Daraq - Circle of Dust

Fire fell from the clear sky without warning, raining down on the cities of

light

Destroying them in clouds of smoke that blotted out the sun, consuming even the

stones

No one survived.

Young and old alike perished in that terrible day

It was over in a moment, but the black smoke rolled up to heaven for many days

to become a shroud to cover the sky

On that day, our bright homeland became the blighted lands, a desert where no

living thing could ever survive

A dark epoch followed.

Sickness became our constant companion: our men grew old

too quickly and died suddenly:

Those of our women who were not barren gave birth to dead babies or produced

monsters from their diseased wombs:

Our flesh withered while still young;

little children lost teeth and hair,

they vomited blood

Our proud ancestors became a nation afflicted with sores and running wounds

All that we knew passed away;

all that we loved died.

The treasures of our

great civilization fell into dust

We lost the knowledge we had worked so hard to discover — we lost everything to

the dark time…