THE BOOK OF MY LIFE

Following my tracks in the sand
without a guide in the wilderness
I found myself, after a long journey,
in a town on a hillside.
Dead men, who were waiting for me,
gave me the book of my life,
that they had hidden for years and years
in forgotten drawers.

As I opened the book of my life, I heard eternity
reciting page after page for me
in the tongue of oblivion:
Wake up and bring your sun with you!
Light your path in the darkness!
Leave tracks wherever you travel
for those who will never come after you!

And so I drove my body through the light.
And so I climbed on my way at night.

Let me go with you, Fadhil!
Let us cross this endless bridge together.
I'll be your witness among the aeons.

But as I held you, my little angel, by the hand,
suddenly the wind whistled
and scattered the pages of my book of life.
The Lion and the Apostle

If you are an Apostle
whose name is written in the book of martyrs,
then I am indeed a predatory lion,
waiting for you in the arena.
Dream, as much as you like, of Heaven,
but I will rip you apart!
Oh, don't curse me for my evil deed, brother,
for surely you know
that in this world
we have to do our work together.
Just step up to heaven, victorious and glad,
and leave us, the lions of the forest, 
here on earth behind you
to continue our bloody job!
 
 
 

A JOURNEY TO DISTANT PLANETS

We are prisoners of solitude as we travel to more distant planets. On the way with our spaceships our nostalgia is enough to lead us to our lost sons.  After a while, we will leave the earth behind us.  The hidden polar dawn follows the redness of the sunset, throwing its shadows over us as we enter its old orbit. And the nights sow darkness within us, ticking like huge clocks on the Equator; there we see a sparrow see-sawing through the storm and hear music playing for drunken dancers behind a closed door: We must not say too much after learning of metaphysics in the labyrinth of wandering spirits. Translucent stars hang in the ether, glowing.

Listen, Pushkin, no more white nights here after we lost all we had once won on our journey.  What are you saying?  I can't hear you.  What are you saying?  Speak up, even if no-one can ever hear you here! You should always look straight ahead to see the aeons passing by. Look! There's a man looking at us from the window, sitting on a chair, the two halves of him listening to the Big Bang, like a prince who calls up ghosts in the open air before casting his line into the river to hunt fish for eternity. Listen to the water's roar!  The bell will toll soon and life will start over, like all the other times.
 
 
 

I CONFESS THAT I HAVE LIVED MY LIFE

I confess that I have lived my life:
I tasted so many things
and forgot thousands more.
I loved women, I forgot to count how many
cried over me.
I found friends for good times
and friends for bad ones.
I lived among forgotten victims
and learnt with my skin
the whips of executioners in prison cells.
I stood before unjust courts
accused of blind love.
I wandered from desert to desert
and set up my tent in fairyland.
I let my horse drink from the waters of al-Kawthar.
I slept among thieves on the shores of the Tigris
and sometimes lived in the castles of kings.
I travelled to cities, swimming in darkness.
I sat in the sun, and walked through snow,
changing one land with another,
one pair of shoes with another.
I burned so many bridges behind me
and sailed on seas that could never be crossed.
In a time of drought I sowed seeds
in the valley of rains.
In darkness I lit thousands of candles.
Under the waking moon
I sighed like an old man in love
and wandered between continents.
How many times have I built paper palaces in my dreams?
How many times have I swopped reality for illusion?
I've told the truth and I've also lied.
I've doubted a little and believed a little.
I've smoked all brands of cigarettes,
drunk in bars the best vintage wines
and written the poems of my life.
I've laughed so much in this world.
I've cried so much in this world.
I've (came and) passed by like a light flashing in the night
I've been here and I've seen, 
I've stayed and I've left.

I confess that I have lived my life.
 

NOTE:
Tiamat, Merdoch and Anno are figures from Babylonian and Assyrian mythology
 

Translated by the author 
 

Reprinted from Banipal No 12.