Qabbani Songs

(poems by Nizar Qabbani)

1. your eyes are like a rainy night

my boats sink in them

my writing disappears

in their reflection

mirrors have no memories

2. I wrote the name of the one I loved

on the wind

I wrote the name of the one I loved

on the water

but the wind is a bad listener

the water does not remember names

3. Undress yourself

for centuries have passed

since such a miracle has touched this world

Undress yourself, undress yourself,

[for] I am mute

but your body knows all languages

4. My dear with the deep eyes

your love is extreme, mystical, sacred

like birth and death

your love is unrepeatable

5. I want to make you an alphabet

different from all alphabets

one that has something of the rhythm of the rain

one that has something of the dust of the moon

one that has something of the sadness of clouds

the ache of willow trees

crushed beneath the wheels of September

From Arabian Love Poems by Nizar Kabbani, translated by Bassam K. Frangieh and Clementina R. Brown. Copyright © 1999 by Bassam K. Frangieh and Clementina R. Brown. Used with permission of Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc.

Live performance, College Music Society Conference, March 24 2024, Kutztown PA