I do not know if Nizar Qabbani had ever imagined that he would inspire a Hip Hop song in English or mostly in English , well I think he would not refuse.
Omar Offendum sings about Damascus in a wonderful hip hop song which I wish that it will be recorded with oriental Syrian music in the background. I really like this idea of mixing Arabic poetry with Hip Hop , man I love this Syrian love for poetry. Omar blogs by the way.
From my heart a big Salam to Damascus.
Technorati Tags: Omar Offendum,Damascus,Nizar Qabani,Poetry,Music,Hip Hop,Arab,Video,Mideast,Middle East
I ONLY..,KNEW THE TRAUMA AND ANXIETY THAT, young shepherd>>then a Prophet>> and ended up A King,and also the father of King SOLOMON the WISE(SULEIMAN EL HAKEEM)..went through, when he came , i shouldn^t say, Face to Face,because of their body sizes..certainly!! in fact>met< one another for a dual??That^s what happened to my small and humble self when GOD almighty gave me these 2 lifetime opportunities to meet 2 GIANTS of the Arab Literature, Late/Great Palestinian diaspora POET>>Mr.MAHMOUD DARWISH & Syrian Late/Great POET Mr.NIZAR QABBANI..in the early years of 1970.,around that period ,my Late brother-in-law a Great Armenian POET & an Author HIMSELF,with HIS elder brother Late Mr.ALPHONCE(ARMEN)TARIAN an authour and a n Armenian journalist too, started this Armenian Cultural Circle,& rented a small mansionhouse on MAR MEEKHA-EL Avenue/Jemmayzeh district of Beirut City...where the club members met every Thursday??,(if my memory serves me right), to exchange opinions/views..and watch foreign movies from France/Russia/as was then called Tcheco-Slovakia/n, nice movies and discuss it afterwards,one of such evenings was dedicated for Palesdtinian Culture/Literature,and guess who was the guest of Honour ,none but the GREAT & Thoroughly HOMESICK Poet, Late Mr.Mahmoud DARWISH!! we greeted him and gave him all the respect he worths, and the smile on his face beamed constantly and never did>>set!!... What was very disappointing ,at least to me ,when i wanted A SELFIE photo with me standing next to this Great/.GREAT Man when my Instamatic pocket camera^s(had it since 1967 as a present from my cousin Anahid who lived & sadly passed away 1999 in London)its cubical flash, mounted on it, stopped rotating or beaming light,it was so embarrassing and unfortunate to me to have no reminder or an erxhibit of this historical event ,except my MEMORY of it..thank GOD!!...Also a quote he mentioned & still echoes in my ears till now ,when asked about Translating novels/poems from the original language to other^s,HE said this :<>...(By the way I was then in my mid twenties)!!......ONE evening i was at my good friend^s Newsagency shop called>> Maktabet GAUMONT PALACE,as the Cinema^s,next door, on Downtown Beirut^s BESHARA EL KHOURY Avenue,when he asked me to do him a favour as He can^t leave the shop ,to go few yeards away and around the corner to purchase few N.QABBANNI poem-books off HIM, as Mr.NIZAR ,settled in Lebanon in those good years and started HIS>>>DAR EL QABBANI PUBLISHING>>
ReplyDeleteoffice in a road called,>> EMM GILLASS(I hope i spelled it correctly)? behind AL AAZARIYEH tower building,Close to AL MARKAZIYEH bldg,where another Lebanese GRAND poet MICHELE TOH-MEH who wrote the lyrics in Lebanese accent songs for Unforgettable Singer SABAH/Great FARID ATTRASH/Madam SAMIRA TAWFIK /& many,many other greats too. It was 5 or 6 p.m the whole bldg. was empty ,as the offices were shut and no in or out coming people EXCEPT ME, MYSELF & I ,it felt weird...anyway, i went up maybe 2nd or 3rd floor ,his office door was ajar,but i saw no one ..it felt a bit strange...i knocked politely ,maybe he couldn^t hear it, but then i heard like a metal ladder clatters ..so i went inside to see who^s there ..suddenly this great person with His snowy hair on his side-burns appeared, Him too was a bit astound as myself, shaken but not stirred to find someone, a stranger in his office,do i blame HIM??.NO!!, and asked me what do i want..so i got the books,paid him and ran out ...i was feeling so shaken, shy and felt guilty thinking i caused him unnecessary surprise or worry??,but that moment of DAVID s & GOLIETH s ENCOUNTER i won^t ever forget!!........MAY BOTH R.I.P after decades of enriching ARAB LITERATURE with their MAGNIFICENT contributions !! Regards From London/Is-Hak Barsoumian