Solitude
Solitude is defined as the act of distancing oneself from the company of others, immersing in one’s own world and thoughts. This experience can evoke feelings that may lead to depression, as negative energy often surrounds an individual in such moments. A person typically feels isolated when they reach an advanced state of emotional pain. Below are some of the most poignant reflections on solitude.
Reflections on Solitude
- Are you troubled by having few friends and often feeling alone? Don’t be disheartened; I am here for you. The floods of despair are receding, the famine of the heart will end, the sun will shine again, and I will always be here to care for you.
- For a moment, I realized how alone I was in this world, and how comforting it can be to have another person nearby.
- If there is someone different, it signifies that there is someone who can also feel lonely.
- You cannot frighten me with the empty spaces between the stars; these lifeless stars remind me of my home, which scares me just like many empty places in my life.
- Remember: the times you feel alone are when you need to be with yourself the most. This is one of life’s harshest ironies.
Poetry on Solitude
A Poem for the Day of Solitude
“A Poem for the Day of Solitude” by Syrian poet Suleiman Al-Issa, born in 1921 in Antakya and passed away in 2013 at the age of 92, reflects deep sentiments. He memorized the Quran, classic poetry, and thousands of verses of Arabic poetry. His literary work is known for its simplicity, often appealing to children and youth while incorporating educational principles.
In the uproar of voices, I flow,
Shouting into the depths of the night,
In the crowd, I possess nothing
But tears in my eyes.
The chants tremble the horizon around me
And life pours into my hearing.
In the hustle of the road, and a grove
Of dark arms fluttering over me.
A song of joy; what cup is turned
In the depths of the night, and what bliss!
The joy of the lost returns with dawn,
We shape it into an eternal morning.
The joy of our people as they fold
The darkness of age and humiliation.
The history is in my grasp; let it fly
In glory; let me polish my burden.
I sway in a stupor with the drunken street,
Advancing with a staggering foot.
I lie in a stupor wherein I buried the night,
While preserving the dawn in my wings.
They extinguished the light for a thousand years in my eyes,
And gathered the joys from my lips.
Do not blame me; I will not count my life
Among the paths of loss and disgrace.
Two days ago, I was born, for my age
Is the day I announced my Arabic birth.
I flow among voices,
Sometimes in madness, sometimes in daze.
Moments… and the night dances,
And the lights rise above my adorned city.
And on the horizon, a star swayed by the feast,
Moistened its neighbors with kisses.
Moments… I sang my poetry in its dreams,
And battled its night, bound.
O nights of loss, and chains, depart;
We endure solitude that will not fade away.
Solitude… inspires the planets with its course
And walks in the wilderness as a reassuring shade.
Solitude… in the skies and on earth is a fire
That cleanses impurities and dust.
Solitude… brings together the displaced with their kin,
A long-awaited embrace after separation.
It gathers the afflicted on my land,
A wave that shall not fail to find its path.
O you nights of loss and humiliation, retreat;
Under our feet, the herd marches again.
This bright Arab morning,
Awakens fully for eternal honor.
The world has robbed us of our blooming lanterns,
So we return… transforming it into a light.
Where are my kin? I embrace them and raise
A toast to the great launch.
Two days ago, I was born; pour into me
A hymn, O splendor of dawn!
Where are my kindred on the heights?
In Lebanon? The festive cup of reunion tastes delightful.
Where are my kin… in Jerusalem, across the green shores,
Yearning fills their hearts with nostalgia.
Where is Baghdad, the fortress of my people,
As it breaks down barriers in the act of embracing?
It feels as if I drag behind me wreckage,
From restraints on its arm and lashings.
Beloved Iraq… its night has stretched long;
I know the thunderbolts that haunt Iraq.
Where is my kin? The feast exists within every heart,
A melody illuminating the horizons.
Take my wing in the east; leave a wing
For me on the Atlantic, as my friends gather.
O dark falcons of Algeria, my celebration,
And my poetry belongs to you, along with my burning glow.
