Khaled Shomali: Translated by Nizar Sartawi

BIO

Khaled Shomali is a Palestinian poet born in Beit Sahour, a town located east of Bthlehem. He currently lives in Germany. Many of his poems composed during the first Palestinian uprisal were set to music. He has He has penned six Arabic poetry books: For Whom Do You Grow Roses (2008), Hanging In the Smoke Of Talk (2012), The Sugar of Words (2013) Der Vers, in dem ich wohne [The Poetry In Which I Live] (2015), Your Exile Place Is So Narrow (2015), and I Do Not Want Exile Poems (2016). He has also published a poetry book for children, A Swing of Joy (2018).
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BIO

Nizar Sartawi is a poet, translator, essayist, and columnist. He was born in Sarta, Palestine, in 1951. He is a member of numerous literary and cultural organizations, including the Jordanian Writers Association (Jordan), General Union of Palestinian Writers (Palestine), General Union of Arab Writers (Cairo), and Asian and African Writers Union. He has participated in poetry readings and international forums and festivals in numerous countries, including Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Dubai, Sharjah, Morocco, Egypt, Kosovo, and India. Sartawi’s poems have been translated into more than a dozen languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Danish, Chinese, Persian, Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, Odia, Gujarati, and Malayalam. His poetry has been published in more than 40 international anthologies in addition to journals and newspapers, in Arab countries, the U.S., Australia, Kosovo, Indonesia, Singapore, Bosnia, Italy, India, the Philippines, Russia, Switzerland, and Taiwan.

Sartawi has published more than 25 books of poetry and poetry translations. He has written introductions to a large number of books in both Arabic and English. Sartawi was awarded the first prize in translation by Al-Nour Literary Organization in 1913, Naji Naaman Award for Creativity in 2018, and Jerusalem Intellectuals Forum Honorary Award in 2019.

For the last nine years, Sartawi has been working on poetry translation from English to Arabic and Arabic to English. This includes his Arabic poetry translation project, “Arab Contemporary Poets Series”. He also has translated poems for a large number of modern and contemporary international poets from numerous countries of the world.

 

I want You
Dedicated to my people in Palestine

I want You
Yes you
to wipe your tears
to wipe the blood off your arms
I want you to rise
to shake off the smell of death
to jump and jump and jump
to Jump above your shadow
that you may behold the butterflies
dancing around
Do not allow the collar
To be a rhyme for the garden
and the thorns as a crown

I want you to dream
and meet the shining wonderous moon
lost in the dispersion of echoes
to defeat fear, your night,
to overtake the wind
to go in the expanse
to ascend
to trust the wings of a swallow
to break the silence and sound barrier
to rise up
to squeeze clouds in the lips of the earth
to set the love star on fire
to embrace hope

أريدُكِ أنتِ

أريدُكِ أنتِ…
نعمْ أنتِ…
أنْ تمسحي دمْعَ عينيكِ
والدَمَ عَنْ ساعِدَيْكِ

أريدُكِ أنْ تنهَضي…
تنفضي عنكِ رائحةَ الموتِ
أنْ تركُضي… تركضي… تركضي
تقفزي فوقَ ظِلِّكِ
عَلَّكِ تكتشفينَ الفراشاتِ
ترقصُ حولَكِ
ـ لا ترتضي الطوقَ
قافيةً للحديقةِ
والشوكَ تاجاً ـ

أريدُكِ أنْ تحلُمي…
تلتقي قمراً ساطِعاً رائعاً…
ضائعاً في شتاتِ الصدى
تَهْزِمي الخوفَ… ليلَكِ…
أنْ تسْبِقي الريحَ
تنْطلقي في المدى…
ترْتقي…
تثقي بجناحيْ سنونوّةٍ…
تكسِري حاجزَ الصمْتِ والصَوْتِ
تنتفضي…
تعْصُري الغيمَ في شَفَةِ الأرضِ
أنْ تُشْعلي نجْمةَ الحبِّ
أن تحْمِلي أمَلاً
وَتطيري…

 

I Won‘t Tell You

I won’t tell you
all that I was told by the star of love this evening
I won’t tell the truth
the whole truth
For truth is free, bitter, sweet and friendly
and you‘re just thin ice
that melts when a candle smiles nearby

I won’t change your views
or run your rivers
I won’t remind you of the wounds of years
I won’t – when defeats increase – go into the reasons
I won’t peel Al-Motanbbi’s great poem
I won’t say what goes on in the hearts of poets
I won’t make turbid what’s been turbid long time ago
Listen to what a poet passing by says to you
then be as you please

أنا لن أقولَ لكم

أنا لنْ أقولَ لكمْ
كلَّ ما أخبرتني بهِ نجمةُ الحبِّ هذا المساء
أنا لنْ أقولَ الحقيقةَ
ـ كلَّ الحقيقةِ ـ
فالحقُّ حرٌّ ومرٌّ وحلوٌ صديقٌ
وأنتمْ جليدٌ رقيقٌ
يذوبُ إذا ابتسمتْ شمعةٌ حولَهُ

لنْ أغيّرَ أفكارَكمْ
أو أسيّرَ أنهارَكمْ
لنْ أذكّرَكم بجراحِ السنين
أنا لنْ أفسّرَ ـ حينَ تزيدُ الهزائمُ ـ أسبابَها
لنْ أقشّرَ رائعةَ المتنبي
أنا لنْ أعبّرَ عما يجولُ بأفئدةِ الشعراء
أنا لنْ أعكّرَ ما قدْ تعكّرَ مِنْ زمنٍ غابرٍ
فاسمعوا ما يقولُ لكمْ شاعرٌ عابرٌ
ثمَّ كونوا كما ترغبونَ

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