Hello there! Here’s the second part to the 5-part series on how to get your best skin, and it’s all about cleansers and cleansing your face. I hope you enjoy! Ladies (and gentlemen), I truly believe cleansing your face is the most basic, yet most […]
Here’s to the happy girls. The girls who are always smiling and ready to joke around. The girls who’ll comfort you when you’re down. Here’s to the girls who pieced themselves together when their world broke. To the girls who saved themselves, no need for […]
غُرْبَة / تَغَرُّب
Pronounced ghorba/ tagharob
Emigration; leaving one’s country to live abroad; estrangement; loneliness; being far away from one’s country
غُرْبَة: وَحْشَة
alienation; desolation ; dreariness ; estrangement ; forlornness ; loneliness
With a history of emigration due to various reasons, political instability being the most frequent one, the people who left their Middle Eastern homes could all relate in one way: we felt غربة (pronounced ghorba).
I’m sure this applies to anyone who’s had to face similar situations though, not just Arabs, especially the first generation of immigrants.
Arabic music largely focuses on the feeling of estrangement and loneliness one gets once he leaves his home country. Not entirely of course, but it’s a much more common theme in our music and poetry. The dull ache in their hearts for their families, the good old times when things were alright. Artists describe the unique pain of immigration and the loss their people feel, and as sad as it sounds, if provided us with something in common. We connected to this feeling. Anyone who has left their country for another and still held to his roots can connect to it.
Sometimes the lyrics describe the breeze over on a mountain in Beirut, or the crisp spring air in Baghdad, or the laughter heard in a market in Palestine. Others, the love and longing for their country shining through even when describing a loved one.
“حضنك حضن بغداد”
Your embrace, as though it’s that of Baghdad’s.
It sounds patriotic, but the way I’d describe it is literal longing for home. It’s pure love towards it more than pride. And this goes on for years, so long as the people aren’t home. No matter how far, how comfortable, there’s that glimmer of hope that we’ll one day return, and so will the good old days. And maybe we won’t be plagued by this deep sadness for what was or what could be.
Maybe one day that feeling of غربة will leave us all.
Hi there! I’m very excited to share this series of 5 posts with you, starting with this introduction to the series. I’ve been thinking on sharing what I know about skincare and my journey to getting my best skin, and decided writing up these posts […]
Have you ever done something to challenge yourself? When I was entering my second year of studying BMS at NUMed, I decided to challenge myself and run to be the President of our Student Association (SA). It was a risky move for many reasons, one […]