O sound of bullets, rejoice at “Al-Haras”;
The wedding of Arab nationalism remains alive.
We shall not sheathe our swords until
We unite beneath our fluttering banner.
And I shall lift the curtains of time
From fogs and gloom like mountains.
History unfolds my people’s legacy,
A blaze of civilization and grandeur.
Quiet now, as we prepare for eternity,
And let it be guided by beauty.
Bear witness, O land of my people’s birth,
As we embrace the processions of heroes.
They weave life in honor, moving on,
For from their feathers rises the splendor of the heights.
We have emerged, O land… our great solitude
Holds destiny firm in the grip of youth.
It is the fate of spring’s return to the world,
So sound the flooding of waterfalls.
We have emerged, what wretched dam
Will hinder the uprising of generations!
The Nile runs dark within my homeland,
Thirsty, while the spring flows crystal clear.
Grant us victory across each expanse,
From triumphant struggles to ongoing battles.
To you, we offer eyes that bathe in
Smiles that blossom with hope.
To you, we offer arms, O breaker of chains,
Strike the remaining shackles!
A million souls in the soil of what is dear,
A dream defies the darkness of night.
Bring me my brethren, the essence of my festivity
Over my poetry tomorrow, exceeding my imagination,
The day I walk… with my right in the Atlantic,
Without limits, and my north in the Gulf.
Vein of the Night and the Whisper of Solitude
The poem “Vein of the Night and the Whisper of Solitude” by Sudanese-Swedish poet Maaz Omar Bashit reflects deep emotional layers. He was born in Omdurman and graduated from the University of Khartoum’s Faculty of Medicine in 1985, contributing creatively to various cultural and intellectual fora worldwide.
I wove you into the depths of my silence,
Then found peace…
And the lashes of my eyelids stretched,
When you proclaimed your love aloud above my branches.
I sought permission…
From the cosmos resting between my madness,
As I swam
Among my art,
And the bewildered waves at a distance from me.
In the brook of worry, I wandered,
And in a moment of haze behind consciousness,
I was wounded
In the vein of the night and the whisper of solitude.
I healed
With the field of pride, upon the earth of yearning.
Truth returned, dissolving my moans,
Underneath you, under.
Lightning acknowledges the art of carving,
The image is obscured,
And the chisel committed a sin.
I consumed your fire like a hand of greed.
Forgive me if I spoke out
In love with your shadow.
To you, I traveled
To unveil secretly my aspirations,
To grow like you in nutshells,
A pearl shaped
By the raindrop on the valleys.
My voice settled in the orchard,
Like a flower,
My fragrance released!
Thoughts on Solitude
I do not mind if you need to spend the night crying alone… for I will remain with you. If you feel weary, go and take some medicine again… for I love you and will continue to love you, no matter what happens. I will protect you until you leave this life… and I will keep guarding you even after. I am strong despite the melancholy and solitude that I feel… and nothing can ever weaken me.
How difficult it is to live within yourself, alone… without a friend… without a companion… without a beloved… feeling that joy is far away, suffering from a wound that doesn’t heal… a deep wound… a persistent wound… a wound that no doctor can mend.
How hard it is to see the light as darkness… how hard it is to perceive happiness as illusions… when you are alone and lost.
Messages on Solitude
Message One:
Solitude…
Is being with those you love…
Yet finding no one to embrace you.
Solitude…
Is living with them as if in a dark cave…
Solitude…
Is hearing them and understanding them…
But finding no one who listens to and understands you.
Message Two:
Solitude…
Is living a fantasy you wish would never end.
Solitude…
Is dreaming of realities that never come true.
Solitude…
Is loving someone who loves another.
Solitude…
Is longing for the closeness of your beloved while realizing their distance.
Message Three:
How difficult it is to speak without a voice…
To live just to await death…
How difficult it is to feel boredom and loneliness…
To see everyone around you as if they don’t exist…
And to be overwhelmed by feelings of regret…
For a sin you do not know… and a crime you have not committed.