1. “Goodbye, Lebanon” by May Ziadeh<\/h3>
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![\"May](\"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mayziadeh.jpg\")
<\/div> “Goodbye, Lebanese mountains.<\/em><\/p> <\/p> I\u2019m going far <\/p> Egypt called in a serious voice, <\/p> But sea, whisper your lullabies <\/p> Don\u2019t go away so quickly, my love. <\/p> <\/p> \u201cIt was Beirut, all over again, It was Beirut, again, <\/p> <\/p> Beirut\u2014Portrait of the feast of the world <\/p> Beirut\u2014Heart of the garden of Paradise <\/p> Those shattered mirrors once<\/p> The laughing eyes of children <\/p> Are now the twinkling of stars<\/p> The nights of this city are illuminated <\/p> And the land of Lebanon is resplendent<\/p> Beirut\u2014Portrait of the feast of the world<\/p> Whose face is decorated with blood <\/p> Ravishing beyond beauty<\/p> Now this city\u2019s lanes<\/p> Are lit with their dazzling splendour<\/p> And the land of Lebanon is luminous<\/p> Every desolate house, every single ruin <\/p> Is more magnificent than Darius\u2019 palace <\/p> Every fighter more valiant than Alexander <\/p> Every daughter is Laila\u2019s equal in beauty<\/p> This city existed from the beginning of time <\/p> This city will exist till the end of time <\/p> Beirut\u2014Heart of the land of Lebanon <\/p> Beirut\u2014Portrait of the feast of the world <\/p> Beirut\u2014Heart of the garden of Paradise<\/p> <\/p> <\/p> Who among them dare to say, \u201cMy life was a drop of blood in the veins of Lebanon, a tear in her eyes or a smile upon her lips\u201d?<\/em><\/p> Those are the children of your Lebanon. They are, in your estimation, great; but insignificant in my estimation.<\/em><\/p> <\/p> Let me tell you who are the children of my Lebanon.<\/em><\/p> <\/p> They are farmers who would turn the fallow field into garden and grove.<\/em><\/p> They are the shepherds who lead their flocks through the valleys to be fattened for your table meat and your woolens.<\/em><\/p> They are the vine-pressers who press the grape to wine and boil it to syrup.<\/em><\/p> They are the parents who tend the nurseries, the mothers who spin the silken yarn.<\/em><\/p> They are the husbands who harvest the wheat and the wives who gather the sheaves.<\/em><\/p> They are the builders, the potters, the weavers and the bell-casters.<\/em><\/p> They are the poets who pour their souls in new cups.<\/em><\/p> They are those who migrate with nothing but courage in their hearts and strength in their arms but who return with wealth in their hands and a wreath of glory upon their heads.<\/em><\/p> <\/p> <\/p> “Beirut, the Mistress of the World<\/em> O Beirut, <\/p> <\/p> I dream of Lebanon by an azure sea; <\/p> I see a land laden with fruits of the earth; <\/p> Purple dusk is tinted by a lustrous moon <\/p> Blessed of Christ, O, Lebanon, my paeans <\/p> <\/p> They leave the country with gasping babies and suitcases <\/p> they line themselves up like wine bottles. <\/p> Birds mistake the pebbles of glass on the <\/p> If I drink, I tell stories about the women I know. <\/p> When I was a child I watched my aunt throw a halo <\/p> In an old-new year, my cousin shouts ‘ana bint Beirut’ <\/p> I never remember to tell her anything. Not the dream <\/p> And the train comes. And the ‘amar’ layers the stones <\/p> she danced with me in Paris, sharing a hostel bed, <\/p> It\u2019s raining in two cities at once. The Vend\u00f4me plaza <\/p> explodes open, so that Layal, Beirut\u2019s last daughter, <\/p> <\/p> “Here, within her, I live, <\/p> Will I forget? Oh, would, oh, would I could Poetry enthusiasts who are looking for new verses to fall into, we found some of the most beautiful poems that mention our beloved Lebanon. Note: This article includes stanzas from poems about Lebanon. Some of these poems are originally in Arabic or French. 1. “Goodbye, Lebanon” by May Ziadeh “Goodbye, Lebanese mountains. I\u2019m going farfrom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":691819,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_preview_accessed":0,"footnotes":""},"tags":[1161],"media-embed-type":[],"class_list":["post-691769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stuffwelove","tag-arts-culture"],"authorship":[74],"yoast_head":"\n
from your pink rose garlands,
your bright red satin strawberries.<\/em><\/p>
and already my boat\u2019s rocking
bears new fruit\u2014<\/em><\/p>
please, because I hurt so much.
