41 Top Nizar Qabbani Quotes That Will Inspire You
Nizar Tawfiq Qabbani was a Syrian poet and diplomat, who lived in the 19th century and is often regarded as one of the greatest Arab poets of the modern era. He was born in a mercantile family in Syria’s capital Damascus and studied at the Scientific College School, before graduating in law from Damascus University in 1945. Qabbani had started writing poems from an early age and his first poem collection titled ‘The Brunette Told Me’ was published while he was still in law school. He entered the Syrian Foreign Ministry soon after and worked in different parts of the world, before resigning in 1966 in order to concentrate on his publishing business. However, it was as a poet that Qabbani really became an iconic figure and over the course of his career that lasted over several decades, he wrote on themes like Arab nationalism, feminism, love and eroticism that made him one of the greatest poets in the Arab world. Some of his noted poem collections include ‘You Are Mine’, ‘Poems Against the Law’, ‘Childhood of a Breast’, ‘My Beloved’, ‘Book of Love’, ‘Samba’ and ‘Diary of an Indifferent Woman’ among many others. Here is a collection of some of Nizar Qabbani’s most profound quotes that have been extracted from the vast sea of his work, writings, books and poems. Read on the thoughts and quotes of Nizar Qabbani that will fill your heart with love.
In the summer I stretch out on the shore And think of you. Had I told the sea What I felt for you, It would have left its shores, Its shells, Its fish, And followed me.
There is who loves you quietly, and respects you quietly, and wishes you privately, and walks away when he sees you busy with someone other than him, and his ego restrains him from getting near you, and contents himself with the love for the sake of love
My lover asks me: “What is the difference between me and the sky?” The difference, my love, Is that when you laugh, I forget about the sky
Days will pass, and you’ll abandon things you were addicted to, and leave someone, and cancel a dream, and finally, accept a reality.
There are some people that we didn't forget, but we don't smile any more when they're mentioned.
Arab children, Corn ears of the future, You will break our chains, Kill the opium in our heads, Kill the illusions. Arab children, Don't read about our suffocated generation, We are a hopeless case. We are as worthless as a water-melon rind. Dont read about us, Dont ape us, Dont accept us, Dont accept our ideas, We are a nation of crooks and jugglers. Arab children, Spring rain, Corn ears of the future, You are the generation That will overcome defeat.
Our enemies did not cross our borders They crept through our weaknesses like ants.
Kill him, then hug him. Men are more faithful when dead.
When a man is in love how can he use old words? Should a woman desiring her lover lie down with grammarians and linguists? I said nothing to the woman I loved but gathered love's adjectives into a suitcase and fled from all languages.
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.
We need an angry generation, A generation to plow the horizons
Our shouting is louder than our actions, Our swords are taller than us, This is our tragedy. In short We wear the cape of civilisation But our souls live in the stone age
Because my love for you is beyond words, I decided to shut up.
The most dangerous heart disease: strong memory
We killed you and it was not new for us, we killed the companions of the Prophet and the friends of God. O how many Messengers did we slay? O how many imams? We killed you and you prayed the night prayer, as all of our days are struggle - and all of our days are Karbala.
My lover asks me: “What is the difference between me and the sky?” The difference, my love, Is that when you laugh, I forget about the sky
Never believe a man can change a woman those men are pretenders who think that they created women from one of their ribs
The female doesn’t want a rich man or a handsome man or even a poet, she wants a man who understands her eyes if she gets sad, and points to his chest and say : 'Here is your home country.
Don’t love deeply, till you make sure that the other part loves you with the same depth, because the depth of your love today, is the depth of your wound tomorrow.
Light is more important than the lantern, The poem more important than the notebook
Had I told the sea What I felt for you, It would have left its shores, Its shells, Its fish, And followed me.
Life doesn't stop after losing someone, but it goes on without them differently.
And I fear that my place gets taken by some other one, very lucky and not too shy, who flirts with your eyes while I’m the one who’s crazy about them.
We are a thick skinned people with emtpy souls. We spend our days playing dice, chess, or sleeping - and we say we are the best people that ever came to mankind?
Days will pass, and you’ll abandon things you were addicted to, and leave someone, and cancel a dream, and finally, accept a reality.
O Sultan, my master, if my clothes are ripped and torn it is because your dogs with claws are allowed to tear me.
When I wiped you from the book of memory, I did not know I was striking out half my life
Some are like the Moon, good looking, but only when they're away from you.
Don't love deeply, till you make sure that the other part loves you with the same depth, because the depth of your love today, is the depth of your wound tomorrow.
I gave you my whole when I could only give the quarter. And you kept your half from me when you could give your double.