Soliloquy of a Dictator: "Whenever I thought of relinquishing power?!"

This blog deals with something different.  It is a poem by the famous Syrian poet and songwriter, Nizar Qabbani.  The original is in Arabic, translated into English by this blogger.  It is intended to focus on the magic of folklore in the Arab Spring, and on why people revolt.

It shall be read by this blogger at an event in Toronto, Canada, which is co-sponsored by SUNSGLOW - Global Training in the Rule of Law and the Toronto University Club.  The date of this event is February 27; the topic is: "The Arab Spring and Human Rights."  The format is a panel to be chaired by William Horton, Esq., who heads SUNSGLOW's Regional Liaison Center in Toronto, the most recent addition to our ensemble of regional liaison centers around the world.

Now to the Nizar Qabbani poem:

WHENEVER I THOUGHT OF RELINQUISHING POWER?

Whenever I thought of relinquishing power

My conscience stood in the way

After I am gone

who will rule these good people?

After me

who will cure the limp

                      the leper

                      the blind?

who will raise the dead?

And from whose overcoat

will the light of the moon shine?

And who will bestow on

the people the gift of rain?

And who will whip them

ninety lashings?

And who will hang them

from the limbs of trees?

And who will force them

to live like herds of cows?

And perish as cows perish?

Whenever I think of

relinquishing power?

My eyes fill out with tears

as if they were a rain cloud.

So let my fate to rule stand, for it is

my destiny

And it shall be from now until

the end of time.

Poem about dictatorship and liberty
By Nizar Qabbani (in Arabic)


Translation into English
By Yassin El-Ayouty