Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is indeed my honor, privilege and pleasure to receive on this glorious day the Goethe-Medaille for the year 2015. After almost a half century of university teaching, research, writing and much stressful and stormy politicocultural controversies in the Arab World, Europe and the United States, I cannot imagine a better way and/or more dignified manner of going into retirement than having my name associated with that of Germany's greatest poet and one of Europe's most celebrated multi-faceted geniuses.

I take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to the Federal Republic of Germany for bestowing this official high honor on me at a time when my country, Syria, is bleeding and I am a refugee in Berlin. Here, I express my unending admiration for what Germany is doing by way of providing safe haven, generous hospitality and continued sustenance to so many of my Syrian compatriots displaced by the horrendous repression of barrel bombs, poison gas, scud missiles and the rest.

I also thank profusely the many members of my extended family, friends, colleagues and well-wishers who came from far and near to Goethe's Weimar to participate in this ceremony. Many thanks are due as well to the Goethe- Institute which skillfully provided us in Damascus and Beirut with the luxury of a relatively free space for honest debate and open discussion under severe conditions of oppression and censorship. Similar thanks are due to all the members and staff of the Goethe-Medaille multiple committees and working groups for making this gathering happen. My very special gratitude goes to Stefan and Gerlind Wild, my oldest and dearest friends in all Germany and to whom I owe a lot for first introducing my work in Arabic to German academia and then greatly facilitating my interaction with Germany's institutions of higher learning. Without their hospitality, generous patronage and personal care and attention over so many decades, this honor would not have been possible.

At this happy moment, I miss with great sorrow my younger brother, Said Al-Azm, who passed away last year. My sorrow deepens as I recall what a Germanophile my brother was for most of his adult life and how he would have loved to celebrate this glorious occasion as befits his mastery of the German language and his admiration and love for its culture.