Nizar Kabbani - The Farce
When we were little in Islamic pre-schools
They injected us with nonsense day and night
They taught us: “A woman’s knees are private parts”
“A woman’s laugh is private parts”
“A woman’s voice - from the keyhole - is private parts”
They portrayed sex for us
As a ghoul with long fangs
That strangles children
And feeds on virgins
They warned us of God’s torment if we fell in love
They threatened us with knives if we dreamed
So we grew up like desert plants
Licking salt and sniffing dust
Education in our time
Was a stick hitting our feet and a Sheikh and a straw mat
They mutilated us…
They mutilated emotions and sentiments within us
They separated us from our bodies
For eras upon eras
They portrayed love for us as a dangerous door
That we would drop dead if we opened
So we grew up naive
And we remained naive
Thinking that a woman is like a goat or camel
And seeing the world as sex and bed
(Translated by Mohammad Aboomar, Brussels, June 2013)
When we were little in Islamic pre-schools They injected us with nonsense day and night They taught us: “A woman’s knees are private parts”