An Ode to a Bedouin’s Ancestors
Sacred Remembrances

Noble Sons of Your Indomitable Soil,
You fell, you rose
And rose again —
Undefeated by the desert’s hardened sun.
Your hearts burnt aglow,
Aglow with valour and pride,
Surviving through such perils!
True Princes of Vagrant Sands!

Learning early, your trek began
Even before your birth —
Was it to be near a dying well,
On foot, or on camel’s hump.
How well you dwelt,
In The Empty Quarter —
Though, harried for morrow’s meal!
True Princes of Vagrant Sands!

Surging out of warrior-wombs,
You walked freer than the easiest breeze —
Where Samson’s Braid would dare
Not dream to ever be.
The best of all nourishment
Lay in your will to say:
“Never Ever Despair!”
In a land reviewing boundless death.

Under the spangled skies,
After a cornless day of bleeding sweat —
When slumber began to make it pleasanter,
Picketer-trails could plot against
Your pilot-skills:
Anywhere was a passing snare: ahead!
Noble Sons of Your Indomitable Soil,
True Princes of Vagrant Sands!

O Noble Sons of Your Indomitable Soil,
You fell, you rose
And rose again —
Undefeated by the desert’s hardened sun.
Your heart burnt aglow,
Aglow with valour and pride,
Surviving through such perils!
True Princes of Vagrant Sands!

Dubai
1997

Geeta Chhabra

From the book: An Indian Ode To The Emirates by Geeta Chhabra