Some more photos of the city of Leiden.

The last photo is of a poem that commemorates 400 years (yep, four full centuries) of Arabic Studies in Leiden, from 1613 to 2013. The English version (bottom) reads:

Loss

Loss, loss.
Loss saves us. It guides our footsteps.
And loss is a radiance.
All else is a mask.

Loss unifies us with something other than us.
And loss fastens the face of the sea
to our dreaming.

And loss is just waiting.

˜

Frankly, they could’ve picked a poem with a sprightlier subject matter. I can’t wait to see what their quincentennial commemorative poem is going to be about.