A poem by Kalpna Singh-Chitnis, translated from the original Hindi into Arabic by Mohammad Hlmi Rishah and into English by the author.
The Day of Doom
Let all the leaves in trees catch fire,
Cities and villages drown in a deluge.
Let all the continents melt away
On the palms of our hands in no time at all,
And all the holy scriptures
Be devoured by the oceans.
Let the time remain wavering
On the rock of uncertainty;
And the time serpent cast off
The slough of centuries and catastrophes.
As long as there is even a single ray left
In the heart of all but the extinguishing sun,
A single grass blade remains thriving
Anywhere on the remains of the planet
And even a single seed,
That promises a life somewhere
In the womb of
All but annihilated Earth,
It is not yet the day
For you and me to grieve.
يَوْمُ القِيَامَةِ
دَعْ كُلَّ الأَوْرَاقِ فِي الشَّجَرِ تَشْتَعِلُ،
وَالمُدُنَ والقُرَى تَغْرَقُ فِي طُوفَانٍ.
دَعْ كُلَّ القَارَّاتِ تَتَوَارَى
فِي رَاحَاتِ أَيْدِينَا أَيَّ وَقْتٍ عَلَى إِطْلَاقِهِ،
وَجَمِيعَ الكُتُبِ المُقَدَّسَةِ
تَلْتَهِمُهَا المُحِيطَاتُ.
دَعِ الوَقْتَ يَظَلُّ مُتَذَبْذَبًا
عَلَى صَخْرَةِ الشَّكِّ،
وَالوَقْتَ المُتَلَوِّيَ يُلْقِي بَعِيدًا
القُرُونَ المُتَخَلِّفَةَ والكَوَارِثَ،
مَا دَامَ هُنَاكَ حَتَّى شُعَاعًا مَتْرُوكًا
فِي قَلْبِ الشَّمْسِ المُطْفَأَةِ،
وَشَفْرَةَ عُشْبٍ وَاحِدَةً يَانِعَةً
فِي أَيِّ مَكَانٍ عَلَى بَقَايَا الكَوْكَبِ؛
وَحَتَّى بِذْرَةً وَاحِدَةً،
تُبَشِّرُ بِحَيَاةٍ فِي مَكَانٍ مَا
فِي رَحْمِ الكُلِّ
مَا عَدَا الأَرْضِ المُبَادَةِ،
لَيْسَ لَكَ اليَوْمُ حَتَّى الآنَ
وأَنَا لِأَحْزَنَ.
تَرْجَمَةُ:
مُحَمَّد حِلْمِي الرِّيشَة
संताप के दिन
धूं-धूं कर जल जायें
पेड़ों की पत्तियां तमाम,
किसी वृष्टि के उन्माद में
नगर, ग्राम,
देखते-देखते पिघल जायें
महाद्वीप हमारी हथेलियों पर,
समा जाएं समुद्र में
सभी वेद, शास्त्र,
अनिश्चय की अकेली शिला पर
थरथराता रहे वर्तमान,
छोड़ जाये काल-सर्प
केंचुल की तरह सदियां, अनिष्ट,
सूरज के क्रोड़ में
आखरी किरण शेष जब तक,
शेष जब तक किसी भूखंड पर
एक भी दूब,
एक भी स्पंदन, धरती के गर्भ में –
अंगड़ाई लेते किसी एक भी अंकुर में,
मेरे और तुम्हारे संताप के दिन
तब तक नहीं।
(“पहल” ४६ में प्रकाशित)
Author and Translator’s Note: It felt right to share this poem at a time when, across many parts of the world, nations are caught in myriad conflicts, hope is fragile, and people continue to bear its human cost.
Kalpna Singh-Chitnis is an Indian-American poet and filmmaker and the author of seven poetry collections, including Love Letters to Ukraine from Uyava, recipient of the 2024 Hryhorii Kochur Award from the State of Ukraine, and Trespassing My Ancestral Lands, shortlisted for the 2025 Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize. She is also a recipient of the 2017 Naji Naaman Literary Prize in Lebanon and the Bihar Rajbhasha Award from the Government of Bihar, India. Her work has appeared and reviewed in World Literature Today, Columbia Journal, The Los Angeles Review, Poetry International, Tupelo Quarterly, Cold Mountain Review, Indian Literature, Vsesvit, Silk Routes (IWP) at the University of Iowa, and Stanford University’s Life in Quarantine and others. Her poems and a poetry film archived in the Lunar Codex have been sent to the Moon.
Mohammad Helmi Rishah is a Palestinian poet, translator and researcher. He is the director general of the Palestinian House of Poetry and the editor-in-chief of Palestinian Literary Journal Masharef Maqdisiyah (Jerusalem Hills). Rishah received a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Management, and another in Arabic Literature. Rishah started working for the Palestinian House of Poetry in 2000. Ever since, he has devoted his time for poetical, literary, and cultural work. Rishah has participated in numerous local, Arab and international cultural and literary activities, including conferences, forums, and festivals. His works have been translated into many languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Bulgarian, and Persian. Risha has authored and edited more than twenty books. His poetical works in Arabic include Horses and Women (1980), The Anxiety Trilogy (1995), The Atlas of Dust (20014), and O Poet Within Me – in both Arabic and English (2015). His translated works include: Why The Grass Whispered Again: Selected Poems, translated into Arabic (2007), and Along The Slow River – Selected Poems and Short Stories, translated into Arabic (2007).
