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The desert lies dreaming
As an Arabian night ages
Vagrant winds wander
Aimless on the sands
Drawing patterns intricate -
Nature’s sublime assadoo
Men clad in bishts*
Languish in summer tents
Feeling important
Heavily perfumed
Waving rosaries
Their eyes glittering
Mystified by sheesha** fumes
Nurturing unknown dreams -
Secrets of sublime assadoo
A buxom beauty in burqa***
Her hand shading her eyes
An envy for mascara
Waiting at the door-steps
For her man to return
From a distant errand
Tired on camel back
Silhouetted against the sun
A big orange that sinks -
Dusk’s sublime assadoo
Children scampering up and down
The ephemeral dunes
In the golden evening sun
Noisy as they hail
The distant water cart
Inching towards the village heart
From the far off end of land -
Life’s beautiful assadoo
The mind returns to its hearth,
The great 'bayth assadoo' ****
Where the dark windy nights,
Dust, sun and cold,
Camel hooves on sand,
Rugged men holding falcons,
Damsels in chatter,
Kids with matted hair
Holding their mothers’ attire,
All mingle on a weaving wheel
In a wonderful assadoo
The night-sky smiles down on the huts
As moonlight spreads across
The starry expanse above
Grace of God’s great assadoo
* A gilded ornamental drape worn by men over their dress on special occasions
** Loose black enveloping garment worn by Muslim women
*** Water-pipe hookah (hubble-bubble)
**** House of assadoo – name of a museum in Kuwait where assadoo artefacts are in display
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