My heart has an old wound from a yearning love. 

The poem flows smoothly. It has some creative ideas about love like: "The love has made noise in his chest" It also shows perfectly the string link between the average Arabic person and his land. 

The date of the poet is quite old (1965) before what has happened recently to Damascus during the Arab spring. It has suffered a lot to get rid of one of the worst dictatorships ever: al-Assad family. And its future now after this downfall is still really worrying. Of course there are a lot of poetic words that can describe all of these changes. So the question may be: what would the poet say if he still lives now?