Loading ...The Man Who Visited Death- A Poem by Samih Al-Qasim
By Luke McMahan/ Arab America Contributing Writer
Luke McMahan has been a student of Arabic for two and a half years; and all throughout this time he has been told how wonderful Arabic poetry is. But because not many translations exist online of anything but the most famous poems, he had to wait to progress in his language ability to begin to interact with these works. In this article, he can confidently translate some of these poems; and hopes he can give non-Arabic speakers a chance to read them as well. Though not fluent or a professional translator; he hopes to maintain as much of their lyricism, ambiguity, and beautiful imagery as possible. Presented here is “The Man Who Visited Death,” a poem by Samih Al-Qasim.
“The Man Who Visited Death“
“الرجل الذي زار الموت“
Samih Al-Qasim
سميح القاسم
They pierced the slain one wrapped in his clothes
خلّوا القتيل مكفّنا بثيابه
His emptiness… in the killer the expert with what he does
خلوه… في السفح الخبير بما به
Don’t bury him, and in his lip his surgery
لا تدفنوه وفي شفاه جراحه
The will of his love and torture resounds
تدوي وصيّة حبه وعذابه
Do you hear?
هل تسمعون؟
They summoned him a bloody vulture
دعوه نسرا داميا
Between the stone he is absent from his lovers
بين الصخور يغيب عن أجابه
His emptiness, under the sun, it embraces his face
خلوه، تحت الشمس، تحضن وجهه
A pleasant wind by the land of its young men
ريح مطيّبة بأرض شبابه
Do not close his eye! Indeed the red rays
لا تغمضوا عينيه! إنّ أشعة
Stay on his eyelashes!
!حمراء ما زالت على أهدابه
And on the yellow plains, his plea returns
:وعلى السهول الصفر، رجع ندائه
Oh heed death… I don’t care!
!يا آبها بالموت… لست بآبه
Take me to my house…
…خذني إلى بيتي
Rest my cheek on its doorstep
أرح خدي على أعتابه
And I kiss the handle of its door
وأبوس مقبض بابه
Take me into generosity, I die agonizingly
خذني إلى كرم، أموت ملوّعا
Unless I smear my eyes with kohl? My eyes are in its dust!
ما لم أكحّل؟ ناظري برتابه!
They pierced the slain one on his wealth specifically
خلو القتيل على ثراه محدّدا
He bled blood, he invaded the clay hand
نزف الدماء، وغزّ في الطين اليدا
They deprived him of seedlings, so he returned to the plant
حرموه أغراسا، فعاد بغرسة
From his bloody flesh… he welcomed ruin
من لحمه الدامي… ورحّب بالردى
Who was this?
من كان؟
They passed through the ruins of an abandoned village
مرّوا في خرائب قرية
You found his name in an echo
مهجورة تجدوا له اسما في الصدى
Who was this?
من كان؟
The eye remembers comfort
حور العين يذكر راحة
Which excavated a tattoo in the torsos endlessly
حفرت ووشما في الجذوع مؤبدا
For whom did he whisper it?
ولمن سراه؟
They withdrew the seedling
سلوا هنالك نصبة
Sickened of elegance: I sacrifice for you… I am the sacrifice
!سقمت فصاح: أنا فداك… أنا الفدى
The tentmaker bound the wound… not a Muslim
حدج الخيام الغبر… غير مسلم
He glimpsed his daughter, and he didn’t smile
ورنا لطفلته، ولم يتبسّم
And a black cloud murmured in his brow…
وتململت في حاجبيه سحابة
From his history of frowning
سوداء… من تاريخه المتجهم
Poisoned sweat dripped, etching
وتفصّد العرق المسمّم، حافرا
In his face features of an offered vulture
في وجهه قسمات نسر مقدم
“I’m coming!”
!آت أنا
His steps dragged
وتقحّمت خطواته
A path devoted to skulls and blood
دربا تعبّد بالجماجم والدم
“I’m coming”
!آت أنا
So he prepared himself for the meeting
فتهيّأي للقائه
Oh paradise trampled by hell!
!يا جنّة مدغومة بجهنم
Since?
منذا؟
Guns rained upon their hatred
وأمطرت البنادق حقدها
The naked chest was torn for tomorrow
وتمزّق الصدر المعرّى للغد
Since?
منذا؟
The killer joined a leg bowed down
وضمّ السفح ساقا تنحني
Lean… and it shouts: Oh sister resist!
!منخوبة… وتصيح: يا أخت اصمدي
The dead one prostrated… his face jubilant
:سجد القتيل… ووجهه متهلّل
My homeland! For others you… no I didn’t prostrate
وطني! لغيرك أنت… لا، لم أسجد
And she felt out his right, forehead a boulder
وتلمست يمناه جبهة صخرة
She despaired him, and he said: I visited you so witness!
!هلعت عليه، فقال: زرتك فاشدي
And she pressed together the images behind his forehead
وتزاحمت صور وراء جبينه
Opaque images… you get lost and you are guided
صور مغبشة… تضيع وتهتدي
Sand…
…رمل
Tents…
…خيام
Half a dead face…
…نصف وجه ميت
My father, come!
!يابا، تعال
A rustle of a black thawb
حفيف ثوب أسود
Corpses,
،جثث
And a screaming child in its womb
وطفل صارخ في رحمه
They killed my father! They killed him at the hour of my birth!
!قتلوا أبي! قتلوه ساعة مولدي
The light departs… and the features fade
الضوء يغرب… والملامح تنطفي
And the killer dropped in the overcast مسدى
والسفح يهوي في المسدى المتلبّد
An echo calling, with the blood wetting:
:وصدى نداء، بالدماء مبلّل
Oh of you behind me! Don’t betray my promise!
!يا من ورائي! لا تخونوا موعدي
These are my arteries…
…هذي شراييني
Take them, and weave
خذوها، وانسجوا
From them a glimpse of hope of our rebellious progeny!!
!!منها بيارق نسلنا المتمّرد
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