Damascus!  my longing for her is a lover's torment,
  let false friends importune, let critics condemn as they please!
A land where the pebbles are pearls and the soil is amber,
  and fragrant and heady as wine is the northerly breeze.
Her waters glide softly with rippling chains, yet unfettered,
  and healthy yet languid the zephyr that plays o'er her leas.

– Sharaf al-Din Abu’l-Mahasin
(quoted in The Travels of Ibn Battutah)

See more of my Syrian photos from 2006 on Flickr!