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Thursday, June 1

Omar al-Farra


A great and a very popular Syrian poet, he was born in 1949 in Palmyra, then he moved to live in Homs, he started writing poetry at the age of thirteen. He now has five divans, four of them are written in colloquial Arabic which is best to read in the Bedouin accent. Desert has a big influence on his poetry, added to it a very nice sense of humor flooding from his soul. He always says that the environment he lived in has contributed in shaping his poetry and that all his poems are based on a real stories to the extent that most of his friends and surroundings might know the heroes he writes about even by their names too, so he usually starts his poems by telling the story behind them which is very entertaining and interesting to hear.
One of his most famous poem is ”Hamda”, where he speaks about a rebellious Bedouin female who refuses to marry her cousin according to her tribe customs and so she was killed for her refusal, after her death people claimed that they still could hear her voice yelling “I don’t want to marry you”.

To hear one of my favorite poem by him Click Here. It is called Al-Watan (Homeland), before he starts reciting it, he always asserts that one’s soul can’t rest at peace after death unless it’s buried at homeland.

Wish you enjoy it.

17 Comments:

  • تحية مني لعمر الفرا
    أنا قرأت الكثير جدا مما كتب وعندي بصوتو أيضا الكثير
    تحية لك وللمدونة الرائعة دائما

    By Blogger arabic man, at 1/6/06 9:21 PM  

  • Ghalia, beautiful post...
    I love Omar al-Farra..

    bas, *cough*u really couldnt find a better picture for him*cough* ;)

    By Blogger Yazan, at 2/6/06 5:29 AM  

  • Now I am lost here ... I don't know ANYTHING about Omar al-Farra but will try to find out via net! And as I understand VEEEEEEEEERY little Arabic - all I can say is that I LOVE the sound of the language and could listen to it four hours and hours! Sorry Ghalia ... that's all I can come up with right now!!
    What about your birthday?? Did you have it already? WHAT DATE??

    By Blogger Karin, at 2/6/06 8:48 AM  

  • Hey....

    you brought back many good old memories...

    I met Omar Al farra once in a socil event of some sort in Homs..

    he is a very funny guy,,,and great folk peot.

    Thank you Ghalia

    By Blogger Amr T, at 2/6/06 10:53 AM  

  • I saw him a few times on tv. I like this guy, especially when he recites his poems himself.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 2/6/06 3:37 PM  

  • Thank you guys, Omar al-Farra is really one of my favorite poets!

    @Yazan, NO, this pic is the best cuz I took it myself! It was great to arrange such a meeting with him on my birthday, don't you think so?

    @karin, Thank you very, very much, esp for "Alf Mabrook" :), my birthday is on the 1st of June.
    So you know a little of Arabic, where did u learn it from?

    By Blogger Ghalia, at 2/6/06 9:17 PM  

  • HapPy BiRtHday To YoU
    HapPy BiRtHday To YoU
    HapPy BiRtHday To GhaliaaaaaaaAAAAAAaa

    HapPy BiRtHday To YoU

    Inshallah el 3moro kello ya rab
    (K)

    Peace

    By Blogger Unknown, at 2/6/06 9:34 PM  

  • Thank you Ahmad.

    But,Please no more happy birthday, okay! plz.

    By Blogger Ghalia, at 2/6/06 9:55 PM  

  • Ghalia - I guess I picked a few words up here and there from movies and as well as from books! I love languages in general and in particular, Arabic ... so I am always anxious to add here and there a word! Will you supply me here and there with an "addition"?

    By Blogger Karin, at 2/6/06 11:03 PM  

  • couldn't he fix his teeth

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3/6/06 3:47 AM  

  • Oh, u mean no more of this?

    Snan 7elwa ya gameel,
    Sana 7elwa ya gameel,
    Sana 7elwa ya ghalia,
    Sana 7elwa ya gameel!!

    :)

    By Blogger Yazan, at 3/6/06 7:34 AM  

  • دائما موضوعات مميزة
    والله بلوغ بيستاهل المتابعة دائما

    By Blogger arabic man, at 3/6/06 10:53 PM  

  • Happy birthday for you, hope the coming years would be full of joy and success.

    it must be great to meet such a person and espcially on your birthday....it is just great.

    Have fun and keep those posts going.

    Cheers

    By Blogger Sam..., at 6/6/06 3:22 AM  

  • Hamdah? Gosh, that brings back memories. One of the very few exciting things that happened on Syrian television was an interview with him during which he recited it.

    Cheers Ghalia.

    By Blogger JiimSiin جيم سين, at 21/6/06 8:33 PM  

  • Great post and good for you for sure since you still live in your country and its also your birthday.
    BUT, although he is reading very good sound and deep in bedwen style, which gets to the heart of Arabic language, still he is saying nothing. Does he mean that me as an immigrant I should not have gone away, does he fault me for leaving, does he discourage others from leaving, at least to me it is some disturbing thoughts hitting on my head. It would be nice if he tackle some of the problems of the young generation who might doubt their allegiance to their country. I tried to spill out some doubt because poets always played with our emotion and feeling to the limit that we cannot remove it from our souls, be careful.
    Still, I love the poem.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10/7/06 4:39 PM  

  • Hi
    would u plz send some of al farra's poems 2 "A_hell8@hotmail.com"

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/10/06 4:09 PM  

  • I love omar al farra but you know guys he has nothing over the net and I do not know why ?
    plz if any one can send me a tape or CD I'll pay for it I live in U.S and I am far away from getting one my Email yakzan2002@yahoo.com
    thank you ... I met him once long time ago also

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 28/12/06 7:47 AM  

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