Foolish Woman

By Nizar Qabani

My dear lord
This is a letter
From a foolish woman
Has a foolish woman ever written to you before?
My name?
Let’s leave names aside
Rania or Zainab
Hind or Haifa
The silliest things we bear, my lord, are names
My lord
I fear of voicing my concern
I fear, if I did, the skies will burn
For your orient, my dear lord,
Confiscates blue letters
Seizes dreams from women’s dressers
Uses knives
And blades
To talk to women
Slaughters springs and yearnings
And black braids
Your orient, my dear lord,
Crafts sublime crowns of honor
Out of women’s skulls
Do not criticize me my lord
If my handwriting is poor
As I write with a swordsman behind my door
And outside my room winds howl and dogs growl
My lord
Antara the Brave is behind my door
He would slaughter me
Should he see my letter
He would behead me
Should I defy my fetter
He would behead me
Should my dress be unproper
For your honor, my dear lord,
Sieges women with spears
Appoints men as seers
And buries women
Do not be upset!
My dear lord…from my lines
Do not be upset
If I smash the bottle sealed for ages
If I break the iron stamp on my pages
If I run away
From the castles and the harem cages
If I revolt against my death
My grave
My roots
And the great slaughterhouse
Do not be upset my lord!
If I unveil my passions
For an oriental man
Does not care for poetry nor passion
An oriental man
Does not understand a woman except in bed
Pardon me…pardon me my lord
If I offend men’s kingdom
Great literature – surely men’s literature – and love
Have always been men’s share
And sex has always been
A drug sold to men
Women’s freedom in our country is a myth
For there is no freedom
Other than men’s freedom
My lord
Say what you please of me, I won’t mind – superficial, foolish, crazy, stupid - I no longer mind
Because she who writes about her woes
Is a foolish woman according to men’s logic
Didn’t I say earlier that I am
A foolish woman?

(My translation from the Arabic version)

Illustration by Virginia Frances Sterrett

The Big Picture Isn't Always the Pretty One

Earlier this week, finance ministers gathered for another G20 meeting. And as the custom goes with similar summits, groups of protesters always gather outside the meeting headquarters to voice angry anti-institutional complaints regardless of their reasonability or feasibility. What these protestors and many other impassioned spectators watching from the comfort of their living rooms seem to misunderstand every time is that such financial and economic summits couldn't care less about you. Economic policies are all about the big picture. The fact that you might have recently lost your job is irrelevant. You’re a statistic. What matters is the overall wellbeing of a community over a period of time – usually a long one, which means that by then you will have either found another job, learned a new skill, or died.
The truth is world economy has witnessed dozens of crises and adjustment policies are always painful. There will always be a gap between countries depending on their development levels. But what adds insult to injury is that media focuses single-mindedly on the victims and neglects to mention the groups that actually do end up being better off. Just as there is a group of losers, there is a group of winners. But again, no place for individuals here.

Economics at times might seem too harsh and impersonal. The best thing to do in that case is shut the news channel and grab a feel-good self-gratifying flick.

Painting by Salvador Dali