Soft waves of home, sob for me.<\/em><\/p>
Leaving you, my chest is all wound,
wholly tender.”<\/em><\/p> 2. “It Was Beirut, All Over Again” by Etel Adnan<\/h3>
![\"Etel](\"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/eteladnan.jpg\")
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it was Beirut on the radio
El Salvador on TV
it was Sabra & Shatila
in the memory
it was Usulutan in the heart<\/em><\/p>
when we thought Beirut went
to rest, but Beirut will not sleep
until El Salvador sleeps\u201d<\/em><\/p> 3. “A Threnody for the Karbala of Beirut<\/strong>” by Faiz Ahmad Faiz<\/h3>
![\"Faiz](\"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/faizahmadfaiz.jpg\")
<\/div> 4. “You Have Your Lebanon and I Have Mine” By Khalil Gebran<\/h3>
![\"Khalil](\"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/khalilgebran-scaled.jpg\")
<\/div> 5. “Beirut, the Mistress of the World” by Nizar Qabbani<\/h3>
![\"Nizar](\"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/nizarqabbani.png\")
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We confess before the One God
That we were envious of you
That your beauty hurt us
We confess now
That we’ve maltreated and misunderstood you
And we had no mercy and didn’t excuse you
And we offered you a dagger in place of flowers!
We confess before the fair God
That we injured you, alas; we tired you
That we vexed you and made you cry
And we burdened you with our insurrections”<\/em><\/p>
The world without you won’t suffice us
We now realize your roots are deep inside us,
We now realize what offence we’ve perpetrated”<\/em><\/p> Arabic version:<\/h3>
![\"Nizar](\"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/yabeirut.png\")
<\/div> 6. “My Lebanon” by Edna K. Saloomey<\/h3>
Wave-kissed shores, and rocky glades;
Snowcaps on mountains, glistening gorgeously;
O sweet-scented pines\u2019 serenades. <\/em><\/p>
A tropical jewel ablaze
With myriad flowers and wee children\u2019s mirth.
Rainbow sunsets prolong their days. <\/em><\/p>
And broidered with a million stars.
For lullabies\u2014the sea plays a crooning tune
Of golden notes on silv\u2019ry bars. <\/em><\/p>
Echo the lyrics of sages.
Thy beauty is lovelier than gossamer dreams.
Thy glory shall crown all ages.<\/em><\/p> 7. “The Female of the Species” by Hala Alyan<\/h3>
![\"Hala](\"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/halaalyan-scaled.jpg\")
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full of spices and cassettes. In airports,<\/em><\/p>
The new city twinkles beneath an onion moon.<\/em><\/p>
black asphalt for bread crumbs.<\/em><\/p>
They break dinner plates. They marry impulsively.<\/em><\/p>
of spaghetti at my mother. Now I\u2019m older than they were.<\/em><\/p>
at the sleeping houses. She clatters up the stairs.<\/em><\/p>
where I can\u2019t yell loud enough for her to stop running.<\/em><\/p>
like lichen. How the best night of my life was the one<\/em><\/p>
and how sometimes you need one knife to carve another.<\/em><\/p>
fills with water and the dream, the fountain, the moon<\/em><\/p>
can walk through the exit wound.<\/em><\/p> 8. “Memory for Forgetfulness” by Mahmoud Darwish<\/h3>
![\"Mahmoud](\"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mahmouddarwish.png\")
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A banner from my own shroud.
Here, I leave behind what\u2019s not mine.
And here, I dive into my own soul,
That my time may start with me.
Let Beirut be what it wants to be.
She will forget me,
That I may forget her.<\/em><\/p>
This moment bring back my homeland
Out of myself! I wish I knew what I desire
I wish I knew!
I wish I knew!”<\/em><\/p> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"