Because it is not my intention to depict Saudi Arabia and its inhabitants as a people that I do not respect, and therefore to establish a balance with the previous blog, I am pleased to introduce to you a text by the Saudi Arabian poet Muhammad Hasan Faqi

Quartet I

I traveled life in search of tranquility
But the journey amplified my sorrow and qualms.
For so much suffering I feel as if
I have inhabited this space for centuries
What is it I want? I do not know my pursuit
Is it glory that I seek? Is it pleasure?

Yet hardship has its contentment
I have grown,
for all life’s jolts
More tender still.




I know it might be difficult for you to understand. I know it might not make sense. But right now, looking at the full moon, a perfect circle in the dusty Arabian night, I could read this poem and cry.

Peace and light novelties,

Alexis