Engy Sameh

“Whatever may be the tensions and the stresses of a particular day, there is always lurking close at hand the trailing beauty of forgotten joy or unremembered peace.”
― Howard Thurman, Meditations of the Heart

“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.”
― Arundhati Roy, The Cost of Living

“And I Decided (From Arabic)

And I decided to go
Round the world on freedom's bicycle
By ways illegal
As the travels of wind.
When asked for my address
I give the address of all sidewalks
I chose as permanent residence.
When asked for my papers,
I show them your eyes
And am allowed to pass
For they know that travel in the cities of your eyes, my dear,
Is the right of all world citizens.

وقررت
نزار قباني

وقررت
أن أطوفَ العالمَ على درّاجة الحرِّية..
وبنفسِ الطريقةِ غيرِ الشرعيِّة
التي تستعملها الريح عندما تسافر..
وإذا سأَلوني
عن عُنواني
أعطيتُهم عنوانَ كلِّ الأرصِفة
التي اخترتها مكاناً دائماً لإقامتي.
وإذا سألوني عن أوراقي
أريتُهُم عينيكِ، يا حبيبتي..
فَتَرَكوني أمرّ..
لأنهم يعرفونَ أنَّ السفر في مدائن عينيكِ..
من حق جميع المواطينَ في العالم”
― Nizar Qabbani

“Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
― Dylan Thomas, In Country Sleep, and Other Poems