3 minutes and 37 seconds that sum up Lebanon’s second-largest city and one of my favorite cities Tripoli.

I am over 4,000 years old.
I have more than 400,000 children
I have never preferred one over the other

My doors I opened wide
and gave them only the best
Fine jewerly and copper
Fancy soaps
Delicious sweets
Hammams to cleanse their hearts
The fragance of orange blossoms to fill their souls
Exquisitely woven attire
Deep-rooted education
and the richest library
For them, I built over 20 cinemas and theaters
A square and a great clock to whose chimes their hearts beat
beautiful homes
I gathered them in my coffee shops
Fed them cookies and carob juice

There, the storyteller recounted my history and told his never-ending stories
My Abou Ali river ran on both sides, refreshing their hearts
When they grew talented and unique, I exhibited their work

What an exhibition!
The largest in Lebanon and the East
Both my mosque and my church taught them to love
I feared for them
So I built a fort to protect them and named it after myself
I gave them everything
I kept granting them riches
Until I was named “Mother Of the Poor”

When they were young, my children were always good
But when they grew older ..

Ah!
Things got worse
Perhaps worries burdened them
They forgot me, neglected me, left me all alone
Now I’m afraid they might hurt me
But that’s okay
I am not saddened
Because I’m still here
And here I’ll stay

I am History
I am the Exhibition
I am Knowledge
I am Art
I am Al Fayhaa
I am The Fortress
I am the “Mother of the Poor”
I am Tripoli.

Originally posted by Elie