"I love you because with you I discovered something new, strange to me, called joy... All those I loved before you made me a cage, a whip, a bridle, scissors for my wings, and a muzzle for my gypsy songs deep within me... So passion became an imprisonment and dialogue a trial... They taught me sadness, cruelty, indifference, treachery, and mocking sarcasm... With you, I met the sun, shook hands with laughter, danced with innocence... And I presented my credentials to the sunrise... And I discovered how beautiful your blue whisper is at dawn." The wonder of reading Ghada Al-Samman stems from this writer's ability and boldness in imagining and crafting beautiful or surprising images that the reader does not expect! However, that wonder also stems from the author's constant insistence on declaring love, so that her literary output seems to be singularly purposed by love and a continuous invitation to joy in difficult times.