The theme of waiting permeates two poems by the late Syrian poet Nizār Qabbānī. The verse in both poems ‘Waiting for Godot’, and ‘A television interview with an Arab Godot’, describes an arduous wait, at once distressing and unpredictable. In the first poem, the poet urges Godot to arrive, as the savior who will appear in the form of the Messiah. In the second, Qabbani tries to define what Godot is. Acknowledging that it is a direct borrowing from Samuel Beckett’s play, he poses a number of questions relating to the identity of Godot; he asks if this awaited persona brings with it relief, a Messiah at once baring gifts and is capable of rescuing the individual from the paralysis of time, or is this anticipated arrival bringing with it destruction and calamity? Drawing on Arab history, Godot evolves into the persona that forms part of this history.