by Dr. Adnan Bouzan

I watered affection from my heart with purity,
Yet their treachery sprouted in every valley.

I thought kindness a shield of iron,
But the shield was the first to turn against me.

I assumed dawn would rise from faces,
Yet night took residence in darkness instead.

The brotherhood of truth was a veiled deceit,
Its light scattered when the harvest came.

I extended my hand built from certainty,
Yet it returned, weighed with ashes.

I saw the sword gleam in hands,
Yet I could not discern the swords from the hands.

They hid behind the robes of loyalty,
But when I approached, my love was betrayed.

When hardship drew near, I stood as a pillar,
And when they felt constricted, I became unreliable.

How many times I concealed their missteps with patience,
Yet the cover became an entryway to stubbornness.

I am lofty when time is cruel,
And small when corruption towers over them.

I taught them the ascent of glory as children,
Yet I fell before them, unheeded and unwise.

I did not betray companions, though they wronged,
But the promise of love betrayed me.

When truth was spoken, I said: it belongs to me,
The steadfastness of rock in the face of the executioner.

And when they said, “Be humble,” I said: pride,
For humility is no degradation in my regard.

I am the blade that never bowed,
Even if every blacksmith tried to break me.

I pass through betrayal without care,
Growing great when small, in sheer defiance.

I learned the path without guidance,
Because the road betrayed without counsel.

And I chose companions only for sincerity,
Yet their hearts betrayed as if made of stone.

When the arrow came from afar,
I expected it… not from my own heart.

How many enemies I preserved with affection,
Yet they became the truest of friends.

Oh, era of mirrors, how you hide
Faces different from what you show to people.

I wore patience as a crown none could touch,
To conceal the wound of my heart alone.

I see betrayal as a lesson, not a punishment,
And I endured my lesson without a teacher.

I am the sea that drowns the ships,
If the shore of my desire is betrayed.

Do not marvel if my words grow fierce,
For the voice of truth is born from the forge.

Tell treachery, if it passes with pride:
Here, its dignity fell into ashes.

I shall move forward without waving reproach,
For the silence of the free speaks louder than a call.

And those who think silence is weakness
Will learn that my silence is preparedness.

I am the child of the wound, yet I stand,
Strengthening against the trials that come.

If a companion falls, I do not fall;
If the path betrays, let it meet my stubbornness.

I wrote my name on the backs of nights,
With the ink of patience, not the water of writing.

I bowed only to the lofty,
And knelt only for my effort.

If closeness betrayed me, I remained upright,
For my soul is truer than the people of the land.

I befriend my thought and oppose deceit,
Remaining master of the intended meaning.

No shield exists but my nature,
When people are stripped on the day of hardship.

No arrow but my truth,
When falsehood collapses in the market of corruption.

I am weary… yet patient,
Knowing my dawn comes after sleeplessness.

And if the path is long, let there be certainty,
That glory emerges from my darkness.

They betrayed me… yet it raised my pride,
As if betrayal were the secret of my growth.

Whoever betrays brotherhood dies in humiliation,
And whoever preserves dignity lives exalted