Many thanks to @LibraryArabLit for sending me this beautiful copy of "War Songs", a new collection of poetry by the 6th-century poet Antarah ibn Shaddad. 
ʿAntar was a knight and adventurer, and wrote poetry about his battles and loves, as well as meditations on a world falling into ruin.
It's an incredible example of the atlal or ruins trope that originated in Pre-Islamic Arab poetry, showing man trying to find meaning in a ruined landscape.
This, from "Did Poetry Die?"...
This, from "Did Poetry Die?"...
😭😭😭
My followers after a 30-tweet thread.
Anyway, you know it's rare for me to do a promo like this, but it's a beautiful set of translations and you can grab a copy here if you're interested: nyupress.org/books/97814798…
And if you'd like more of an explainer on the place of ruins as a motif in ancient Arabic poetry, I did a deep dive here: bbc.com/culture/story/…
