A letter dedicated to all Lebanese Citizens…from a Lebanese ‘Ghassanid’ longing
for the town of Jdeidet Marjeyoun in the South of Lebanon…

With Cedar trees we have been nurtured, we are breathing and growing;
With Cedar trees we have played and fell, we are crying and laughing;
With Cedar trees we have been thinking and reflecting, we are wondering and dreaming;
With Cedar trees we have been learning the secrets of life longing for itself, we have been
falling in love, raising our children, sharing precious moments with relatives and friends;

We, as Lebanese Citizens have truly earned the qualities of evergreen Cedar trees
over thousands of years, for more than six thousand years…

Cedars grow toward the skies up above as the Lord calls them every night with the moonlight
and shooting stars;

We, as great Lebanese people grow by projecting our minds’ power, our bodies’
energy and our souls’ exaltation to limitless boundaries…

Cedars mature majestically across the ages when horses trot in their forests quivering music to
their deepest roots; Cedars hold on to the earth when strong winds shake their clinging to the earth and lays waste
the garden and what is all around without exception or mercy…

We, as Lebanese Citizens have acquired Cedar qualities to mature and hold on to
our deepest beliefs and values facing any war trying to shake our clinging to
our beloved and sacred home land, the great Lebanon.

But the Northwind and wild snow might breakdown Cedar branches and change their
majestic and holy posture, with that the wind blows powerfully and angrily wanting to
destroy and leave space for a new Cedar to grow in the soil of the traditionally old and strong…
As Kahlil Gibran wrote in the ‘Broken Wings’: Your heart’s affections are divided like the
branches of the Cedar tree. If it loses one strong branch, it will suffer but it does not die.
It will pour all its vitality into the next branch so that it will grow and fill the empty place’

We, as Lebanese Citizens wherever we might be will have to unite facing the
storm which is destroying our land, we will have to survive together as ONE
and continue as such after the sun rises again across the horizon. Our hearts
will always smile with Solidarity, Integrity and above all Love for one another!

Margaret N. Jabara