Translating Amal

On the wings of a fleeting birdCome to you five songs of loveCome to you, like tender feelings    flowing from the loneliness of the diaspora To you, my beloved princess First Song Ye’re still ye    shining, O star of the night    in a silent prayer But me?Here am I,Without me, I am Yesterday,Continue reading “Five Songs Of Love”

To all the strangers, murdered on streets of blood and grudges of the cruel city — Wael Like the sun light,    around the city,    did they spread the painful news Murdered was the moon!Hung, seen he was,His head, on the trees, dangling  The bandits ripped the diamond necklace Left him on the gibbetsLeftContinue reading “Murder Of The Moon”

Here comes the Flood of NoahBit by bit, drowning is the cityBirds fleeThe water rises    On the stairs of houses     The stores    The post office    The banks    The statues — our eternal ancestors —    Places of worship    Sacks of wheat    Hospitals    Gates of the prison    The King’s palace    Halls of stronghold barracks The birds flee    bit by bitGeese floating on the waterFloats the furniture    And the child’s toyContinue reading “Special Meeting With The Son Of Noah”

I met them eating supper Look at me, for a moment, did theyAnd no one returned my greeting The hands, went back, handling the spoons     in their dish of soup Stare in the bowl, did I Damn you,    Beware, My blood!    I yelled Care not did theyThe hands handling the spoons And licking the blood were the lips WaelContinue reading “Supper”

To those who walk next to God; not before Him and not behind Him — Wael Abu Musa Abd Allah ibn Qays al-Ash’ari was a companion of Prophet Mohamed. He represented Ali Ibn Abi Talib in the negotiations during the Battle of Siffin between Ali and Mu’awiya. Tainted with blood is the tire of hisContinue reading “Private Conversation With Abu Mosy Al-Asha’ry”

To the children-in-helmets whose blood and corpses graced Tahrir, Maspero and Rabaa; who left us with dishonored soil and shame that make our skin fall

To that waiting on the river bank, while I travel in towns never have I seen, with doves on her shoulders and tenderness flowing from her palms— Wael Why chases me, wherever I go,    the sound of the violin? Travel do I in old trains    for I could talk to elderly strangersI raise my voice,     for it toContinue reading “Melodic”

Feeling am I,    for thy eyne,    something sobbing inside me  Feeling am I,    between your hands,    the naked sins of the past,    repent And apples on a vine,    in two green eyne Will I forget a journey of sins,    in thy heavenly eyne? And until when,     shall my sins torment me, away from your dates,     shall my desires burn me, close toContinue reading “Innocence”

To those who refuse to beg for the mercy of the sword, and still wait, despite the sight of soldiers, for the scream of the newborn, full of hope — Wael Al-Hasan al-A’sam was a Qarmatian military commander A boutonnière in the lapelWhat are ye birthing now?A child or a crime?!Or are ye wailing atContinue reading “Waiting For The Sword”

To those carried from the tranquil river, abandoned in the creeks of the strange lands, divided between the fields of sorrow and the fields of longing, resisting half-divine emperors — Wael Abu Nowas was an Arab poetAl Hussein is the grandson of Prophet Mohammad Karbala is a city in Iraq where Al Hussein was killedContinue reading “From The Journals of Abu Nowas”