Interesting/weird Arabic/Farsi quotes...+ music

[a_xolotl]

I'm looking for thought provoking, trippy, bizarre, ancient, or in any kind of way interesting Arabic or Persian quotes (or even just words) to etch into a poster of an elaborately decorated "middle eastern" looking woman, the point of which will be to make people ask "...but what does the writing mean?" and subsequently encourage them to

Comments

[dya_nick]

I seriously think you guys need to get off the cross you've nailed yourselves to and relax a little. Yes, you may disagree with the reasoning behind why someone wants something (be it a tattoo, quote or anything else), and I have no problem with that. The only problem I see, and it is always you two doing it, is that you jump down peoples' throats every single time you disagree with anything they've said, and then you get condescending about anything they've attempted (in this case, the spelling of shukran).

How about you all just state your objection in a less-confrontational manner "I think that maybe you should have phrased this as ____ rather than how you did here." Or even better, shut up and read the community rules. They say that all of the tattoo and translation posts are allowed and also state that if you are not interested in them to just scroll past. It is people like you who run anybody off from this community because after you slaughter them, they do not want to ask anything else.

As for the cultural imperialism; get off of it already. Yours aren't the only cultures that have been appropriated by individuals; it has happened throughout all of history. Am I offended whenever I see a frat house and the guys call themselves Greek? Not really. I may not like that they just use the Greek alphabet and random words to label themselves while they're out partying, but then again it does at least open their minds to other ways of thinking (such as the use of the letter "fi/phi" often representing filos, or brotherly love."

My culture (Greek) has been dragged through the ringer by monsters such as Hitler and by the fraternity system, yet I don't whine because at least it brings my culture (to a degree) to a wider audience by means of architecture, quotes, deities, legends and literary works. People may not give a damn about the history or culture of Greece yet may feel a connection to a poem by Sappho or one of the gods whom they may worship. More power to them! At least they're expressing some interest in my culture, and even if I may not like it, they are in some way expanding their view (yes, even by wanting a "trippy" or "ancient" quote).

My guess is that because these people you ream have what you deem an interest which "demeans" your culture, or you see as using it for entertainment, you feel the need to crucify yourselves while chasing them off and possibly turning them off from wanting to even learn about your cultures. Obviously that was what a_xoltl wanted to do with this poster. He wanted to pique peoples' curiosity about Middle Eastern cultures and hopefully cause them to learn about them. I'm sorry, but in the post-9/11 blatantly anti-Arab society we're in (at least in the United States), having people learn about Middle Easterners (Arabs and Persians in particular) can't possibly be a bad thing.

Finally, as for the quote "you just don't get it," fine. Maybe some of us "don't get it." Instead of pulling the "oh poor me, I'm a minority who is misunderstood so I'll be defensive and lash out against everyone" attitude, try being proactive and explain things. Maybe you'll get people to expand their views by explaining things instead of just saying "o srsly omfg thiz post iz so stoopid, wtf?!"