Poem by Ali Samara (English below)
أحلى ليالي العمر
أيام كنا صغار
عصفور هدا بين الورد
لم الأوراق وطار
وأبشع ليالي العمر
أيام صرنا كبار
صارن بنات سورية
ينادني وينك يا ختيار
علي سمارة 43 سنة
The best of our days are
Those days when we were young —
A bird flying between the flowers
Collected all the leaves and flew away.
The worst of our days are
Those days when we grew up,
When the Syrian girls
Say, “where are you old man?”
Ali Samara, 43
Jasmine magazine 