Jayeen ya arz el jabal

DEDICATION

Ala jabalna, where the cedars still speak the language of Hiram.

Ala jabalna, where the sea still sings the hymn of Sidon.

Ala jabalna, where the blood of the Canaanites still runs in the veins of the children of the coast.

This book is for the mountain.

This book is for the coast.

This book is for the people who were erased and are now remembered.

Jayeen ya arz el jabal — we are coming, O cedars of the mountain.

Not with axes, as the Assyrians came. Not with tribute lists, as the Babylonians came. Not with contracts for timber, as the Egyptians came. Not with imperial decrees, as the Romans came.

We come with memory. We come with a book. We come with the names of the kings and the sailors and the dyers and the scribes who were forgotten and are now remembered.

The cedars of Lebanon — Arz el Rab — the Cedars of the Lord, as the Hebrews called them, borrowing the name while cutting the wood. They are still standing. And we are coming to them.

Accept this offering, O cedars of the mountain. It is made from your wood and written in your script and offered by a son of your soil. The antagonisors are answered. The erasure is reversed. The stones have spoken. And we — we are coming home.

Jayeen ya arz el jabal.

Jayeen ya arz al-sahel.

Jayeen ya arz Lubnan.

Gad Yaton