Oh, Abdullah

Oh, Abdullah   Mahmoud Darwish Translated by: Denys Johnson-Davies/The Music of Human Flesh. Abdullah said to the executioner: My body is words and an echo In which thunder has lost itself And the flash of lightning on the knife- And the governor is strong. And thus is life, And you now, executioner, are stronger. God was born… And thus policeman came about! The dead, generally, do not come out for a stroll, But my friend Was enchanted by her. Every evening. His body would open my window To let Abdullah in That he might bring me together with prophets Abdullah was a field and midday heat. He was good at accompanying mawwals+- And mawwals stretch to Baghdad in the east, To Syria in the north, And call out in the Peninsula. They surprised him once, during mawwal, kissing A wooden sword-and a lock of hair. When they said: This tune is amine Placed in the legends we worship, Abdullah said: My body is words and an echo And thus is life. And you now, executioner, are stronger. God was born… And thus policeman came about! The dead, generally, do not work, But my friend Had the habit of putting moons In the mud, And planting a sky in the ground. And I would open my window That Abdullah might enter, free and unfettered Like death and pride. Abdullah was a field, Inheriting nothing from his forbears but the midday heat, The contraction of shadow, and a brown complexion. Abdullah knows only The language of the mawwal, and the mawwal is mad about Laila. Where is Laila? He did not find her in the heat of midday. The mawwal races at Laila’s heels, The Mawwal leaps from the small circle of shade, Then stretches forth to Sanaa in the east, To home in the north, And calls out in the Peninsula: Where is Laila? Abdullah used to stretch out with the mawwal- And mawwals are forbidden. Mr Executioner says: Distance in the mawwal is a mine Planted in the legends we worship. …And the head of Abdullah dangled down At the height of the midday heat. Oh, Abdullah, And the evenings now are without dead And you now are the solution of solutions. Oh… Abdullah And names are bodies        Symbols        And seasons Oh… Abdullah, There is no colour, no form to the flowers that are transitory. Oh… Abdullah, I no longer remember what you used to say. Oh… Abdullah, The earth does not hear you, Nor Laila… Nor the shade of the palm tree. God was born And thus came about the governor’s police and a million killed.

Mahmoud Darwish Translated by: Denys Johnson-Davies/The Music of Human Flesh. Abdullah said to the executioner: My body is words and an echo In which thunder has lost itself And the flash of lightning on the knife- And the governor is strong. And thus is life, And you now, executioner, are stronger. God was born… And thus policeman came about! The dead, generally, do not come out for a stroll, But my friend Was enchanted by her. Every evening. His body would open my window To let Abdullah in That he might bring me together with prophets Abdullah was a field and midday heat. He was good at accompanying mawwals+- And mawwals stretch to Baghdad in the east, To Syria in the north, And call out in the Peninsula. They surprised him once, during mawwal, kissing A wooden sword-and a lock of hair. When they said: This tune is amine Placed in the legends we worship, Abdullah said: My body is words and an echo And thus is life. And you now, executioner, are stronger. God was born… And thus policeman came about! The dead, generally, do not work, But my friend Had the habit of putting moons In the mud, And planting a sky in the ground. And I would open my window That Abdullah might enter, free and unfettered Like death and pride. Abdullah was a field, Inheriting nothing from his forbears but the midday heat, The contraction of shadow, and a brown complexion. Abdullah knows only The language of the mawwal, and the mawwal is mad about Laila. Where is Laila? He did not find her in the heat of midday. The mawwal races at Laila’s heels, The Mawwal leaps from the small circle of shade, Then stretches forth to Sanaa in the east, To home in the north, And calls out in the Peninsula: Where is Laila? Abdullah used to stretch out with the mawwal- And mawwals are forbidden. Mr Executioner says: Distance in the mawwal is a mine Planted in the legends we worship. …And the head of Abdullah dangled down At the height of the midday heat. Oh, Abdullah, And the evenings now are without dead And you now are the solution of solutions. Oh… Abdullah And names are bodies        Symbols        And seasons Oh… Abdullah, There is no colour, no form to the flowers that are transitory. Oh… Abdullah, I no longer remember what you used to say. Oh… Abdullah, The earth does not hear you, Nor Laila… Nor the shade of the palm tree. God was born And thus came about the governor’s police and a million killed.    Zajel / An-Najah National University