Confession in the Midday Sun

One more by Samih Al-Qasim...

إعتراف في عز الظهيرة

أنا غرست الشجرة

أنا احتقرت الثمرة

أنا احتطبت جذعها

أنا صنعت العود

أنا عزفت اللحن

أنا كسرت العود

أنا افتقدت الثمرة

أنا افتقدت اللحن

أنا...بكيت الشجرة

I planted the tree

I scorned the fruit

I took its trunk as firewood

I made the Oud

I played a tune

I broke the Oud

I lost the fruit

I lost the tune

I...mourned the tree

(own translation)

An interview with three leading Palestinian poets here, accompanied by a short report about al-Qasim here.

The Wall Clock

Another by Samih al-Qasim

ساعة الحائط

مدينتي إنهارت

و ظلت ساعة الحائط

و حينا إنهار

و ظلت ساعة الحائط

و الشارع إنهار

و ظلت ساعة الحائط

و الساحة إنهارت

و ظلت ساعة الحائط

و منزلي إنهار

و ظلت ساعة الحائط

الحائط إنهار

و ظلت...

ساعة الحائط

My city collapsed

The wall clock remained

Our neighbourhood collapsed

The wall clock remained

The street collapsed

The wall clock remained

The square collapsed

The wall clock remained

My home collapsed

The wall clock remained

The wall collapsed

On went

The clock

(my own translation)

Cut Lip (or, Slit Lips)

Another poem by Samih al-Qasim:

الشفة المقصوصة

كان في ودي أن أسمعكم

قصة عن عندليب ميت

كان في ودي أن أسمعكم

قصة...

لو لم يقصوا شفتي!

It was a wish of mine to tell you

A story of a dead nightingale

It was a wish of mine to tell you

...The story

!Were it not for this lip they cut

(my own translation)



Travel Tickets

Samih al-Qasim (b.1939) is a Palestinian Druze poet living in Haifa.

تذاكر سفر

وعندما أٌقتَل في يومٍ من الأيام
سيَعثُر القاتل في جيبي
على تذاكِرِ السفر:
واحدة الى السلام
واحدة الى الحقول والمطر
واحدة
الى ضمائر البشر
ارجوك الّا تُهمِل التذاكر )
يا قاتلي العزيز
(..ارجوك ان تسافر

Travel Tickets

On the day you kill me

You'll find in my pocket

Travel tickets

To peace,

To the fields and the rain,

To people's conscience.

Don't waste the tickets.

(translation Abdullah al-Udhari)

I highly recommend this book for a selection of his works: 'Victims of a Map: A Bilingual Anthology of Arabic Poetry'

An interesting interview with him here.

I really love his poetry so I'll post some more soon.

This poem is very special to me. I've memorised it and it's become almost like a prayer. I recite it to myself sometimes. To me it says that our actions and the actions of others - whether good or bad - make us who we are. It tells me that when we part from a loved one, however difficult the circumstances, we should learn the maximum possible from the situation. We should always treasure the love and positive energy offered to us, and use it to take us forward.