Poetry: Ashraf AboArafe
O Qatari beauty, radiant as dawn,
My heart, since seeing you, has been drawn.
An Egyptian soul I am—ask the Nile;
Your footsteps stirred my blood, my exile.
O precious pearl the Gulf adorns,
A light upon its rising morns.
In you, the Doha breezes meet
The Nile that rose to kiss your feet.
My love for you was never play—
It was a destiny sent my way.
O Pearl of Doha, glowing bright,
Zamalek blooms beneath your light.
And when in Maadi nights I stay,
Your shadow comes to drift my way.
Lusail itself would fail to shine
If not reflecting your design.
And Wakra’s dawn would not appear
Unless your footsteps wandered near.
I asked the stars in people’s eyes:
“Who rivals her?” They said: “None rise.”
Qena, Marsa Matrouh, and the green
Valley of Rayyan—jealous they’ve been.
O dearest pearl, forever mine,
Kept in love’s ocean, pure, divine.
If ever in Katara’s breeze
You walk, then ask the singing seas:
“Where is my lover?” and they’ll say:
“He planted hopes while you were away.”
And should you reach the Nile one day,
It sends you greetings on its way—
And whispers: “See that fervent boy?
That Angel of Egypt, lost in joy.”
O spirit of Qatar—my soul has found
No path but yours, no safer ground.
You were my dawn when nights grew long;
You broke my darkness with your song.
I built a temple at your door,
And breathed your name forevermore.
If fate should part us—winds shall tell—
Time will return with burning swell.
O Pearl of mine, a day without you
Turns Gulf winds bitter, harsh, untrue.
And when the Nile asks where you’ve been,
I say: “In Qatar… with my dream’s queen.
And here stands Egypt’s angel, too—
His heart returning home to you.”
If you wish, I’ll cross to Doha’s shore
And lay my lifetime at your core.
Or come to Egypt—welcome lies
In one who loved you all his skies.
