The most famous of Tunisian poets, Abolkacim Ashabi, once wrote a famous poem that we all learned in school across the Arab world. Its best-known verse reads: "If the people one day decide to live, fate must answer and the chains must break." Bouazizi's martyrdom may have triggered a popular revival, many now believe, which will ensure that it is only a matter of time before Ashabi's prophecy is fulfilled.
Dyab Abou Jahjah
