Do you love me after that was

This poem is by the great poet Nizar Tawfiq Qabbani. He was born in the Al-Shahm Minaret neighborhood, one of the old neighborhoods of Damascus, on March 21, 1923.

His family is considered one of the oldest families in Damascus, and one of its most prominent members is the founder of Arab theater in the last century, Abu Khalil al-Qabbani. Some sayings say that his father was one of the men of the Syrian revolution and was well-off and worked in trade.

He obtained a baccalaureate from the National Scientific College School in Damascus, then joined the Faculty of Law at the Syrian University and graduated in 1945.

He worked in the diplomatic corps at the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and moved between embassies, especially Cairo, London, Beirut, and Madrid. After the unification of Egypt and Syria, he was appointed Second Secretary of the United Republic at its embassy in China.

The clerics in Syria demanded his expulsion from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and his dismissal from diplomatic work in the mid-fifties, after the publication of the famous poem “Bread, Hashish, and the Moon,” which raised a severe storm against him that reached Parliament.

His story with poetry:

Nizar began writing poetry when he was 16 years old. He published his first collection of poems, “The Brunette Told Me” in 1944 while he was a student at the Faculty of Law, and he printed it at his own expense. He has a large number of poetry collections, amounting to 35, which he wrote over the course of more than half a century, the most important of which are “Nahd’s Childhood, Drawing with Words, Poems, Samba, and You Are Mine.” Nizar wrote a large number of prose books, the most important of which are: “My Story with Poetry, What is Poetry, 100 Love Letters.”

He founded a publishing house for his works in Beirut called “Nizar Qabbani Publications.”

Prince of lyric poetry:

For 40 years, great singers have been competing to obtain Nizar’s poems.

Here is the complete list in historical order:

- Umm Kulthum: She sang two songs for him: I Now Have a Gun, and An Urgent Message to You... composed by Abdel Wahab.

- Abdel Halim also has two songs: A Message from Under the Water, and Qarit al-Fanjan, composed by Muhammad al-Muji.

- Najat: 4 songs also, What should I say to him, How much I love you, I ask you to leave...and the four poems were composed by Abdel Wahab.

- Fayza Ahmed: One poem: “A Message from a Woman” composed by Muhammad Sultan.

- Fayrouz: She sang “A Snitch” for him, “Don’t ask me what his name is, my love,” composed by Assi Rahbani.

- Majida Al-Roumi: 3 poems: Beirut, O Lady of the World, with Al-Jarida, both of which were composed by Dr. Jamal Salama...then “Words” composed by the Lebanese composer Ihsan Al-Mundhir.

- Kazem Al-Saher: 4 poems: “I have given you a choice, so choose, give me more love, teach me your love, the school of love... all composed by Kazem Al-Saher.”